In the Middle of the Night

 With my newfound goal of getting into bed early and waking earlier, I find that old habits die hard.  I was in bed last night by 10:30 and fell asleep, but was awake at 4 and tossed and turned until time to get up at 7:30.  It will be tricky to train myself anew.  Last summer in Gilbert, we awakened at 4:15 in order to get out and walk before the sun came blazing to life each morning.  We gratefully went to bed by 10 and sometimes 9 each night.

I find it difficult not to be anxious.  I wake up in the middle of the night and find a dozen things to worry about, try a dozen methods of relaxing my mind, toss and turn and then sleep fitfully.  If I am doing that, I wonder what everyone else is doing?  The isolation, the news, the personal situations - must all gang up on many individuals in the middle of the night, as well as around the clock.  

We have a young man from India who is here working on his master's degree.  He is a quiet man, and is so happy to have found the gospel in these uncertain times.  This week, he decided to return to his home and family for a couple of months.  We hate to see him go, but on the other hand, how healthy can it be to be bent over his computer all day and night?  I hope he can have a semblance of a normal life in his childhood home.

We have had two young women from America return this week.  They have some classes that must be attended in person.  I hope they are alright with being back in lockdown (AFTER they finish their self-isolating - which is a only a little more restrictive than lockdown).  I can't even imagine what a young woman must think about all this.  They are no doubt aware of the money it is costing for them to be here, the money for college housing as well as tuition, which must be paid.  

Others are out of work, with nothing in sight.  With these lockdowns (April is the newest prediction for easing restrictions) the economy is tottering, and who can know what the future holds for countries?  I have stopped reading U.S. news....it takes the heart out of me.

We made a couple of deliveries in the late afternoon.  Just little goodies to say "We're thinking about you."  You can see there is still snow on the ground, but it is mostly ice by now.


Family Home Evening group was small tonight, but we played "Code Names" which was a lot of fun.  SK, competitive always,  didn't want to stop!

The senior missionaries had a Zoom meeting with Dave and Deb last night.  Dave has been talking to the area authorities about how to get vaccinations for all of the seniors and hopefully all of the young missionaries as soon as possible.  

Everyone he talks with reminds him that he is living in a socialized medicine country, and that he must work within the system. Three couples working within the system will have their vaccinations within the next week.  One of the ten couples have received theirs this week, one is scheduled to receive theirs in a few days and another on slate sometime next week.  There is a process - a route we can take to  receive the shots, and because we are in the age range of those receiving them now, we should be able to get them soon.

Except, our visas are still up in the air.  Our resident permit cards say that our visas expired on October 2, 2020.  That could throw a wrench in the works.  We will make phone calls this morning to find out if there is a clinic here in Oxford that will be able to administer the vaccines to us.  There are forms we will need to fill out to apply for the shots.

As our mission doctor pointed out last night, since we are not registered with the National Health Care Service, they don't have us on the radar and will not be sending us an engraved invitation to be immunized.  But it is to everyone's advantage for us to get the shot, so we must be proactive about seeking it out.

There is some talk about the Church trying to get vaccinations for the entire missionary force around the world.  I'm certain those in charge are putting forth Herculean efforts.

The Spanish Flu just quietly went away after nearly two years reigning in terror.  They theorize it may be because of herd immunity.  Who knows?  I hope this virus will do the same.

Comments

melissa said…
Let’s certainly hope it goes away quietly. Hopefully before two years is up!! And i also hope things get straitened out with your vaccine.
January 26, 2021 at 8:38 PM
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