Finding Hope
The following passage was written by Texas Children’s Chaplain Natalie Peters.
This week marks eight years since I’ve graduated from college and six since graduate school. I remember being so proud of all my hard work and having my family celebrate with me. I am the oldest of three children but both of my parents come from much larger families and we support each other through it all. As I reminisce on my celebrations those years ago, I can’t help but think of all of those who are missing out on these milestones this year.
And of course as my thoughts spiral, which they often tend to do, I realize this pandemic has changed much more than just graduations. Wedding plans have had to change or be postponed, vacations that we have been working hard to plan and save for have now been put on hold, and so much more. This week, I was supposed to be at my first conference as a board certified chaplain, but like so many other things, the conference was canceled. As I write this, I find myself daydreaming about what I would have learned if I had gone.
I imagine so many of us are feeling this way. I not only find myself with the fear of missing out but also hoping. Hoping for the best. Hoping for normalcy. Hoping for things to go back the way they were before. But yet I know they aren’t. This pandemic has forever changed the way we gather and social distancing will be a part of the “new normal.” There are also so many lessons that have been learned and much more to learn as well.
Fear often paralyzes us. But yet with the hope, we are able to carry on. We as a Texas Children’s team carry each other through this fear. Our celebrations have changed, but we find a new way to celebrate. Nurses Week last week looked drastically different, yet we still celebrated. In the middle of pandemic, we celebrated. As the world adapts, so do we.
May this new normal we face be filled with hope. Hope that we will get that celebration, hope that life will go on. Life has continued moving forward, just not in the way we expected. As we have learned, sometimes we can plan as best as possible then life gets in the way and steers us another direction. But yet, as we join with the rest of the world, we too will continue to hoe for whatever is next.
“It is because of hope that you suffer,” said Maxime Lagacé, a Canadian professional ice hockey goalkeeper. “It is through hope that you’ll change things.”