“Don’t panic” was a key phrase early in my life with personal computers. It was the Post-It Note message I stuck on my monitor, back when I wasn’t sure the computer had stored something as soon as it left the screen.

I’d almost forgotten that phrase until earlier this month, when I discovered I would be giving I.V. antibiotics to my husband five times a day for the next six weeks. He had gotten a total knee replacement, and in less than a week had a second, more major surgery to clean out an infection and a hematoma the size of the surgeon’s fist. After a few days in the hospital he was ready to come home with instructions for me to inject infusions starting at 6 a.m. and ending at 11 p.m. daily for the foreseeable future.

Since then we’ve discovered there’s a lot of life on the other side of “don’t panic.” Almost anything can become normal when it’s necessary, and my husband has been a very patient patient. I quit worrying about injecting air bubbles in his blood stream, but make sure I’m attentive through every step of the procedure.

Underneath what people can do to affect our health, it’s amazing how our bodies can instigate and promote healing! And it’s equally amazing to realize how much we can do when we get beyond the phrase, “Don’t panic.”

Your partner in ministry,

Betsy Schwarzentraub