Crossing Over into a New Year—Part 2

Moving Past Loss

As we get older, every year it seems, things get harder and sometimes there are things we’d love to hold on to, that we can’t. And things we wish we could get rid of, but we also can’t. I’m not talking about things we have much control over, such as emotional problems or decisions we make that affect not only us but others as well. I’m mainly talking about physical challenges we have no control over.

I posted this last summer: “The night after I got home, I coughed out of control for around 10 minutes. When I woke up the next morning, my hearing had tanked, my voice was totally gone, and my sense of smell had disappeared. A week later, I went to the doctor who diagnosed me with bronchitis.”

I made it home from Brazil, as you can read in a previous post. But I was not well. It was fairly close to a miracle that I got home OK. You can read about that here. https://donnalhsmith.com/2023/08/01/gats-brazil-trip-part-4/

My smell returned within a couple of weeks. I could smell eggs again as I cooked them. Or leave the room and come back and smell that cooking had taken place. Many thought I had covid, but I didn’t. I took a test. It was negative. What most people don’t realize is that any kind of sinus infection can take away your sense of smell for a while. Covid takes it for longer, and some never get it back. I wasn’t worried about that.

My speaking voice is nearly 100%. Most people wouldn’t know I had ever lost it. But my singing voice has trouble going above my “break.” It’s been six months. I don’t work it real hard, but it’s got a long way to go before it will be fully recovered. When I was a young girl in elementary school, I lost my voice for a whole winter. There was an understanding with my teacher not to call on me until I raised my hand. I waited until sometime in the spring when I could answer a question without my voice breaking or sounding hoarse. It was a long time ago, but I remember the teacher being so excited when I finally raised my hand after months.

But the worst was my hearing. After five months and many prayers from many people, no miracle occurred. Yes, I was angry with God for a while, but I had to release that. A teenage girl I prayed for in Brazil with a hearing loss got healed that night. But I didn’t. I have to leave that in God’s hands.

Finally, I got hearing aids in November. They’re fancy ones, too. Because my right ear is now classified as “profoundly deaf” (which just means I can’t hear much out of it), the aid in my right ear sends signals to the hearing aid in my left ear. And I can hear. It’s not a miracle, but these help me function.

But I am still excited about 2024! Stay tuned to discover why.

#amwriting #GATS #2024 #newyear #hope #faith #God #deafness #smell #voiceloss #hearingaids