It was late last night – around 11:00 pm.

Moses had just taken over for Hosanna. He got a call from upstairs. One of our young men, Joshua, was symptomatic. Moses had Joshua come downstairs. (Real names, I promise.)

Following protocol, Moses then called E.M.S. They said they would arrive in an hour or two. Moses then set the young man up in our first floor chapel with a mattress, sheets, and a mask. And so we waited…

You’d like Joshua. He is a good kid. He is a phenomenal artist. He witnessed his mother being shot, and his brother being murdered. Art is his healing therapy.

Two tapestries hang on the wall of our chapel, where Joshua waited:

“Fear not, for I am with you. Be not dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you. I will help you with my righteous right hand.”
– Isaiah 41:10

E.M.S. picked up Joshua at 1:15 am. They took him to University Medical Center to be tested and brought him back around 4:45 am. The results won’t be available for three days. And so we wait…

The E.M.S. team and the front line staff at University’s Emergency Room are the heroes of this pandemic: here in New Orleans, throughout our country, and across the world.

We pray for these brave warriors, and our own amazing Covenant House team. We pray for all the families – theirs and ours – who are left to wonder if their loved ones acquired the virus today… and yet lovingly wait for them, each day, to come home…

The majority of hurricanes don’t seem so bad compared to the Coronavirus. Yes, we wait for the storm to make landfall, but it is normally just for three or four days. We don’t know how long this virus will last, how far it will reach, or how many millions will be impacted.

The virus is getting closer to home. Yesterday, Covenant House lost a longtime friend of 33 years. She had been a generous donor and weekly volunteer, manning the front desk from the first day we opened. She welcomed each and every kid with a warm smile – and lots of love.

And so we wait… hopeful that the virus will slow, and that, together, we will flatten the curve.

We are NOT alone. We are accompanied on this journey by a loving and merciful God. And so, we will continue to pray, and to wait, and to pray…

“Encourage one another and build one another up. Just as you are doing.”
– Thessalonians 5:11

– Jim