Two weeks ago, during a flight from Toronto to Regina, I felt like a flu or a hay fever attack was coming on. Long experience has taught me that using a decongestant and an antihistamine at that point is often all it takes to stave off a full-blown episode.  But my pills were in the baggage hold, and I couldn’t use them until it was too late. For most of the time since then I couldn’t get a proper night’s sleep. If I would lie down, I would soon be hacking to clear phlegm from my lungs. The best option I found was to wrap myself up in a blanket and sit upright in a recliner with my feet on the floor and my head tilted slightly forward.

Granddaughter Tami invited us to a Senior’s Fall Supper a week ago last Friday, put on by the youth of the Carrot River congregation where she teaches. The next day there was a memorial gathering in Moose Jaw for a cousin who passed away recently. That same evening there was a gathering here at our church in honour of the 50th wedding anniversary of good friends. I missed all of them, plus church for two Sundays, because of the illness.

I am getting better, and even getting some work done, albeit operating at half power. Years ago, my doctor in Ontario explained to me that tiredness and stress made me more vulnerable to allergens in the environment. The ensuing allergic reaction created a welcoming environment for any opportunistic virus in the vicinity. Thus my frequent illnesses are a combination of allergic rhinitis and flu or other virus.

I was on my way home when the illness struck. The five of us who make up the French Editing Committee of the Church of God in Christ, Mennonite, met at Belleville, Pennsylvania for several days of intensive work on our latest book translation. Our time together was great, the hospitality of the congregation was amazing, all was well until I was on the third leg of the trip home.

For an idea of what our committee has been doing, any readers of this blog who can read French may be interested in viewing information about the church’s French books on Telegram/CloudVeil Messenger at https://t.me/editionsdelevangile.

There are also more than 50 French language tracts which can be read online at https://www.traitesevangeliques.org/