“I will praise the Lord as long as I live. I will sing praises to my God with my dying breath.” (Psalm 146:2 NLT)
This last year has brought many weeks and months of uncertainty for everyone. The pandemic changed how everything was to operate within our libraries, workplaces, and even homes. My sense of communication changed dramatically, without the cues from body language seen when communicating face to face. And, of course, let’s not forget heated elections and world news.
Personally, uncertainty included finishing up surgery and radiation treatment for cancer. These days of fear and uncertainty wreaked havoc on my nerves and mind. There were definite moments where it felt as though some good, old-fashioned hand wringing wouldn’t be out of line. It was in this time that I came across a verse that would become my verse for this entire season of life. Psalm 146:2 says, “I will praise the LORD as long as I live. I will sing praises to my God with my dying breath.” It does not matter to me what comes my way or what this world looks like; I am certain of my Savior. I am certain that every day of my life I will praise His name.
Many times, when distraught or worried, I would stop to make a list of what I know to be true. It would always start with the certainty that God is sovereign. Oh, what an important thing to remember! God is ever present in all the uncertain moments of life, and they are most definitely not uncertain to Him. Is there anything more wonderful than that? My list includes the certainty that the Bible is true, that my husband loves me, that my family is important, and that coffee will always taste amazing.
For my library, it became a bit difficult to figure out what I was certain about because so many things were changing. In the last year alone, half of our library’s space has become a classroom as the college worked on social distancing requirements. The other half became the student learning center. We wrestled with the idea of circulating print materials, opening to the public, my working remotely, and hiring enough student workers.
These uncertainties somehow worked their way into my thinking of how successful I would be as a librarian this year and if the library would be a useful tool for students. So in the same vein as my personal list of certainties, I created a list for my library. I am certain that students will always need assistance in finding excellent resources for their assignments. I am certain that customer service is important, regardless of the modality of classes. I am certain that my coworkers and fellow faculty need encouragement, and I am certain that God has placed me at Trinity College of Florida for a reason. God has used this time of uncertainty for His glory and my good. For that, I praise His name every day, for as many days as He gives me!
Cindy Hyer
Cindy is the Library Director at Trinity College of Florida in Trinity, FL. She has been an ACL member for 8 years.