Rob Normyle: Making the Leap

There have been so many times in my life when I had to go on faith and trust in God. In 1994, I made my only bungee jump and, upon clearing the line and looking down from the 75' platform, I remember saying to myself "Boy, do I trust you, God." Another instance came in 1996 when I had developed a lesion on my tongue and had it biopsied. I had survived HIV for 11 years at that point, a close friend had just died of AIDS a few months prior and there were still no effective medications to treat HIV. When the results showed that it was a KS lesion, my heart sank and it took all my faith to ward off thoughts of my being next. My doctor told me, "This could be the only one you ever get" and, thank God, it turned out to be. A few months later, (HAART) the "cocktail" to treat HIV came out and, a few months after that, the viral load test came out. When I first took this test, my viral load was around 500K which is pretty high. I started taking the medication and my viral load dropped to 10K; it has been undetectable for several years now. Throughout this time, I prayed for strength and guidance with gratitude for my life and I know in my heart that the Lord got me through this. For me, lent is a time to truly seek God - although I believe one should do this at all times, and I acknowledge that sustaining this focus is challenging at best.

This year I'm striving to walk ever more close and humble with the Lord and to thank God for the gift of each day every morning.