By Mary-Justine Lanyon
Editor

That Running Springs resident Colleen Myers is a woman of strong faith is brought home in the videos she posted on Facebook to share the news of her having tested positive for the COVID-19 Coronavirus.

Myers, 56, said that she had not been feeling well for a week when she was tested. It took another three days for her to get the results, which she got on March 17.

“It hasn’t been a big, bad illness,” she said, noting that she had a low-grade fever, which never went above 100.3, and a dry cough.

As soon as she started feeling symptoms, she self-quarantined. She was screened and tested at Mountains Community Hospital’s Rural Health Clinic. When the test was negative for Flu A and B, RSV (respiratory syncytial virus) and strep throat, it was sent out for COVID-19 testing.

Myers said she notified everyone she had possibly exposed of her diagnosis. One person’s test has come back negative; the others are waiting for results.

What has helped her through this ordeal, Myers said, is her belief in Jesus Christ. “I trust him for my salvation,” she said. “I trust God is in control but I’m human –

I have been anxious and had some fear.”

She has found Psalms 61 and 139 to be especially helpful, reading from them on her first video. “From the ends of the earth I cry to you for help,” Myers read, adding that “God is really the only one who can help us.

“When my heart feels overwhelmed,” she said, holding up her Bible, “this is where I turn.

“I hope none of you get diagnosed and I hope this virus gets stamped out. But if you do get it, don’t go through this without a relationship with Jesus,” Myers urged.

Two days later, on March 19, she posted another video, saying that she had had a little setback the night before.

“My fever came back,” Myers said. “It was a reminder that this is serious – a reminder that I need to rest and take care of this thing. We need to follow the CDC guidelines.”

Speaking to the millennials and Gen Z listeners, Myers cautioned them to follow the guidelines of social distancing.

“If you are scared, worried or anxious, I’d love to talk to you,” she told the young adults. She asked them to go to the PLURway.com website, where they can connect with her.

Myers founded the PLUR (Peace, Love, Unity, Respect) Life Ministries with her husband, Rob, in 2009 after attending a rave down the hill. Through this ministry, they send mothers, fathers and grandparents to raves to share the gospel, help young people in trouble and rescue those in danger. She serves as PLUR’s operations director and chaplain. She had previously been the drug prevention program director with Rim Family Services.

Speaking to the mothers of these young folks in her second video, Myers said that she has “heard your fear and I get it.” She encouraged them to read Philippians 4:6-9, which tells people not to worry about everything but instead to pray about it.

“Tell God what you need and thank him for all he’s done,” Myers said. “Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand – it is a peace that passes all understanding. His peace will guard your hearts and minds.”

In her third video, Myers said that every day she wakes up thinking “today’s the day I’ll get up and at ‘em, I get up and I don’t get at ‘em,” she admitted.

Her Bible, Myers said, is her source of truth, peace and comfort. She shared Psalm 23 with her viewers (which number in the thousands).

She also shared that she has learned that times of high stress and fear are often followed by anger. “Fear and anger are brothers,” she said.

Myers turned to the animal world for a coping mechanism. If you watch a video of a herd of antelope that are attacked by a lion, you’ll see that after the initial trauma and panic of the attack, they take time to reset.

“They go and rest, get back to a state of calm,” Myers said. “We all want to watch the news and check in on Facebook but we need to be sure to take the time to reset.”

In her fourth video, which was live on Sunday, March 22, Myers invited others to light a candle with her and place it in their windows as a symbol of God’s light and love.

“I have talked about peace in all my videos,” she said. “Jesus Christ is truly the path of peace.”