![\"\"](\"https:\/\/goodnewsmags.com\/fayetteville\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2023\/08\/2-1-1024x683.png\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nShe couldn\u2019t close one of her eyes. She had to tape it shut. Her normally bright smile and round cheeks were sagging. She was nervous about what her students would think when she returned to work. Society told her to focus on self-acceptance, but \u201cwhen you are looking at yourself and your eye won\u2019t close, everything is drooping down, you can\u2019t speak, you\u2019re slobbering, you feel really ugly,\u201d Hardin said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Even with some of the more difficult symptoms like vertigo, ear pain, and double vision behind her, the facial paralysis messed with her head. Not long after she had begun experiencing symptoms, Hardin took to Facebook for encouragement. She asked her friends and family to share their favorite scriptures \u2014 something she said helped her more than anything \u2014 and promised to keep everybody updated on her health journey. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI kind of struggled with feeling led to [post updates about my face], and then the minute that I did, it was therapeutic and cathartic for me,\u201d Hardin said. \u201cBut I would think, \u2018That was so stupid. Nobody is going to watch that. Why would you do that?\u2019\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
While the onslaught of support and scripture was encouraging, she\u2019d shame herself, saying it was a curse that she felt the need to share everything with others or that she was seeking validation or approval. But after receiving hundreds of positive comments and building an online community that\u2019s followed her through months of struggle and hurt, Hardin realized God had a plan for her. In one Facebook post, she quoted 2 Corinthians 1:3-4, which reads: <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cBlessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s taken months of massages, speech therapy, botox, doctor\u2019s visits, and Zoom calls with her physical therapist, but now, Hardin can see the difference. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIf I look at where I was in October or where I was in November or December to now, I\u2019m so much better,\u201d she said. \u201cIn recovery, it feels like somebody scooping out more and more sand every day. But I still feel like there\u2019s a little sand in my face.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Nevertheless, her cheeks have settled back into place (on the good days), and her eyes are as bright as ever. The students aren\u2019t scared when she greets them in the library, nor should they be. After all, Hardin\u2019s just a God-fearing librarian with a sparkling smile, one inspiring story to tell, and a very active Facebook page. GN <\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" WHEN HILARY Hardin taught middle school English, students weren\u2019t always happy to see her. Now, as the librarian for South Lincoln School, she\u2019s their superhero, or at least a smiling face during a difficult school day. \u201cIt\u2019s like the paparazzi when I\u2019m walking through the hall,\u201d Hardin said. But her smiling face \u2014 one that […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":18,"featured_media":20175,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-20165","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-stories"],"yoast_head":"\n