Bye-bye, 2020!

So 2020… What a bizarre time! Whether your personal pandemic plight has been rife with sorrow or has been relatively easy, we’ve all felt the heaviness of a year of full of economic turmoil, political angst, and illness in one shape or another. I remember that last New Year’s Eve, as I sat with my then-boyfriend, now-husband on his couch, making lovey-dovey eyes at him, we thought that 2020 would be the best year we’d ever had.

And it was! Just not how we were expecting. When Robert proposed to me last January, we thought that I would continue working the job I hated until July, we’d get married in August, the girls would go to private Christian school together in September, and who knows, perhaps by December I’d be looking for a part-time job close to their school.

The reality was that I got strep throat in March, he watched the girls while I quarantined alone in a room in his house, we decided, “Hey, this world’s going crazy, let’s not wait until August!” and got married in April, decided to homeschool the kids in June, spent the summer and early Fall doing lots of house projects and put it on the market in late Fall, juggled teach FROM home/teach IN home challenges, and so heavily stepped away from the life we had planned for ourselves in January of this very same year.

And you know what? It’s been the best year of my life.

That’s not to say there haven’t been struggles. We’ve had moments that reduce me to angry, anxious tears. We’ve faced the same sort of trials that so many others are facing this year, as well as some that are peculiar just to us.

But through it all one thing has remained: God is sovereign. God is never off His throne, even in 2020, and He requires us to trust in Him and be content in all circumstances.

I did not expect any of these circumstances. I mean, I knew at the beginning of 2020 that I would be going into at least half the year with an incredible husband, but I didn’t expect the particulars. And nobody expects a pandemic! Unless you’re God. God isn’t surprised by anything that happened this year, which is such a relief as it means that we don’t have to be shaken. He knows the good, the bad, and the ugly, and brings it all about for our good and His glory.

So if there’s anything from 2020 that I would like to take with me into 2021 it’s the lessons I’ve learned about faithful obedience. I don’t know what trials are going to come across my way, but I do know that God requires me to trust Him through them. Just as the Israelites followed the pillar of cloud through the wilderness, I am following Him through everything. As the old hymn says, “Trust and obey, for there’s no other way to be happy in Jesus but to trust and obey.” That’s been my theme through 2020 and I pray it will remain as the Lord continues to teach me to follow Him relentlessly.

This year has been the best year of my life. My husband and my daughters are my biggest blessings. Learning how to take care of a house and embrace my role as wife, mother, and homemaker has been my greatest pride. And service in the church and prayer for her furtherance has been my deepest joy. I have been very blessed this year indeed!

I am prayerful that in 2021, the world can return to normalcy with more kindness and love than we have seen throughout this year. Let’s go into the next year looking for ways to bring glory to God, praising Him for whatever circumstances He brings into our lives. Happy New Year, everyone!