Looking back at 2020

Ahhh, 2020 is over. In some ways, it is a relief, in others, I am sad that a whole year has flown by. 

Let's take just a minute to look back before going forward. 

Last year, my word for the year was PEACE. It was exactly the word I needed in the midst of chaos and a trying year. God knew the word I needed.

Looking into 2020 last January, I didn't want to make a lot of resolutions because I thought other things were going on. (There was, but not what I thought! Or anyone!).

 Here is what I wrote last year when I chose my word and thought about making resolutions:

In 2020, we have many commitments including politics, campaigning, helping with the local homeschool co-op (I am also teaching this semester), hosting a reader's retreat, VBS, graduations of close friends and family, a major election, work, family, to name just a few.

Looking back, this how that turned out:

In 2020, we have many commitments including politics Yep, 

campaigning Looked so different this year, 

helping with the local homeschool co-op (I am also teaching this semester) Until we cancelled in March due to Covid, 

hosting a reader's retreat Postponed to 2021, 

VBS Postponed to 2021, 

graduations of close friends and family Happened, just different than we would have guessed, 

a major election Again, looked so different this year, 

work Thankful for my job, looked a lot different this year, 

family Time with family also looked different, to name just a few. 

Funny how our expectations vs. what happened last year were so vastly different. Most of the above did not look like I would have expected. But somethings were even better. There were definitely things to be thankful for in the midst of 2020.

Here are a couple of the things we listed on our Christmas card this year:

•  A new niece born in January
• Family vacation in July
• My sister getting engaged and married
• Fall family camping trip
• Seeing "Noah" at Sight and Sound in Branson 
• Lots of produce from our garden (1st time in a long time!).
• Technology
• Friends and Family
• Jesus!
  
• And so many more.  
  

Looking back on 2020 will always be hard, but I will try to find the joy, the blessings, and give thanks for all them. I will remember that God is always good and was and is with us always. 

I think it is good to look back on the things we grieve (write them down and release them), but then to also write a list of things to celebrate and give thanks to God for how He is always working in our lives. Look for those God sightings! You might just be surprised!

2020 - Resolutions

 Well, it is May and I am just realizing that I never posted this post and never even finished it for that matter! Here is how far I got with it...

I couldn't decide what to do about New Year's Resolutions this year. I really wanted to make some, but last year I seemed to not complete very many of them. I am the type of person who, if I make a goal, I want to complete it. I don't want to fail.

So I wrote down many things for this year...

But I think I need to scale it back a bit. If you read my post on my word for 2020, you will know our family has a lot going on in 2020.

I read a blog post from Money Saving Mom that inspired me to do monthly goals. So I think I will be trying some of those this year and breaking my goals down a bit.

At this point, it seems silly to go back and try to rehash what my goals are/were for the year. What I will say is God is working in my life. If you read my post about my word for the year, you will know it was peace. You will also know that peace is not the word I wanted. I wanted something like vision or focus. It is 2020 after all! But God gave me the word peace and I felt no option in it! And I am so thankful for, not only the word, but for the true sense of peace I have felt in the midst of all that is going on in the world.

As always, God knows best! Peace is just what I needed this year. I recently shared all of this with some friends and one of them said something along the lines of "God gave you a vision of peace for this year." I couldn't agree more. My focus for the year is peace. Peace in the midst of a pandemic. True peace that comes from God.

So this post that was supposed to be all about my goals and resolutions for the year is simply about peace, about looking for God and how He is still working, about going where He leads.

Yes, I still have goals, plans, and things I resolve to do. But right now, my plan, as it should always be, is to let God lead. To let this be my reset. To see what God's priorities are for my life.

Go in God's peace.

2020 Word of the Year

It took me some time to come up with a Word for 2020. Usually, a word comes easily to me. Many times I know in December what my word will be. This year, I just couldn't figure it out. I had a couple different words, but I just wasn't sure. I really didn't feel like God was leading me to a specific theme for the year.

The words I had written down just didn't seem possible. Words like rest and peace and still and live, all sounded good and all sounded like things I wanted...I just wasn't sure how I would live them out.

When I looked towards 2020, all I could see was busy, full, committed...

In 2020, we have many commitments including politics, campaigning, helping with the local homeschool co-op (I am also teaching this semester), hosting a reader's retreat, VBS, graduations of close friends and family, a major election, work, family, to name just a few.

So how was I going to choose a word like peace or still? It really didn't seem possible or practical. It seemed like I would just be setting myself up for failure.

But I then felt God pointing me to the word "peace."

Could this really be the word for 2020? I didn't really want it to be. It seems too hard. (And besides "vision" would be a much cooler word for 2020!)

But yes, "peace" is my word for 2020. God made it quite clear to me. And in kind of a round about way.

I recently read this article from DaySpring called A Prayer for Peace. I would recommend you read it for yourself, but I really enjoyed this line from it, “God’s peace comes when we accept His amazing love and respect His mighty power, when we allow Him to direct our steps and soothe our broken hearts, when we acknowledge Him and sit with Him and turn to Him when the winds start to blow.”

Another part of the journey to peace was this challenge I was feeling to seek gratitude, to make an effort every day to be thankful. I heard a couple sermons and even a workshop that mentioned these verses from Philippians 4:4-9 (ESV):
⁴ Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice. ⁵ Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand; ⁶ do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. ⁷ And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
⁸ Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. ⁹ What you have learned and received and heard and seen in me—practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you. (highlighting is my own.)

Somehow I had never connected the "do not be anxious" with "prayer...and thanksgiving" and ultimately, with "the peace of God."

It was like all of a sudden I saw the big picture!

I had recently been reading about the Enneagram and I think I fall in the "6" category. It was bothering me because the downside of a "6" is worry or fear. (Probably the fact that it was "worrying" me confirms that I am a "6.") Anyway, I don't want to live in that place of worry, but in a place of peace. So this year, I am choosing "peace" because I don't want worry to be a part of my life. I want the worries of this world to fade away. I want my focus to be on Jesus. I want to always remember that He cares for me.

1 Peter 5:7
...casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you.

Jesus is our Prince of peace and He offers us peace. He has overcome the world!

John 16:33
I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.

There are so many scriptures that talk about peace. So many reminders from God's Word about the peace He offers and the peace we can have as Christians. I pray that as you go into 2020, you, too, will find peace, true peace that comes from Jesus. 

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Over the next year, I hope to share some more scripture on peace. Stay tuned!

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I will also be posting about my New Year's Resolutions.