I think we can all safely say that 2020 was one for the record books, and most of us are very glad it's over. While I will completely agree that 2020 was just b-a-n-a-n-a-s and I am very happy to turn the calendar to a brand new year filled with hope and promise, I also want to take a moment to reflect on the year that was 2020.
January 2020 started off like any other year – full of hope, wonder, and promise. By March, however, we were facing a pandemic, which led to closed businesses, closed schools, closed churches…
My daughter was supposed to have her high school graduation. She didn’t get that. She was also supposed to have a really exciting start to her college career, but spent the fall semester in a dorm watching classes on Zoom and having to get her meals to-go from the dining hall.
Nothing about 2020 has been normal. We missed out on a lot of things we had been looking forward to, and also had to learn to roll with the punches (like losing one of our sweet furbabies, Savannah) as life took on a new rhythm.
Blessings in the Burden
I personally know people who got COVID. (I’m currently isolated from my husband who has COVID – happy new year, right?!) I know people who lost loved ones. I know people who had babies but couldn’t have anyone in the hospital with them. I know people whose businesses suffered greatly.
But, as I reflect on the year that was 2020, I can honestly say that we are so blessed. Our lives changed – a lot. My husband works for a major airline and was forced to take nearly 3 months off of work. But there was blessing in that.
You see, we received unemployment. And I got to spend nearly 3 months with my husband during the summer (and we live on the lake so we got to spend tons of time on the water together).
While others lost businesses, I started one. I launched my Etsy shop on June 1, 2020, and the small but consistent income that was generated really helped our family a lot, because I also had to take a pay cut with my Communications Director job at church.
Our church was closed for nearly 3 months, but in that time, our people stepped up and learned how to continue sharing the gospel in other ways. And when the doors reopened, people came with gusto!
All of that time we have spent at home let us get closer to our neighbors. We’ve lived here for 2 1/2 years, and we knew our neighbors, and would wave or occasionally stop and chat. But now, we’re very close, and go out of our way to spend time together, help each other, and just enjoy doing life together.
In fact, during this entire pandemic, my neighbor across the street has been home on her own with her two girls, ages 5 and 2, while her husband was stuck in Texas working for the Army Reserves. We became her second family, and those two girls are my mini-BFFs. (They greet me with a hug and a smile every single day!)
While 2020 wasn’t the year we planned, it was the year we got. We had our share of loss, frustration, disappointment, and tough times, but I can truly look back and see how incredibly grateful I am to have not only lived through it, but to have a changed perspective.
What has 2020 taught you?
One Second Everyday in 2020
I use an app to capture a one-second video clip everyday, and in 2020, I successfully captured every single day. So enjoy my year in review in 366 seconds! (Also, this is a FREE app, y’all, so download it for 2021!)
