What Do You Want To Remember About 2020?

Well, friend, here we are. We made it to the end of 2020! A crazy, unexpected, emotional, challenging year! Hallelujah! Before we flip the calendar to a new year (I think we’re all ready to do that!), however, I’m posing a question to you today. What do you want to remember about 2020?

What do you want to remember about 2020?

Is it a lesson learned? A goal you achieved? Did you find out something about yourself or God or your fellow man? Did you learn a new skill? What kept you going when the days were depleting and discouraging? How did you make an impact in this world? What win can you celebrate? What is it that you want to take from 2020 and apply to your life?

There’s much I’d rather forget about 2020. Like this pandemic and quarantining. Like my mother-in-law breaking her femur in April. And the derecho that hit our area in August. Like the ugly days leading up until the election in November. Like the unrest in our land. And the disappointment of canceled birthday parties, family gatherings, weddings, celebrations, concerts, and vacations. There is a lot I’d like to forget. Can you relate?

But, honestly, there’s much more I want to remember about 2020.

So much more. Such as:

• The goal I achieved in January of walking and running 75 miles that month.
• A fun concert in March, the night before everything shut down in our state because of COVID.
• An online course to equipped me in my job and in my communication.
• God gave me a passion to write and encourage others through this pandemic.
• Bill and I spent a day in Pella in May and experienced the beauty of their annual tulips. (Something I’ve always wanted to do.)
• Zach moved closer to home in May.
• Since all of our organized bicycle rides were canceled this summer, we biked for fun with no training involved. (Also something I’ve wanted to do.)
• Bill and I biked and camped in Minnesota during what would have been RAGBRAI week.
• We enjoyed the Sunflower Experience in August, the morning before the derecho hit.
• God spared our home and our kids’ homes in the derecho. (Thank you, God!)
• I found new favorite recipes (Double Tree Chocolate Chip Cookies and White Chicken Chili are two faves).
• I lost 12 pounds and became healthier this summer and have kept up my good habits.
• Bill and I celebrated our 28th wedding anniversary in August with a fun scavenger hunt our kids gave us.
• We took a mini family vacation to Lake Geneva, WI in September. All five us of spent four days together in an Airbnb. So much fun!
• God equipped me to serve in BSF again this year, completely online.
• How our family continued to gather together whenever we could, even on Zoom when we couldn’t be together in person.
• I became a grandma on December 9 to little Nolan. What a little miracle!
• God answered prayers, He provided all we needed, He protected us, He encouraged us, and He was with us every moment of every day of 2020.

I also want to remember what I learned.

Such as:

• Tough situations can bring out the best and the worst of people.
• I am not in control, and God completely is.
• Panic and fear do not come from God.
• My 2020 word OPEN helped me keep an open mind.
• Our little community is filled with amazing people.
• I learned how to navigate my job in an entirely new way, completely online.
• God can use even someone like me.
• I am more of an introvert than I thought I was.
• It’s okay to not be focused on achieving something all the time.
• People believe in me and my writing skills.
• Counseling is good for me… to keep my head clear and my focus on God’s truth in my life.
• Taking care of my health is one of the best things I can do in a day.
• Online church is refreshing to me.
• It’s okay to feel all the feels, but what matters is what I do with them.
• A little 8 oz. boy named Nolan has captured my heart. I love being his grandma!

I think we all agree, 2020 was a year unlike any we’ve experienced. Yes, it was hard and difficult and challenging and painful. We experienced grief and loss in ways we never expected. Yet, in making these lists, I find there’s much more good that came out of 2020 than I realized.

Now, it’s your turn.

Friend, what do you want to remember about 2020? Will you share at least one thing below in the comments?

Tonight as we turn the page to a new year, I pray we each have a renewed sense of hope and a stirring of joy within us. No, the pandemic won’t magically disappear as we turn the page, but there’s something refreshing about starting anew. With a clean slate, with a brand new year ahead of us. Let’s thank God for how He sustained us and grew us in 2020, and ask Him to guide us and provide for us in 2021.

Happy New Year, my friend!

Much love,