Happy New Year 2021!
In reflection, 2020 has proven to be a challenging 12 months to many in the world. We have seen so many “firsts”, and sadly so many “lasts”, and our minds are still trying to wrap around the events. A pandemic, racial and social injustices, riots and looting were in the news daily almost immediately after the Times Square ball dropped and 2020 launched. I think all of us watching, in person or on television had such hopes and dreams for the coming year. Little did we know, in the blink of an eye, the world as we knew it would radically change, in many ways forever.
As I have scanned posts by friends on social media all day today leading up to the 2021 launch, the biggest group have been those who have wished the current year away quickly. Most voices have spoken of the horrors and heartaches, fussed about the inconveniences and regrets that have upset their personal apple carts all year, and condemned this year as nothing short of hell on earth.
Maybe I am in the minority, this was a very good year in many ways and I am so thankful for it.
This was the first year in our current home where there are trees to climb (not me, the grandkids), bugs and critters to explore (again not me), and we have watched it transform inside as we placed our things, moved them around, decorated, lovingly arranged all of our necessary and unnecessary “stuff”. More importantly it became a wonderful haven to shelter in place. The children never complained about being away from friends. They learned to play differently, and so did we adults. I was here with my family, and I so realize I was one of the lucky ones. I could watch them play outside, was able to work while seeing them chase each other across the yard, involve myself in flagging the start of their foot races, and sit quietly outside in the early morning hours and listen to the cardinals call to each other, laugh at the squirrels rustling through the leaves, and feel the warmth of the sun on my face as I sipped coffee and drew in the quiet pleasure of the day.
I had retired from hosting estate sales in late 2019 in anticipation of moving, and when the lockdowns occurred, I had a garage jammed with all kinds of inventory just waiting to be listed. People came to online stores like mine in droves to purchase not only necessities, but also trinkets, games, puzzles…anything to make their quarantine a bit lighter and happier. Ultimately I experienced the best year in sales since starting an online store. I had nowhere to go, nothing to distract me, I was listing items all day each day and the inventory was going right out to eager customers and even a few movie prop companies. I had never employed the scheduled shipping from porch side offered by USPS, but did…and even now I rarely ever spend my billable time standing in a line at the post office anymore. This “inconvenience” turned into a benefit, as many other changes did in the last year.
I got to know myself better in 2020. I had wandered away from friends, and sadly away from God in my daily Bible study habit. Too many shiny new objects had grabbed my attention over the last few years, and my spiritual health was lagging far behind and secular pursuits had replaced the Originator and Fountain of true meaning in this life. As a result I could see some characteristics I needed to discard from my personality, gathered information and gave myself incentives for new habits I needed to form, and old good habits I needed to resurrect came back to the forefront.
I employed a food delivery service with prepped meals for a time and started cooking for myself again. I began studying foods, combinations for healthy eating, how certain combinations aid in the body’s systems. I began to slowly but surely lose weight just by making better choices for myself and spending time on my daily meals rather than letting hunger dictate my food diary and fill it with empty calories. I was a caterer for several years, and always cooked when my child was growing up. As I strayed from healthy practices, I also could see a coinciding slide in my spiritual health. Looking back, it is really amazing to see how that turned around with the choices I started making in food and drink.
As the lockdowns lifted I was able to spend more time with family and friends again and I noticed the quality of the time had changed along with a personal desire to fill more of my time with people and less with noisiness and things. Time spent with others felt simpler and richer, not strained or pushed. I noticed things about my physical home more as my spiritual home began to rebuild inside. That is a forever process, and it is changing quickly some days, and moving slowly others. But it is all at the Lord’s pace for me, and comfortable. I don’t feel compelled to do things anymore, I feel privileged to be able to clean my home, garden a bit, sweep the walk, and do the chores.
Then one day, God chose to bring a friend back into my life after many years…someone special who prays with and for me, someone who gives me guidance, someone who is on a journey toward physical and spiritual health also, and encourages me in both my own business and spiritual life. I am still marveling that this prayer I have prayed for some time now was answered in the way it was, at the moment it was, and through the person He chose. I had asked for “bread”, and God graciously did not give me a “stone”…I am so grateful for this one beloved friend who is an unexpected gift of 2020.
Then through a recent chain of events God answered one last prayer in an unusual way. I will share more details later perhaps, but suffice it to say I was feeling a deep need for a time of retreat alone to regroup, study, think. For the last few weeks I had been considering several places to travel to at the turn of the year and was about to book the time the end of January. But God has redirected me as of today to stay home for a couple of weeks, as I did in the first of 2020, and refresh myself while safe in my little hippie bungalow. I will take a retreat time instead within the home I love, surrounded by the people I cherish. I will have time to study, to learn, to listen. Coffee will fill my belly as the sounds of nature fill my ears, and truths wander through my mind. Simplicity is my chosen path for 2021, and this is a great way to begin.
As I turn the page into 2021, I am excited to know the great things I experienced and gathered in 2020 are going forward with me. I am hopeful and expectant that God will continue to build on my lessons of the past year and next New Year’s Eve I will have even more miracles to share and grand stories to tell. Who knows, maybe I will finally write that book I have been tossing around for many years now.
I will mark the past year as living up to its name…2020. My eyes have been opened to new things, my vision has become more clear, the spiritual cataracts are falling away, and the healing has begun.
So here is a kiss of goodbye to 2020 and a kiss of hello to 2021. I pray for only the best for all who read…
Happy New Year and much love to all of you!
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