"And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose." Romans 8:28.
So many terrible things have resulted from this year, and as the year draws to a close I think it would be remiss to not spend some time reflecting on the GOOD that has sprung from the bad. Examine the places God spoke and worked, where I paused and listened, and where His good rose up from the ashes of a bad year. This is what I know to be true:
God is good; He is always good.
God is incapable of creating bad; human sin and Satan create the darkness.
When we see bad things in the world and blame God, we are pointing the blame in the wrong place. God brings the goodness out of the bad, he factures the darkness and sin with light. When there is darkness all around look to the light, for that is where God is working. That is where God is showing up and doing the work out of His immeasurable love for us. When we count our blessings and give thanks to the Lord, we are saying "thank you, God, I love you too."
Despite what my social media pictures and stories told you this year, my family was not immune to the hardship of 2020. Matt lost his job. I suffered a mental breakdown. Hudson believed, I mean truly believed, he had no friends and kids hated him. Eleanor was lonely and at mercy of the human constraints of her parents.
2020 was hard. It is time I count my blessings.
If 2020 never happened...
- Matt would be stuck at a job that didn't see him as a person, but as a body in a chair.
- We would have missed out on hours and hours of family time together.
- I would not have realized my own postpartum anxiety crisis and gotten the help I needed.
- I would not have gotten back into devouring books.
- Hudson and Eleanor would not have created a friendship bond from being their only choice of a playmate.
- I would not have learned to sit in the stillness of my children. I am a busy person and it is hard for me to slow down.
- I would not have watched Hudson learn to read before my very eyes. I was there the first time it clicked and that is an experience I will treasure in my mama heart.
- We would not have been forced to take a good, hard look at what we value in education and in life. How do we want our children to live? How should they learn? What type of life and family system do we want?
- Matt would not have the incredible opportunity for a career pivot, and we, once again, get to lean into God and watch him write our future.
- We would not have learned that our faith in God is really what we need to keep it all together.
2020 was full of blessings and lessons. Look for them and give thanks to God.
Yours, because we are His,
Jenna
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