Blessings Of 2020

Twenty-twenty has been a year of experiencing God’s love and provision. The Lord has walked with me and comforted me every day in a way that I’ve never felt before. God is always with us; He is not an out-of-reach God. But I truly felt that this year. I have learned how to have a deeper intimacy with Him and find true joy and peace in the midst of everything. May you be blessed through reading how God provided for me this year.

• My new home has been such a blessing. We hadn’t even been looking to move when God dropped this place in our laps. We doubled the space from our apartment, and the plethora of windows has kept me sane through the winter season. Not to mention, my cats enjoy having more windows to look out of too. Forrest has his own office space, and I have my own yoga nook. And we have a large dining room at the heart of our home for hosting.
• We got to host Thanksgiving for both our families this year. It was so special to have everyone together and not have to divide our time between families. It was a risk in light of COVID, but God answered all of our stressed prayers. No one got sick prior, and no one got sick after for us to be blamed or feel guilty. There was no tension during the dinner for differences in responses to COVID. God put everyone in good spirits so that we could focus on enjoying time with family. Truly, we thought we were crazy to host 16 adults and six children, but God blessed us through it all. It was a joy to use our home to bless our mothers so that they could take a break from hosting.

• Forrest and I feel so immensely blessed that we live near both sides of the family and get to see them often. Even though we had to cut back on our social life this year, it gave us time to really cultivate relationships with our family members. During Christmas, God answered prayers again to keep everyone healthy. My older brother and his family flew in for Christmas, and we got to spend time with Forrest’s extended family. God gave us an abundance of a loving family to spend the holidays with. I know that not everyone got that luxury this year, and we are so thankful that God met with people where they were. He did not leave anyone alone; He was with everyone.
• Forrest and I were both blessed with jobs this year. When I lost my job due to COVID, He provided me with a new one. Forrest was able to continue working. And now we have both been blessed with new jobs. God has brought Forrest into a service-oriented job where he will be fulfilled rather than taken advantage of. God blessed me with the best student-teaching experience at an amazing school with an incredible staff. I learned and grew so much and had such a fantastic cooperating teacher. And He didn’t leave it at that, He gave me a job at that same school! I get to be excited to go to work every day doing what I love.
• Finances are such a huge blessing. I can’t even adequately describe how God has blessed us. Many of you know the summer was challenging for us as Forrest totaled his car in an accident and cut off his thumb in a farming accident. But God provided us with a car that gets great gas mileage. However, the car and Forrest’s semester at school ate into our savings. We purposed to put our finances into God’s hands as the medical bills racked up from Forrest’s thumb. He was out of work as he recovered from surgery. To be frank, I felt like God had already blessed us too much. I cautioned myself from being hopeful that God would supernaturally take the bills away. Instead, I prayed that God would provide for us so we could pay off the bills quickly. I prayed that I would trust Him, even if this sets back our future goals of buying a house, traveling, and having children. I prayed that I would seek Him in all things. And God answered those prayers. He directed us to apply for Trinicare which we hoped would knock off some of the cost. Forrest’s parents also wanted to help us out. We trusted God that He would take care of these bills. But then I got the letter from Trinicare. I didn’t even wait for Forrest to get home; I ripped that sucker open and burst into tears. God has reduced our cost by 100%. Just like that, all of our medical bills were gone. I’m in tears just writing this. This kind of experience is what you hang on to for the rest of your life. I will store this up in my heart and treasure this proof that God is a good, loving, providing God who wants to bless us abundantly.

• 2020 also gave me another beautiful year of growth in my marriage with my husband. God answered my prayers for my husband to find an Every Man a Warrior (EMAW) bible study group. He now has a friend group of solid Christian guys who can mentor him and encourage him. He gets to enjoy his nerdy hobbies with these guys. Ladies, your husband/boyfriend will treat you better if he has a social life outside of you. And he’s built up more from being around those who walk in the faith. I’ve learned that from my first few years of marriage.

The ultimate blessing is the Lord Himself. He gave Himself up for us on a cross. He chose death so that I could have life. He chose me. He opened my eyes so that I could know Him. I am so blessed to be called His beloved and His child. He is good, and He said His creation is good. Therefore, 2020 is good. My friends, let us sing His praises forevermore.