2020 is FINALLY coming to an end! Everyone get your dancing shoes on!!
When I think back on this year, I can’t help but say “Wow!” (as I’m sure a lot of us are for many many different reasons). This year has been one hell of a ride.
This year, I started with the expectation of following the Lord in anything and everything He had for me. God was going to steer and I was going to be the passenger; for anyone who has done this, you know exactly where it is headed. My assumption for this year was to leave for an 11 month mission trip alongside 11 strangers to go to 11 different countries across four different continents (sorry to ruin the trend there!). My hope was to travel the world, help others in ways I couldn’t possibly imagine, and be changed by the various cultures and people groups I would immerse myself in. And, dang was I wrong!
In March, two months in to our trip, my team and I were pulled out of Peru due to Covid-19. We spent the next several months quarantined in our homes separately. I had the opportunity to bury my grandfather by my family’s side. My team joined back together in July to travel around the States in a van. We traveled to 20!? (honestly can’t even remember them all XD ) different states and became the most dysfunctional, influential, and inspirational family I have ever had the pleasure to be a part of. Upon returning home, Kellie (my squadmate turned girlfriend) and I traveled from Portland, OR to Indianapolis, IN with a car that was gifted to me. We made it back only to have the car break down one day later on my way home for Thanksgiving. In the last month, I have moved to Indianapolis and started a new job. All the while, doing my absolute best to keep my only expectation in following whatever God had in store for me starting this year. Needless to say, this year is not at all what I had assumed it would be, and I can say without a doubt that there were many moments that were extremely uncomfortable, I wanted to quit, and unforgettable tender experiences.
I have been reading Deuteronomy recently. This morning, I came across a few verses that would be something perfect to permanently write on your heart for anyone following God’s expectation rather than your own. “Know then in your heart that as a man disciplines his son, so the Lord your God disciplines you. Observe the commands of the Lord your God, walking in obedience to him and revering him.” (Deuteronomy 8:5-6)
I could’ve left. I could’ve quit. I didn’t have to follow God’s expectation. I could’ve made it my own at any point if I wanted it to be, but I didn’t. Even as I sit here typing this, I really do not know exactly what God was teaching me through all the drama and hardships of this past year. What I do know is that He is our Father first and He has our best interests in mind every single time.
I urge each of you to find something positive from this year. It might come from lessons of all the negative and that is perfectly, alright! Don’t let any year go by, especially a bad one, without learning something or becoming a better best version of you! God has that best version of you in mind. Jesus will walk alongside you through it all!
I’d like to end this post with my grandpa’s favorite little poem/story, which honestly is quite suiting for this year. RIP Grandpa, you will be missed!
Footprints in the Sand:
“One night I dreamed a dream.
As I was walking along the beach with my Lord.
Across the dark sky flashed scenes from my life.
For each scene, I noticed two sets of footprints in the sand,
One belonging to me and one to my Lord.
After the last scene of my life flashed before me,
I looked back at the footprints in the sand.
I noticed that at many times along the path of my life,
especially at the very lowest and saddest times,
there was only one set of footprints.
This really troubled me, so I asked the Lord about it.
“Lord, you said once I decided to follow you,
You’d walk with me all the way.
But I noticed that during the saddest and most troublesome times of my life,
there was only one set of footprints.
I don’t understand why, when I needed You the most, You would leave me.”
He whispered, “My precious child, I love you and will never leave you
Never, ever, during your trials and testings.
When you saw only one set of footprints,
It was then that I carried you.””
I hope everyone had an amazing Christmas and have an amazing New Year! Cheers to the end of 2020! Cheers to another glorious year!
