Things to be thankful for in 2020

 Posted by Lisa Laree to Beer Lahai Roi     

I decided to see if I could come up with twenty things to be thankful for from this very weird year.  Amid all the crazy, all the stuff that went down that grieved my spirit, could I find twenty things to remember going forward?

And then, as I thought, I realized I had a much better, much easier, much less traumatic 2020 than many people and posting twenty things to be thankful for might even seem to be insensitive.  So...maybe just the things that come to mind first to be thankful for...without thinking too hard.

Of course, there are the general blessings that should always spark thanksgiving...things like having a home to live in and hot water on demand and food to eat and friends and family to share life with... whether it's 2020 or any other time, so I'm thinking about things from 2020 specifically.

Our jobs didn't go away...we could work from home and still have income.  And working from home was a blessing...I got to see a lot more of My Sweet Babboo, and we were able to avoid a lot of risky exposure.  That's like, three or four things to be thankful for right there.

We now have a grandson...who was 7 weeks old yesterday and MAYBE I will get to hold him on Friday.  Masked, of course. 

I am thankful for technology that kept us connected (how many zoom meetings did we have???) when we couldn't meet up in the same space.

While we were not able to travel to the ol' stomping grounds and visit extended family this year, we hope to see everyone at some point next year.  It's a blessing that both of us still have our parents to call and chat with even if we can't actually go see them right now.

My Sweet Babboo and I celebrated 40 years of wedded life; can't believe it's been that long since that chilly, rainy day in August when we pledged our lives and our love to each other.  

And it may seem self-serving, but I am grateful for the crazy-long-running desert Bible study...it's been so timely so many times this year.  I feel like it was there to give me what I needed when I needed it.   If you missed the initial introduction to the blog, I found that I always learned more when I was preparing lessons for Bible study classes so this is my way of fooling myself into digging into the scripture.  I'm just putting my thoughts on the blog instead of in my journal. They are rather raw, but that's kind of the point.  So...if you've joined me at any point, I am grateful for YOU. :-)  

My prayer for all of us in 2021 is that we would learn to see God's hand at work even in circumstances we don't understand, that we can trust him to do what is best for the kingdom at all times, and that we can learn to adapt ourselves to his plan instead of expecting him to move heaven to fulfill our plans. If we learn that...I think we will have learned the lessons we were meant to learn from 2020 and we'll be positioned for whatever happens in 2021 and beyond.