This begins the week of THANKSGIVING. I believe every day should be Thanksgiving… not just because I love Turkey but because we are called to be thankful in all circumstances and for all things. Yes. We are to be thankful in good times and those that are challenging and for all things good and questionable.
Looking back over 2020, we are faced with an ocean of difficult times, to say the least. So how can we celebrate and be grateful for a year that turned our lives and our world upside down?
If we are to be grateful in all circumstances and for everything, how do we address COVID?
How do we address the POLITICAL CIRCUS we’ve been in?
How do we address all the RIOTS, BUSINESSES BEING DESTROYED and needless DEATHS?
How do we address the RACIAL DIVISION and HATRED that has grown over the past year?
How do we address the fact that our COUNTRY and the WORLD is on it’s HEAD?
How do we address the fact that PEOPLE HAVE LOST THEIR JOBS, THEIR LIFE SAVINGS, THEIR BUSINESSES, THEIR LOVED ONES?
How do we address BEING IN LOCKDOWN for months? How do we address any of 2020?
…ON OUR KNEES.
We need to Thank God that we have survived in spite of all of it. I personally believe that God took this year to get closer to US during our global lockdown. Did you feel Him, hear Him?
Did you draw closer to HIM? I believe that within the isolation and lockdowns God was calling us to get closer so that He could draw closer to US…to teach us, comfort and guide us.
DID YOU LEAR ANYTHING while you were in lockdown? Did you learn that FREEDOM to go and do what we want and when we want to is a PRIVILEDGE and a GIFT?
Did you learn just how important FAMILY and LOVED ONES, FRIENDS, CHURCH is?
…And yes, even how important TOILET PAPER is?
More interestingly, did you learn how many of your friends have GREY HAIR just like YOU?
COUNT YOUR BLESSINGS.
Food is a Blessing. So many around the world are starving because they have no jobs or money due to covid.
Driving down the street with the windows down is a Blessing.
Seeing and hugging your friends and family is a Blessing.
Going to the Theater, watching a movie, especially a new release, on the big screen or hearing the symphony play your favorite music is a Blessing.
Going to the park, the pool, the beach or simply going for a walk is a Blessing
but getting your hair and nails done is simply icing on the cake and not a necessity.
Did you Learn anything from 2020?
Some of you have been able to come out of isolation and shutdown. Many have not. I pray this will be over soon. The absence of things, just like people, makes the heart grow fonder and hopefully we will all be grateful when some sort of normalcy returns.
In the meantime, be thankful for what we DO have. Get closer to family or the person/people you are in lockdown with. Get closer to the one who created the time you have to share with all those wonderful people.
I live by myself, so lockdown was harder because I had no one to share it with. So I gowned up, slathered on sanitizer put on my mask nd gloves and delivered meals/ groceries and medicine to elderly that absolutely couldn’t go out.
Keeping a diary of how I felt and how I was coping helped as did starting this blog this summer and editing my book. Doing all these things plus getting closer to God, helped me get through 2020. If it weren’t for the lockdown I wouldn’t have talked to so many people. I wouldn’t have had that amazing feeling when you help someone in need. So for that I am grateful.
We need to thank God for holding us together during this difficult year. Remember God is the master of giving ‘do overs’. We get to try again next year but lets be thankful for the lessons we have learned this year. Maybe we’ll appreciate next year more.
HAVE YOU COUNTED HOW MANY BLESSINGS YOU’VE RECEIVED INSPITE OF 2020?
I’m sure God would love to hear from you and so would I.
Until tomorrow…Peace and Blessings, VICTORIA
Believing Outside the Box 