What’s in a year?🗓
Good? Bad? Ups? Downs? Highs? Lows?
Yes.
Whether you had a “2020” kind of year or not, remembering all the GOOD things that happened over the course of any year is a challenge. So often we remember what went wrong before we remember what went right.
Finding the good takes intentionality. And let me be the first to confess: I ain’t always intentional.😏🙋🏼♀️
But at the end of 2019, I was impressed to try an idea I’d seen — to keep a record of the blessings that happened during each week of life. Make a note for every week, put it in a jar, then pull out 52 cards at the end of the year to look back and remember all the Good that filled your life.
Little did I know, 2020 would be the perfect year to attempt this project.
With a Dollar Tree jar and a pack of 3×5 index cards, we began on January 1, 2020. I called it our Good Things Jar.
Each Monday we wrote at least one good thing God filled our life with during the previous week. Now, don’t envision this to have gone down perfectly… We ended up with only 40 cards and not everyone remembered to write their “thing” every single week.😂 But we gave it the ol’ college try.
Last night with our jar full, we sat around the New Year’s Day dinner table and each took turns reading the cards. Some things were very well remembered while others were like unexpected packages arriving all over again. Even amidst all the hard and bad and who-could-ever-imagine things of this year, we had evidence of Good.
God truly filled our lives with Good Things in 2020, just as He always has and will continue to do every single year of our lives, all the way into Eternity.
“Listen to me, descendants of Jacob, all you who remain in Israel. I have cared for you since you were born. Yes, I carried you before you were born. I will be your God throughout your lifetime— until your hair is white with age. I made you, and I will care for you. I will carry you along and save you.” Isaiah 46:3-4 NLT
“How great is the goodness you have stored up for those who fear you. You lavish it on those who come to you for protection, blessing them before the watching world.” Psalms 31:19 NLT
Friend, I don’t know what 2020 looked like for you. The Best. The Worst. A little bit of both. But whatever it held, I’m willing to bet there was Good.
Jar or no jar, I pray The Holy Spirit helps each of us remember the Good Things from this year, recognizing they all came from The One who has carried us every second of life — including our life during 2020. And when we remember, may we, like King David, say:
“Let all that I am praise the Lord; with my whole heart, I will praise his holy name. Let all that I am praise the Lord; may I never forget the good things he does for me. He forgives all my sins and heals all my diseases. He redeems me from death and crowns me with love and tender mercies. He fills my life with good things. My youth is renewed like the eagle’s!” Psalm 103:1-5 NLT
We praise You, LORD, for 2020, and look forward to all the Good Things You have for us in 2021. I can’t wait for You to fill our jar—again!🙌🏻🎉👏🏻
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