Marriage from A to Z

“My Last 2020 Post”

What a year! I think the word that best describes 2020 is “UNPRECEDENTED!” I heard this word over and over this year but, I agree. COVID 19 has created a life that we have never seen or experienced before. There have been so many changes, challenges both good and bad. I think everyone has experienced a loss in some way; loss of family members, friends, co-workers, jobs, homes, businesses, property, etc. No matter what your experience has been, I want to encourage you to put on a garment of praise!

Isaiah 61:3 says, “To console those who mourn in Zion, to give them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they may be called trees of righteousness.” I know there is a lot of mourning and heaviness going on. I lost my grandmother who raised me just a few months ago, and just about every other day, I am hearing of another loss or about someone who is suffering from COVID. In the midst of it all, God has still been good!! Therefore, I am choosing to end the year reflecting on 20 blessings of 2020.

This is what I am most thankful for . . .

1. Life, I am still here!
2. My relationship with Jesus Christ!
3. Having the Word of God and good books to read for my mental sanity
4. Relationships with friends and family
5. My husband & celebrating 22 years of marriage
6. God healed my body this summer and restored my health
7. Strength and the ability to exercise
8. Church and church family
9. Co-Workers and my students
10. Having a job and sources of income
11. Being able to work from home
12. Technology that has allowed us to stay connected (Zoom, FaceTime, etc.)
13. A house to live in
14. Food to eat
15. Clothes on my back
16. Being in my right mind (Mental health is so important)
17. Publishing a new book this year (Homeschooling from A to Z)
18. Having two graduates (one from high school and one from college)
19. Protection from the virus
20. Opportunities to minister and help others

To God be the glory for the great things that He has done and is doing! I look forward to what 2021 will bring. What about you? What has God done for you in 2020? Tell of His goodness! May the Lord continue to comfort and strengthen all who are mourning in the name of Jesus! May He heal those who are sick mentally and physically. May we transition from 2020 into the new year! Put on a garment of praise!!

Until next time. . .

Carolyn