I don’t know that I have talked to anyone lately who would say 2020 was the best year of their life. It was filled with challenges, heartache, and being stretched in many difficult ways. However, as long as I have been writing, I have given you my top 10 blessings of the previous year (cause face it, I do NOT do resolutions) and I was determined that 2020 would be no different. I may have had to look at blessings a little differently- many of them were new discoveries, so here are 10 of my favorite things from the past year.
10. Lake Beaches
When it became apparent that there would be no beach vacation
for our family this year, and many other summer recreation activities were a “no
go”, we discovered the beaches at two large lakes- one near my parents’ in
Indiana, and one near our home. For
several weeks out of the summer, we spent a day a week enjoying the water, sun,
and sand. It sure didn’t replace the
white sand beaches of the Gulf Coast, but they are fantastic gems we would
probably not have discovered otherwise.
9. Shop Small
Discoveries
I have always been a big fan of supporting small, local businesses,
but this year more than ever it became so apparent how important that was. As we watched businesses close down amid the
pandemic and restaurants struggle to stay afloat with carry-out business, we
became VERY intentional about where we spent our money. In doing so, I discovered a lot of amazing
little businesses and restaurants in our community and region. I found great places to purchase my spring
flowers, have cute t-shirts made, buy adorable clothes for our new nieces, get
the supplies we need for our pony, the best donuts in southern Illinois,
fantastic BBQ, delicious Mexican food, the list goes on and on. These are places we will continue to frequent
and support and I am so thankful that we found them!
8. Pre-K
Some days it is hard to believe our (a) is old enough to be in Pre-K, but I have vowed to enjoy every step of their growing up. The nerdy, teacher part of me just absolutely LOVES watching him develop reading and writing skills. He can recognize all his letters and he wants to spell every single word he hears or sees. He likes to write lists, write names, and create art. While it is a constant reminder of how quickly he is growing, it fills me with so much joy to see him fall in love with learning.
We were so very thankful, in 2018, when we moved to Illinois to find a home that worked well for us on 10 acres of property with a barn already in place for our future. However, this year we had so much more time to explore and invest in the property more than ever before, and we realized just was a blessing it was. There is a pretty little creek on the front of the property that (a) discovered in the spring while we were at home for several weeks. MANY afternoons of our spring and summer were spent on that creek bank playing, looking for animal tracks, finding neat stones, and splashing in the water. We spent time cleaning out the barn (lots of stuff left by the previous owner) to turn it into “The Pony Palace”. And many, many hours were spent walking and riding the trails through our woods and making s'mores in the back yard. In a year where we spent more time at home than ever before, we realized just how blessed we were with the “new” place we call home.
While it seems odd to say that we made friends during a
global shutdown, it is exactly what happened for our family. More time home in our yard, meant a chance to
meet others who were out working in their yards. A wave across the road, turned into visits
out in the yard, turned into a new friendship that we absolutely cherish.
5. Wayne City Youth
Rodeo
This past summer we began a new adventure as a jr rodeo family. It was a lot of fun to watch (a) compete in something he loves (even though he truthfully isn’t very good yet), but more importantly it was so precious to watch him make new friends, look up to older kids, and learn how to be a respectful competitor. It was a blessing for us as parents to find other families whose kids “speak the same language” as our cowboy, always stand for the flag, and pray in the name of Jesus. Our youth rodeo experiences through the summer were huge highlights of our year.
Throughout the year we saw our sweet (b) turn from 6 months to 18 months as the first of each month rolled over. While we watched him become more vocal and active he began to crawl, walk, run, and chase. In doing so, we began to see more and more interaction between our two funny boys. They really are the BEST of friends. And now that they can keep up with each other, they are always involved in some sort of play or adventure together. They want to dress alike, be in the same place at the same time, play with the same toys, and 99% of the time they are both very excited about it. Watching them love each other so dearly makes my Momma heart swell to the point it could just explode. Now, I just hope they will make room for baby number 3 to join their tight brother bond.
3. Time
2020 brought with it a gift I never expected, and that was
the gift of time. I spent more days,
weeks, and months with my husband and boys than ever before. The time my school was shut down followed by
summer break was longer than any maternity leave or summer break I have ever
had in my life. Our evenings of no
meetings or events lead to more consecutive family dinners than we have been
able to experience in our entire marriage.
While there were many difficult and challenge things about staying home for
so long, I will forever cherish the time it gave me. I was able to experience so many milestones with
the boys that I might have missed. We crafted
and read and played and snuggled for more uninterrupted hours than ever before,
and for that I will forever be thankful.
2. Snoopy
I’m convinced my (A) thought I was a little crazy when I
told him it was time to give in to (a)’s pleadings and get him a pony for our
home. He has loved his ponies at the
farm for a couple years, but he wanted to have one at our house so he could
ride whenever he wanted to. Thankfully
(A) was willing to oblige me and the process began of preparing the barn,
laying out a plan for fence, and most importantly we asked for some help in finding
the perfect pony. It was a search that
took some time, but in the end we brought home the sweetest guy for our two cowboys. The time we are spending together at the
barn, the lessons in responsibility, and the chance he has to become more
comfortable as a rider have all been worth it.
Having our pal, Snoopy, join our crazy crew as a major highlight of
2020.
1. Baby #3
While 2020 took a lot from us, the best thing it gave us was sweet baby #3. This little one was prayed for, planned for, has already shown us the faithfulness and goodness of God. There are still many things to do to get ready for this arrival in the spring, but one thing is sure- our hearts are excited to welcome this little one into our lives. While (b) has no clue what is happening, (a) is so very happy to be a big brother again, and he has lots of plans for the three of them together. We, as parents, know we are about to be outnumbered and out energized, but we are still looking forward to every bit of the wild ride we will be on.
“Surely you have granted him unending blessings and
made him glad with the joy of your presence.” Psalm 21:6
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