Happy almost New Year! With 2021 getting so close, I've been reminiscing on 2020, and it has seriously been a long year with lots of unexpected changes. Can you remember your first day of 2020? I was at Passion in the Mercedes Benz stadium which honestly was my favorite day of the year. It might just be me but that day seems a lot longer ago than it was. Now we are just a 2 days away from 2021! Does anyone else feel relieved? Haha. I'm 100% positive that you all also had a year that was different than expected, and I just want to let you know: 1) It is completely okay if you didn't achieve everything you wanted to this year, and 2) You can reflect on how God shaped you this year and work towards who God is still shaping you to be in 2021.
To give ya'll an example of one of my expectations of 2020, I was most excited to go to UGA (go dawgs), make a friend group, and just have the college dream that everyone wants. So, I get to UGA and all of my classes turn online, I'm in my dorm room for most of the day everyday, I have to go back home to quarantine for two weeks, I join ministries but don't meet many people because of social distancing, and I question everything that I had expected at the beginning of the year. I had to work to make good friendships and felt myself comparing to people whose friends seemed to come immediately to them. I felt disappointed in myself for it not coming to me easily even though it was out of my control. Now, I am so thankful for my friends, and I know God has chosen each of them specifically to be in my life, and they have already given me so much joy through a difficult semester. However, I wanted to share this struggle with y'all, because it was something I didn't expect, and instead of beating myself up for it now, I can clearly see that God knew what he was doing. I promise that God knows what he's doing in your life too. There's probably at least one, maybe two, things that stick out to you about this year that you feel disappointed about or discouraged from. If you haven't come to the light at the end of the tunnel yet, I want to remind you that Jesus felt the same thing. The day that Jesus was crucified, he knew God was going to raise him from the tomb, but while he was on the cross he felt farther away from God than what we could ever feel, because he was covered in the world's sins that he was taking upon himself. In this moment he cried, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" I definitely felt like this the first half of my semester, and it's comforting for me to know that not only did Jesus feel the same way, but also to know what happened 3 days after that moment. Jesus was raised from the tomb! He defeated the enemy. It is so encouraging to remember that the battle has already been won. Even if your battle hasn't been "won" yet in 2020, God has already won it and He will show you in time. So, if there's anything you're still working towards and haven't achieved yet, don't be discouraged! I'm praying for all of y'all who are still facing a battle!
2020 can be a lot to process, but it's important to look back and see what God has been doing in you! Where has God shaped you to be a better person this year? One special thing about going through a difficult time, is that God prunes you. This means that even if things are taken away, it strengthens who you are in God. In John 15:2 Jesus says, "Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit, He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit, He prunes it so that it may bear more fruit." In my transition to college, my family was farther away and I had to restart the slow "making friends" process, but God was teaching me how to rely on Him more and trust Him when I don't know the future. I still feel my faith in God increasing even while more change in my life is happening now. What God has "taken away" from me has overall been beneficial, because I have gained more faith in Him. I would take time to write down a few things that you see God shaping you to be, because you can be intentional with this next year! I recently listened to a podcast, where Bob Goff said "get within 10 feet of your passion". In other words, your goal doesn't have to be where you want to end up, but there can be little goals where you can feel yourself getting closer to where you want to be. For example, if your goal for 2021 is to be more intentional with people, you don't have to be 100% aware of everyone all the time, but you can get "within 10 feet" and take time to see how a friend is doing. Whatever God has been working in you this year can continue onto the next, and I believe that each of you can become even more beautiful people!
I'm doing myself a favor and not having specific expectations for 2021, but I still have an overall hope for a great year! What will happen is definitely not certain, but I know God is good, and He will bless all of us. I'm thankful for each of you and I can't wait to continue to see what God does in your lives! If there's anything specific you want me to write about in 2021, I would love to so feel free to email me, and Happy New Year!!
Love this Emma!