Did You Develop Perfect Vision in 2020?

Almost one year ago (January 1st) I wrote a blog on how I was going to live a remarkable life in 2020. Everything I saw and accomplished would be remarkable. I would tell everyone that asked that I was remarkable. It was my word for the year. Well remarkable it was indeed. I said my vision would be perfect, 20/20 vision in 2020.

Initially I felt nothing could be farther from the truth. What was remarkable in 2020, I saw nothing happening according to plan. Pandemic, unemployment, deaths, difficult election, financial ruin. How was this perfect or remarkable in any way?

And then, I remembered the definition of remarkable.

Remarkable adjective: worthy of being or likely to be noticed especially as being uncommon or extraordinary

The thing I was missing was I thought remarkable was a positive adjective. I thought to be remarkable was to be outstanding in a good way and that is what I had planned on being in 2020. I missed that nowhere did it say this, it said, “likely to be noticed…uncommon and extraordinary.” I have to stop skimming the words when I read and focus more on the actual written words.

I scratched my head recently and realized I have lived a remarkable year. Remarkable according to the true definition and not my definition. There definitely were many things I noticed this year and without God I would have never made it. We as a nation were hit over and over with constant surprises and unforeseen events. God is the only way I could move through this year and know I would be okay. I repeated Psalm 46:5 over and over this past year.

Psalm 46:5 “God is within her, she will not fall;
God will help her at break of day.”

It seemed many nights I went to bed wondering what the next day would bring. I couldn’t watch the news because I had no faith in it to be true. I relied on my husband for updates on the coronavirus, the stock market, election information and so on. I removed myself from the constants of the world to focus on God and His powers to get me (and you) through this year. I listened to sermons that were positive reminding me that God was in control. I moved away from sermons that talked about this being the end of times, sorry preachers, this has been preached about for a few thousand years. Only God knows when this will be, let’s not try to figure that out.

Psalm 91:11 For he will command his angels concerning you
    to guard you in all your ways;

What was remarkable for me this year? Many things have happened that I didn’t think would. My biggest account for my job froze their budgets and cancelled their orders ($10,000) leaving me without income. At first I freaked out but then I quieted myself and breathed deeply. What would I do with my time without this account? This allowed me to dig deep within myself to recognize I was focusing on money too much. When God stopped my ability to sell and make money, He pointed me to focusing on my ministry and understanding how to help people in a pandemic. I learned how to pray for people through texting prayers. I dropped gratitude hearts off on peoples’ porches so I still shared gratitude hearts without holding someone’s hand. I made a plea for my donors to help place a large order to Kenya for gratitude hearts since they were suffering from locust and coronavirus threatening them. I was blown away by the people that donated to help keep these artisans working through their troubles. It wasn’t about me making money for me, it was about me sharing money with others. My vision became clearer on this in 2020.

Proverbs 22:9 The generous will themselves be blessed, for they share their food with the poor.

Another remarkable thing that happened is that we were all locked down and had to remain in our houses unless we were an essential worker. This gave me a lot of time to study God’s word and try to absorb more of the Bible for a better understanding. I don’t have good reading comprehension so I rely on learning at times through visual learning. I do this by watching and listening to video messages to help me comprehend. I watched “The Chosen”, many Rick Warren messages, “The Life of Jesus Christ” movie, did a few Bible studies and practicing praying more genuinely. I found my days were longer than before because I was immersing myself into good and not wasting time. I would look at the clock expecting it to me 1:00 in the afternoon and it was only 10:30 in the morning. My vision became clearer that when I am in and with God I see more clearly.

1 Timothy 4:15-16 Be diligent in these matters; give yourself wholly to them, so that everyone may see your progress. Watch your life and doctrine closely. Persevere in them, because if you do, you will save both yourself and your hearers.

The last thing I would like to cover is seeing my family differently in 2020. In past years I have been very busy and quick to say I didn’t have time to have a cup of coffee with my parents or to sit and have a meaningful conversation with my husband. This changed dramatically in 2020. Once again we were facing cancer with a family member and during a pandemic. His compromised health had to be protected and I needed to be the one that did errands, got groceries and visited as to have them not become lonely and isolated. I saw God grow me spiritually to understand my role in taking care of my family. He softened my heart and strengthened my vision in yet another way.

The Fifth Commandment says: “Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long upon the land which the LORD your God is giving you” (Exodus 20:12). My parents have cared for me when I was young, paid for my schooling, held my hand when I was brokenhearted, stayed up all night with me when I was sick, as well as paid bills for me when I was a single mom without money. I definitely can care for them as God has asked.

I feel the year of 2020 (or 20/20 vision) had given me great clarity. As I removed my dirty glasses and cleaned them with the cloth or fabric of the Bible I do see perfectly. I see that no matter what we walk though, God has a purpose and an opportunity to grow. May God bless you. My gratitude and love-LoLo

Philippians 4:7 Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.