Twenty-Twenty: One of the Best Years of My Life

2020.

Okay, Blog post over.

Haha! Just kidding.

One of the best years of my life has been the year twenty-twenty, bet not many people would say that. But let me explain to you why:

The beginning of the year I made a blog post about the New Year, and I never ended up posting my word for the year. That was very fitting because I don't believe just one word could describe this year. Anyway, January started off crazy but amazing things were happening at the same time. While COVID was just being discovered, the best friendship that I have ever had was being formed. During the time the world was going bonkers over WW3, I was just settling into a new school during my junior year.

Now let's talk March... Kobe and his daughter had just passed (my heart still breaks for that family), COVID has now made its way to the US in pretty good chunks, and people are scared. I don't have to describe every detail of the year, we pretty much know what has happened. But during this time I stopped attending therapy because I had reached some breakthroughs with my anxiety. My friendship had also grown immensely and at this point we were best friends. A friend that I grew up with since Pre-K came back into my life and now we are great friends. And school has now shut down...wow.

April, that was a tough one. Prom...canceled. I got COVID and it absolutely sucked. I remember being scared I was going to die for real but we had a shortage of tests so they would not test me. My spring break plans to Florida, canceled. BUT we got a new house. I got over COVID with God's grace. Luckily it was just my junior prom and not my senior prom. And I really decided that I was going to quit wasting this free time of quarantine and start being productive with this extra time home.

May, oh yea baby! I started to take this time and use it to keep the house clean. I started studying the Word more in-depth and listening to sermons. I started attending a small Bible Study on Wednesday nights so that got me out the house. And I just started falling in love with WHO Jesus is and wanted to soak up everything about Him. My papa and I built a bookshelf for my new room which is such a special thing to me. We also built a front porch and that time with him was much needed. I got lots of quality time to spend with my brothers as well so that was really fun.

June! I re-downloaded social media. That was super fun and learning how to embrace it correctly and not being obsessive with it was really awesome. Kept digging deeper into Jesus and did a worship series by Zach Neese that changed my life (it is called "How to Worship A King" if anyone is interested)! I started to just have very intimate moments with Jesus and He truly became my True-Love. I also took that trip to Florida finally, drove there for the first time so that was fun. And most of all... I started running and went vegetarian after being told to do so by Jesus, one of the BEST things I have ever done. Oh yea, and hope you guys didn't want any toilet paper, lysol, bleach, gloves, masks, or diapers because they couldn't be found.

July... still vegetarian and still running. Still growing closer with Jesus. Still quarantined. Went to the beach again and the river. Celebrated my 17th birthday with my two besties for life and I prepared for my senior year. Also, got a purity ring that I was finally ready for after so many years of my parents wanting to get me one but me telling them no. We aren't even going to talk about the civil uproar in our country at this point. My heart was and still is so grieved at the state of our nation at this point. And I started my first realll job so that was exciting!

August, WOW! The first day, I finally ran 3.1 miles on a treadmill at the gym... my time ended up being 50 minutes. It was my first time, at the gym, on a treadmill, and that distance. Let me just say, runner's high is a real thing! I got a gym membership and kept going. One of my bosses died, so that was real tough. But I also started my senior year so that was really exciting! By this point, my girl that was just my friend at the beginning of this year was now my absolute best friend and will always be, we basically spent like every weekend together (literally). The revival Let Us Worship, led by Sean Feucht, started. OOOHHH and real important: our state opened back up!

September-October... those went fast. I was doing school, struggling real bad. Kinda got a bit depressed because senioritis kicked in and I was all online college classes so it was hard. But there were good things about those months like making now mile times and forming/meeting new goals. I truly relied on Jesus to get me through those months because they were toughhh. But I got my senior pictures taken! And my family started an outdoor church. My mom and I also took a trip to Washington, DC for the Let Us Worship event at the Capitol. We met so many awesome people, made crazy connections, and even ate some awesome authentic Ethiopian food. Oh yea, and I met Lou Engle (one of the biggest highlights of my year). They flew by fast though.

November... such a fun month! The last couple months of 2020 have seemed to fly by. I finally did a turkey trot and ran an actual 5k!! And guess what, my time was 31.08!! Something I never thought I would be able to do but Jesus really does work in mysterious ways. Election... election. I got to work the polls with a junior board I am on so that was cool. My brothers turned 8 and 5 so we celebrated them. We had three different Thanksgivings, ate way too much banana pudding. We had lots of get togethers at our house. And I applied for Bethel School of Supernatural Ministry. I made lots of new friends and really enjoyed hanging out with all of them the past couple of months. As well as, my family finally found our "tribe" and we started to make family-friends again.

December. Our current month. The fastest one so far! I had a Christmas party at my house and that was really fun. I have gone to see Christmas lights twice (one with that best friend for our one year friend-versary). We have had more gatherings at my house. Took my finals and I am pretty sure that I came out with As (absolutely ONLY because of Jesus)! Currently, I am being quarantined for the 5th time to make sure I don't have COVID, today makes my second COVID test. We are about to celebrate my Dad's 39th birthday and my grandmas. My great-grandma is really sick and struggling so its pretty tough to watch. Excitingly, I got accepted to BSSM last night so I will be moving to California next year so that's wild to think about. And the year hasn't ended yet... but I wanted to post this before it did.

Why? Because I wanted to have time to think through and explain my year. I wanted to have a bit to process everything. Honestly, this blog post doesn't even express everything that has happened this year nor the emotions with it. But I hope it expresses and helps show how amazing my Savior is, Jesus Christ.

2020 has been one of the best years of my life. This is because I have drawn closer to Jesus. My eyes have been opened to see injustice, government, sickness, pain, joy, family, and so many other things in a new way. I re-adjusted my priorities. I realized that in times like these an education isn't going to save, nothing is certain besides Jesus, and to never take any moment or freedom for granted. There's not anything that matters as much as your relationship with Jesus.

Jesus has used this year to teach me and grow me and stretch me. He has taught me perseverance and boldness. He has shown me true love and understanding. I have realized that when you seek Him, you will find Him. I also came to know and love that Jesus really wants to talk... He is the best friend you could ever have! He is running after your heart and knocking at the door. He wants a relationship, He wants you to talk to Him, and He loves you oh so much! He uses the craziest things to start revivals. And the craziest thing to me... He is so FAITHFUL to keep His promises to us. He is so so so so so faithful. For years I have heard pastors say that a shaking was coming and that revival was coming but after a while it becomes a sermon instead of reality.

Jesus used 2020 to shake us a bit... to sift out those on solid ground... to expose those who are false... to humble the proud... to exalt the humble... to give us time to rest in Him and connect to Him... to show us He can be trusted... to prove His faithfulness even though He had nothing He had to prove... to help us realize that He is a promise keeper. I have never seen the church in the United States on fire or praying more than it is now. And I am so thankful that I get to be apart of this awakening. And if 2021 has to be as tough as 2020 to keep us on our knees, I pray it is. Because Jesus has gotten us through 2020.

Jesus has carried us through the toughness of 2020. We may have lost some pride, some loved ones, we gained some more love for family, we fixed our priorities, we finally did the things that we have put off for so long, and we were put face to face with reality. There was no more "being to busy" and we could no longer excuse our short-comings. This year was a year of shedding and putting on a new layer of righteousness. And this year set the believers and nonbelievers apart like never before.

Everytime I think of this year I think of this verse and these lyrics:

"And not only that, but we also rejoice in our afflictions, because we know that affliction produces endurance, endurance produces proven character, and proven character produces hope. This hope will not disappoint us, because God's love has been poured out in our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us." Romans 5:3-5

"I want to be Your disciple, I want to be a worker in the coming revival, send me, I want to reap in the harvest, I can't get enough of You come fill me up I'm starving....

baptised in fire, out came out a lion,

new grace, new wine,

born once, born twice,

sleeping giants, sleeping bride,

out of darkness, into light...

I'm not bound to my flesh or the enemy, I've been given the keys of authority, to speak to the darkness and make it obey, I got the keys of the kingdom inside of me."

-Baptized in Fire x Ecclesia (this song fits for this year personally and nationally)

This upcoming year, 2021, is a year of hope. The proven character that Jesus has developed in us believers is about to produce hope and hope abundantly! Just get ready guys because Jesus just keeps on getting better and better.

So, 2020, thank you for being one of the best and most life-changing years of my life. We will never forget you. But most importantly, I will never forget Jesus and how amazing He is. I HOPE that 2021 can live up to the high expectations that this year has set, because they are pretty high.

This is my mom and I standing in DC... praying fervently for our nation.