Hi Everyone! It’s been 2 years!!! That’s right 2 years!!! I know some of you may be wondering…“what in the world happened to you?!” Well, a lot of what's happened to most of us…
Life in the midst of the unknown, life in the midst of major change, life in a Pandemic.
As we are all finally seeing the light out of this tunnel of the pandemic, the light in me is dying to finally peek out again and reconnect with the relationships with once I felt deep connections, the passion that I have for pouring myself into my writing among a few other creative outlets, and to just move more freely in general. It’s 2022! A year that still sounds so strange to this 80’s baby, but here we are! 4 months in to be exact. Which is OK because April symbolically is the month of “New beginnings” and has been that way for me for some time, as it is the month of Christ’s resurrection after which comes new life! But before we move forward into this second quarter of the year, I just want to take a brief look back first.
2020 was a year for the books. Many of us went into the year with such optimism, hope, and excitement for a year that we thought was going to be our best. Then as an entire World, we got hit with so much. From a national panic due to a pandemic, the loss of so many loved ones, many dealing with the loss of their businesses and jobs, to highlighted racial divide and injustice, and more.
This was NOT what I had in mind on my last post when I said “2020 Vision/ Clarity”. Though in hindsight it really did open our eyes to a world we never imagined. It’s almost laughable how much we think we know and yet life seems to humble us and remind us once again that we are not in control.
"For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways," declares the LORD. "As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.” -Isaiah 55: 8-9
I know we all had our fair share of moments of this truth this year but it’s on my heart to share with you a deep dive into mine, with hopes that it brings you peace, relatable circumstance, or maybe even shared lessons that I’ve learned.
At the end of 2019, I had just gotten engaged and had this glimmering outlook on life. It’s possible I was just blinded by the sparkle of my ring lol jk guys! But seriously I was on a cloud of joy and excitement. I was “Ready” for everything that the year had to bring me, then BAM like a ton of bricks that vision came crumbling down. On March 3rd, 2020 a random Thursday, my fiance at the time was over hanging out and having dinner with me when I got a cryptic phone call from my Mom that instantly made my stomach drop. My childhood Pastor, family friend, and the man that had baptized me into the Christian Faith had taken his own life. Though I had experienced my own personal low many years ago which allowed me to understand the thoughts of suicide, still the amount of shock, confusion, and pain I felt from this was inexplainable. I struggled to process and pick up the pieces. It more than a little bit rocked my world, even more than I had actually realized at the time.
Next came the COVID1-9 pandemic. One day we’re all at work and things are “Normal” and the next we’re forced out the door and being told that we “Must exit the premises and work from home for the next 2 weeks”. If I'm being totally honest, to work from home full-time was my dream. To me, home is my favorite place to be, so I was happy to get a break from office life. But as the virus continued to spread, suddenly 2 weeks turned into 2 months...2 months into 6 months..6 months into 8...then Bam here we were still in the same position 1 year later. Talk about hindsight being 2020. With the dangers of the virus, we were forced to change how we interacted with friends/family, where we worshiped, where we dined, how we celebrated Birthdays and special occasions, and more.
With no clear vision out of this pandemic and a desire to honor God with our relationship, Michael and I decided to get married in a small ceremony (just us 2), move together, then shortly after we purchased a home in the burbs. It was like our dreams were happening in fast forward but with protective masks, and fewer people present. Nonetheless, these were some of the best things that happened for us in 2020. This was our sunshine in the rain. Or as one of my friends would call it, “COVID lemonade”, where we made lemonade out of the lemons we were given.
In 2021 things were looking better with a vaccine for the virus and booster shots. Still, unfortunately, we were met with more scares and even the loss of more loved ones due to covid and other illnesses. Thankfully still with as much loss as we experienced, we also were able to have more celebrations. Michael and I Finally had our Wedding, though still on a smaller scale, it was more beautiful than we imagined. Literally and figuratively as it also connected and brought healing to our families. It reminded us that our union is greater than us. That God brought us together to mend some of the wounds of our loved ones but also to break curses for the future generations of our family. We also celebrated some of our closest friend's weddings and also welcomed new life! Something else that I took advantage of for the first time was dun dun dun……..Therapy. It’s something I’ll share more about in another post but is something to not leave out as it was a game-changer for me. I learned that it’s absolutely ok to need a little help processing things and healing past trauma.
The past two years may have knocked us all off of our game at some point or another but I’m here to tell you today that no matter how these past couple of years may have rocked you, made you fall off the wagon, or made you lose sight of the vision that you had for your life; you can choose to get up and get back to purpose, your goals, hopes, and dreams or allow God to help lead you to new ones. Every day is a day to start fresh. Yes, MANY things have changed but for those who believe, the changes both good and bad are ultimately FOR OUR GOOD. Happy Second quarter of the new year yall. Let's keep going and moving forward!
“And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.” -Romans 8:28
“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” - Jeremiah 29:11
P.S.: How we’re dancing into the future!
