Maybe 2020 wasn't as bad as we think

 As 2020 comes to a close, I've seen a lot of posts about "P*** off 2020" or "What a horrible year..."

My parents were talking about that the other day, and my mom recounted their conversation to me. She said that she told my dad what an awful year this had been for our family, with only two of the nine of us not having medical issues that put us in the hospital.

But my dad said, "It wasn't a horrible year, it was a wonderful year."

That's because, despite our baby's heartrate dropping during labor and having to be born via C-section, during which one of my arteries was cut and I hemorrhaged blood almost to the point of a transfusion, we were both fine.

Despite my brother's entire family getting in a terrible car accident and flipping their vehicle, they were fine.

Despite my dad suffering from kidney stones and cutting his hand and needing stitches, he was fine.

In all honesty, we could have lost six of the nine of us this year, very easily. Had just a few things been different, six of us could have died. It's not unheard of. You see tragedies like that in the news all the time, that a mom loses her entire family just before Christmas or a wife's husband and children die in a wreck.

But that didn't happen to us. Thank you God that our family is still intact, that we're in generally good health, although some are still recuperating from injuries.

It really is all in the way that you look at it.

Yes, this year has been crazy, but even that craziness has brought in good. We've been stuck at home, but that means that I've had so much time to be able to spend with our daughter and bond with her. I quit my job, but it worked out perfectly because we had to move for my husband's new job anyway. We left behind many good friends in our move, but we've been able to see our family at least once every two weeks, when it used to be months in between visits.

2020 has been a memorable year, but when we look back at the good that has come from what could be deemed "worthless" and "horrible" and just tossed aside, we'd be losing a lot of good memories, a lot of reasons to be thankful.

So, thank you Lord for 2020. Thank you for the lessons. Thank you for bringing us through.

And if 2021 is the same or "worse," let us not wish time away but make the most of what You have given us. As Jeremy Camp's new song says, "Let me live with my eyes wide open. 'Cause I don't want to miss what you have for me."