It's Christmastide, that wonderful season of celebrating the great gift of a good God in the birth of Jesus and sharing gifts amongst ourselves. It's also the end of the year, which has me reflecting on 2020 and the things that have been gifts to me. At first, I thought of two specific gifts but since it's hard to resist a good theme I thought I would challenge myself to think of 20. Maybe you'd like to do the same in this last week of a year we will never forget. Even in a year of losses, there are so many gifts.
1. Our family has stayed healthy.
This obviously stands out in a year where we've been more aware of germs and their spread than ever before.
2. Ladies' Bible Study on Zoom
In March I talked with another woman in our church about having a Bible study time for ladies, but I couldn't figure out how to fit that easily into the week. I need to be home most days to oversee school for the kids, and meeting in Paris takes a lot of travel time. Scarcely two weeks later, and France was in a strict lockdown, and we all downloaded this little app called Zoom.
The pandemic made us try something that we would never have thought to try, and it is my favorite gift of 2020. Reading the Bible together and discussing it on Zoom enabled women to join us when they went away on holiday for the summer, while their babies were napping or crawling all over them needing to be muted. It eliminated hours of travel time in the middle of a work day. It kept us safe, encouraged our hearts, and kept us connected. What a gift.
3. Church in the Park
Similarly, we would never have moved church meetings outside in Paris parks without the pandemic necessitating new creativity in gathering, and this time was such a blessing to me, too. On a typical Sunday in the building, I had quick conversations with lots of people, mostly just quick catch-ups. These are of course good, but the times in the park gave time to actually have conversations around the sermon, beyond the quick chats. I was able to hear how people were processing God's Word that week. We could ask questions and hear each other's thoughts. It was another good gift of connection.
4. Taking Advantage of Paris before things Shut Down
I am SO thankful I made so many plans in February. We visited Luxembourg Gardens and the Pantheon with friends. I saw inside the stunning Sainte Chapelle with a friend. E and I saw Little Women at the theater. We went to the zoo and met up with friends. The kids had friends over to hang out, and we went to restaurants. I am so grateful we did all of these things before normal life disappeared! And did you notice a theme there? Friends, friends, friends! We've missed our friends this year, haven't we?
5. The Garden
We utilized Noreen's garden more than ever before this spring during lockdown. K.J. and I paced back and forth discussing the day's events. We tracked each new blossom and watched birds build their nests.
6. Michael Tinker's daily lockdown shows
We met Michael in North Yorkshire, and his Mission to Dendros album was already a family favorite on road trips, but his daily Facebook Live with songs and puppets, costumes, and jokes was a daily joy and part of our lockdown rhythm.
7. Some Good News with John Krasinski regularly made me cry.
8. Robins
I've had a special love for robins for 5 years now, and watching one build his nest during lockdown was happy for me.
9. Online Book Club
It wasn't our normal, but it was still so good to have an avenue to talk about books.
10. Family Bike Rides
11. Outdoor Communion
Anytime you do something in a new context it arrests more of your attention, wakes up your brain and your heart from the fog of the familiar, and taking the Lord's Supper outdoors with our church--bring your own baguette!--was special.
12. A Hammock
Friends who moved away this summer gifted us their hammock, and we all fought over time in it. Why is swinging through the summer air with a book the best thing ever?
13. Our Supporters
While we were enjoying our first outing in the world since the end of lockdown, marveling at being in the wheat fields made famous by Vincent Van Gogh, someone broke our car window and stole my computer. This was obviously a complete bummer of a way to end our mini vacation, but by the next day several of our supporters and friends had offered to cover the cost of replacing our window and my laptop. This lavishness was an unexpected outpouring of love.
14. Online Gaming
I wouldn't have expected online gaming to ever be a gift to me, but with time with friends much harder to come by, J being able to FaceTime and play Minecraft online with friends or Switch games online with friends was a gift for him and to me.
15. An Impromptu England Trip
Going back to England now feels like returning home, and like most trips this year, our September trip was canceled. But we crossed the channel for a quick 6-day trip just before crossing the border grew complicated. We spend most of our time doing outdoor things on these trips so we felt pretty confident we could do the trip safely, and we're so glad we did.
16. Seeing More of France
K.J. was able to change his cycling fundraiser this year to adapt to borders being closed, and while he rode hundreds of miles I practiced my French driving skills and navigated traveling in France with the kids, and it was all a gift of discovery.
17. Reading Aloud During Lockdown
At the beginning of our first lockdown we decided to read through The Chronicles of Narnia, and it was nice having that goal. I hadn't been reading aloud to the kids as regularly before that, and it was an anchor to the end of each day that we all enjoyed.
18. Noreen has been kept from COVID.
A big part of all our decisions this year has been shielding our dear friend and neighbor in her 90s, and we are grateful she has stayed well this year.
19. Our EIC Family
Even though we spent a majority of the year meeting in non-traditional ways, God still added to our number, and we'll never forget our very cold outdoor baptism service in September! I'm grateful for how God has grown and stretched each person in our midst. I'm also really grateful for the men and women who work behind the scenes talking thoughtfully through every change in the rules in this changing landscape. Since all staff meetings have been online, I've often overheard all the discussions taking place, and they have worked so hard this year.
20. Walks with K.J.
We've really embraced that walking together lifestyle this year. I always feel better after a good walk and talk with him.
And that's my list! What's been a gift to you this year?
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