2020: The Hardest Year Ever
I don’t typically say things like this. Honestly... this has been hardest year of my life. I turned 30 and while I am glad to be 30... it was the worst birthday ever.
I needed to remind myself of this today:
When things happen to you that are out of your control what can you control? Your attitude and what kind of person you choose to be in the midst of pain.
When hard times come will you still be grateful? Will you still be kind? Will you still see God as good and faithful? Will you still worship? Will you still believe God never fails? Or do those things only apply when life goes as YOU think they should. My answer is... I still will.
I haven’t been able to really post lately because I haven’t known what to say. I will share when I am ready what has been going on but I know everyone in 2020 has faced challenges they never thought they would. Me and Clay (my husband) have been talking about perspective a lot. Many times when bad things happen we are forced to shift our perspective because we are trying to survive whatever hard thing we are facing. Every hallmark movie we watch is some business woman from a big city getting a shift in her perspective after she inherited some B&B in Vermont. It feels like the end of the world to her as we all watch and wait for the mechanic to show up. He of course is actually a millionaire and sweeps her off her feet. You know these movies right? What I am going through is much harder than being sent to Vermont. In fact, Vermont sounds nice right now but just like in those movies life forces us to shift our perspective.
For my own emotional survival it feels like I am in a constant perspective shift. My gratitude list I told y’all about a few blogs back is harder to write but it reminds me of the way I want to think about my life. So my encouragement to you is to shift your perspective when hard things happen and BEFORE they happen. What if when devastation came, you were already in a place of gratitude and of trusting God so much that you don’t have to know all the answers.
Be intentional about the kind of person you will be before hardship comes because it just will. I have my response to hard times written down so I can read it and remember who I choose to be no matter what. I choose to be grateful. I choose to trust God and know He is sovereign. I choose to have joy. I choose to lean into Jesus. I choose to fight the good fight but let Jesus be my strength. I choose to rest and listen to my body. I choose to be kind. I choose even when I’m sad to love people well. I choose to allow myself to process and not just move on. I choose to do my best in the season I’m in and let God do the rest.
I’ll tell more soon but pray for ya girl and if you’re reading this… I’m praying for you.
You got this Mama!
Whitney Jones
