Happy New Year!

Posted by Mary Kooiker

A new year or a new day?

The year 2020 kicked us down at a global level. And then it tried to kick us again while we were down. However, one mistake was made in 2020. That being, the year 2020 made an assumption that we were defeated.

Looking back on 2020 it sounds more like a recap of Billy Joel’s “We Didn’t Start the Fire.” I could list a rundown of all of the things that happened in 2020. But since it was only yesterday, let’s not rehash it. Some things in 2020 have been forgotten. Some never will be. Some may be erased from the face of history forever.

2020 did try to kick us down. It attacked us with illness, social upheaval, natural disasters, and unnatural fears. But humanity, strength, and will power march on. God did not create weakness. We aren’t beat down. We never were. Humanity uprises against the vengeance poured out against us, and we fight back. We are born, live, die, hope, dream, create, and keep living.

2020 is painful for those of us who have lost the ones we love. It’s painful for those of us who have suffered from illness and depression. It leaves burning anger of righteousness against the unfair provocations under which we have been bombarded. But what about the good? What about the newborn babies of 2020? Or the entrance of infants in 2021 that were created in 2020 behind the closed doors of quarantine?

For me, 2020 was a mix of good and bad. I will remember the good. I hate what humanity has had to suffer in the past year. I don’t like mandates, especially those that trigger asthma attacks and anxiety. I had COVID-19. I won’t deny that it was awful, but on the other side of it, I have immunity for a while.

At the beginning of the pandemic, I had a very large baby shower to host in Michigan. I live in Arizona. When I arrived in Michigan, vendues began to close. I moved forward with the baby shower, and the venue where we held it closed one day later. I had a wedding planned. I pushed it back because I had a grandchild on the way. The mother-to-be was my maid of honor and is my daughter. He is here! Baby was born on my original wedding date! Three weeks before my next wedding date, my venue was canceled because of the pandemic. I was stressed and frustrated but refused to reschedule my wedding – again. After my searching and praying by many family and friends, a venue opened. I had my wedding on October 18, 2020. The next day, the State of Michigan closed its venues – again!

A week after my wedding I had surgery. A month after my surgery I had COVID. Now I have recovered. I have seen a lot this year as we all have, but I have been blessed. I have a new grandson and a new marriage. I have a new lease on life. I was so blessed in 2020! Happy New Year and may God bless your year to come!

Relax. Be barefoot!