I sat this morning with my Bible and a highlighter in one hand and my phone in the other. I read, drew lines, and made notes, then switched over to my phone to share a few verses with a friend who is hurting. I then flipped over to Facebook to participate in a few conversations about how crappy 2022 has been. I went back to my Bible…and y’all…
2022 was crappy. Period. But I am the child of a sovereign God who is in control. The verses reminded me.
We are fearfully and wonderfully made, right? Sure, that means we are wonderful, little human beings created by Him in His image with our own virtues, talents, and value to the world. But it also means we’re made to withstand this world, to navigate it, to even somehow thrive in it.
What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun, right? (Ecclesiastes 1:9) Was the crap in 2022 anything God has never seen or dealt with? Naw.
I’m complaining about 2022, but the fact is, God already has me. He has already seen all this. He took into account the events of this old world, me and my weaknesses, my damaged heart, and my struggling soul already when he woke me up every day of 2022.
He kept my daughter alive.
Keith’s cancer scan was clear.
Our parents are still with us.
He put people around me who helped me through COVID and COVID pneumonia.
He brought a beautiful girl into my son’s life.
My daughter got her own horse.
He led my family to a church where my daughter was saved and baptized.
He kept us working despite how hard it is these days to keep a business afloat.
Our businesses thrived, even, enough to offer bonuses to our staff members.
We’re fat. We ate good, perhaps too good, and we had money to buy groceries and eat out.
We got to see the coast of Maine together, eat clam chowder in Connecticut, and drive along a scenic section of Rhode Island.
I continued to be surrounded by an inspiring, smart, substantive group of women in the dance business just like me, led by a motivating, kind man no doubt placed on earth to bring people together, celebrate success, and perpetuate education and love in the performing arts realm.
He helped me produce one of the best series of shows in the history of my studio despite a host of obstacles, including but not limited to the deteriorated mental health of many students and a few parents who raked me over the coals royally.
So I’ll go to bed tonight a little less argumentative, a little less discouraged, a little less inclined to completely poo poo the past year. Yep, it sucked…but it also didn’t. I can’t fail to see the good things, the bright spots, the beautiful people who were there for us, the blessings.
Now…2023…if God wakes me up to you tomorrow, I’m going to do my best to be who I’m called to be on this earth. I’m going to love big, work to provide for my family, and make efforts to spread joy. I’m going to need you to get with the program, and help me out. I want to be able to go to bed on December 31, 2023, thankful that the good times WAY outweighed the bad for a change. You best listen up. I’ve got God on my side, and He don’t play.
Y’all, I heard someone say the other day that we can’t hate the cards we’re dealt if we know The Dealer. I know Him, and I trust Him. He brought me into 2022, and His grace and mercies brought me through it. I’m faithful that He will do the same in 2023.
Cheers.
Amanda Herring, Writer 