In this season leading up to Christmas I have been reflecting a lot on how our Savior entered this world so many years ago. One of the things that I love most about the birth of Jesus is how it came about in such an unexpected way. Nobody expected that the Messiah’s earthly parents would come from a little town in the land of Galilee. Nobody expected the King of Kings to be born among animals because there was no room elsewhere. Nobody expected that lowly and outcast shepherds would be the first to hear the news of His birth. I love that these things were not what most people were expecting to happen, yet God orchestrated all these events according to His plan, which is infinitely better than anything the human mind can possibly imagine.
2020 has been such an unexpected year. At the beginning of this year, I thought that 2020 was going to be the best year of my life thus far. I would get to travel to eight different countries around the world sharing the love of God and doing work for the Kingdom. Instead, I got to travel to three different countries, come home and spend lots of quality time with my family, live with my best friends for several months, meet lots of friends on my new World Race squad, spend a few weeks doing disaster relief with Samaritan’s Purse in Louisiana, and spend more quality time with my family. Even though this year didn’t look at all like what I planned, 2020 was still the best year of my life.
That is not to say that this past year has been easy for me. This year included a lot of heartbreak, grief, sadness, confusion, and unknowns. It can be easy for me to look back and see what I lost and what I missed out on, rather than how I was blessed. I know that not everyone has had a great year; 2020 has been a very hard year for so many people. However, I would encourage you to look for the unexpected blessings that may be hidden throughout this past year.
In other news, I have an exciting update on my relaunch for the World Race! WE ARE GOING TO COSTA RICA IN JANUARY!!! My team will be in a town called Jaco on the coast and will be doing a variety of different things with the ministry that we are partnering with. I am still fundraising to relaunch in January. You can help support my time on the mission field by making a donation at the top of this page or by purchasing one of my awesome fundraising shirts or sweatshirts at the link below.
https://www.bonfire.com/thankfulness-in-all-things/
God bless,
Catherine
You be safe and take care. Praying for you. Love, Ned and Roberta