Reflecting On My 3 Words for 2020

Blogmas Day 13

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Long ago, at the beginning of 2020, I chose three words for the year.

I’ve done this for previous years so before 2020 even began, I chose my words.

Create. New. Rest.

Looking at these words, I can’t help but laugh just a little bit.

I think without doing anything else, I successfully accomplished these three words. Create, yep. New, yes. Rest, of course.

But let’s break down these three words and see what they looked like as 2020 unfolded.

Create

There was quite a lot of creating going on this year. We had to “create” our own entertainment for the majority of the year since we were either quarantined, social distanced, or both.

We created quite a few memories, but I will admit I didn’t quite create as many meals as I should’ve. We stuck to a lot of our favorite meals this year and I wasn’t super creative in the kitchen.

Creating blog posts, though? I did do that. A lot. In fact, before Blogmas, I wrote one post a week and now I’m in the process of cranking out 25 more in December. I am very thankful I exercised this muscle because blogging during a pandemic has been a unique form of self care that I didn’t know I needed.

I also created happy spaces in our home. By spending more time here, it was more important than ever to have a space that felt welcoming and comforting. Between the both of us, Luke and I checked off a lot of creative projects including painting our front door bright blue, finishing the basement, painting rooms, building a fence, and updating several spaces.

New

I should just leave it at that and call it a day, because honestly, there were so many NEW things, I have lost count. An exact quote from my 3 Words blog post is: “I know that I have to do new things in order to grow and learn so reminding myself to do new things — and embrace change — will be a main goal for this year.”

Yeah, pretty sure I can check this off. Living in a pandemic, social distancing, wearing masks in public, adjusting to working from home for months on end, training a puppy, reading 50+ books this year… all new. Very thankful for it all, though. 2020 has been one for the books in more ways than one.

Rest

In 2019, I struggled with finding rest. I had a lot of anxiety and restless nights that when 2020 arrived, I knew “Rest” was going to be one of my words of the year. Rest has come to mean so many things for me.

Resting in God’s sovereignty, resting in faith, mental and physical rest, focusing on stillness. I still struggle with Rest on a daily basis, but 2020 has definitely been a year that has forced me to focus on Rest and its importance in my life.

As we wrap up 2020 and look forward to 2021, I wonder what my words of the year will be. I haven’t decided on them yet, but what I do know is that no matter what happens, I can rest in knowing God’s got this and He is in control.