Short blog post today as I head out for my SECOND knee surgery this year 😬.

I wanted to write down some quick tidbits of encouragement around 2020 before I take off for the hospital:

• Unity has gotten us through. I began this year with a hospitalization for my brain in February and I’m ending it with my second knee surgery here at the end of December. Obviously, there has been a TON of chaos in between these two landmarks, both personally and globally. But you know what? WE’VE MADE IT THIS FAR! My little family and I, we are still a strong unit and we still have each other’s backs. I couldn’t be more proud of the resilience and fortitude they’ve displayed in the midst of adversity. It’s so amazing to see these qualities in others as well.

• Humility and kindness will always win out over pride and anger. The stress and pressure of so many opinions, decisions, and limitations that have tried their best to define 2020 pale in the presence of love and truth. I’ve witnessed that those who have been kind, humble, honest in their interactions and steady in their convictions without judgement toward others - those are the ones who have shined bright this year and they are the ones that will enter 2021 as stronger human beings.

• We are still under the mercy and grace of God. I feel like we’ve all been in these little boats cast out into a stormy sea simply trying to survive this dreaded year. Everything feels out of control. Some are clinging with white knuckles onto the safety of the boat, some are trying desperately to bail out the quickly rising water that is flooding every aspect of their lives, some are sinking and barely keeping their head above the waves, and some have been cast overboard and perished either physically or emotionally in the darkness of it all. It’s been HARD. We’ve felt it and we know you have, too. We also know we have a God who controls the sea, the crashing waves bow down to the mere sound of his voice. He’s with us, he’s for us, he’s in our boat. We might not understand this storm, but we can trust Who’s in control of it. Peace is coming, friends.

He made the storm be still, and the waves of the sea were hushed.

-Psalm 107:29