2020 Year in Review

2020 Year in Review
December 27, 2020

It is deeply etched in my memory. And even though it no longer has any practical purpose for me, I still remember it…963.7710. It’s the first phone number I ever memorized as a kid (before area codes were necessary for reaching the intended person). Today, technology does much of our remembering for us. Instead of recalling and dialing a number, we tap a name on our phones, or ask Siri to dial for us! Which means that though I have a pretty good memory, and am better than average when it comes to numbers, I can’t recall some of the phone numbers I use regularly. They haven’t been hardwired into my brain like the ones I learned as a child. They’re stored in my phone’s memory instead.

There’s certainly much about this past year that many of us would like to forget. But, as we come to the end of this year and look forward to a new one, (as if somehow turning the page will make all the difference), perhaps, we should slow down and take a few minutes to remember. Maybe there are some good gifts buried in the muck of 2020 that we need to hold onto.

In the book of Joshua, chapter 3, we read the story of an incredible miracle God performed for His people. He made the Jordan River stop flowing so they could cross over on dry ground into the Promised Land. Then, God instructed them, through Joshua, to gather twelve stones – one for each tribe of Israel - from the dry riverbed - to set up as a memorial. They were a sign of remembrance, of what God accomplished for His people on that day; a marker that helped them to remember His promise, provision, protection, and plan for them.

Psalm 9:1 says, “I will give thanks to the Lord with my whole heart; I will recount all of your wonderful deeds.” To recount means to remember. This weekend, as we gather one final time in 2020, we’re going to do just that – we’re going to remember the journey that we’ve walked with God, as a church family, over the past 12 months. And believe it or not, there is treasure to be found in the remembering; there is much to be thankful for.