A new year has started and I know it sounds cliche but hasn’t 2020 absolutely flown by?! You may know from my New Years Reflections post that I love to look back on the previous year. When I take the time to do that, I realise even more so that there are many things to be grateful for and lessons to be learnt. Read on and take a look back at 2020 with me.
What a year it’s been
2020 has been an extremely weird year for all of us. I think it’s safe to say that, this time last year, no one expected Covid 19 to happen. And when the news did start to mention a virus in China, we didn’t expect that same virus to influence our life this much. Things were put on hold, life slowed down, and priorities were re-evaluated.
On New Year’s Eve, Nathan and I love to take a moment to write down our blessings and lessons. Don’t know what I’m talking about? See the explanation and a free printable here! I thought it would be nice to share some of the blessings I’m grateful for and some of the lessons I’ll be taking into 2021 with me.
Our blessings in the past year
- As some of you may know, Nathan lost his job due to Covid 19. And since the cottage we lived in came with that job, we lost our home too. Every time I write that down or say that out loud, I realise that things could have gone downhill quite quickly for us after that.
But God has been so good. Even though the job market was in a bad shape (and still is), Nathan still managed to get a new job straight away.
On top of that, we were able to move in with Nathan’s parents until we can buy our own home. We only had a very short timeframe to move from our cottage. So to find a rental place that quickly would have been extremely stressful. We also really wanted to avoid renting, since that would have impacted our mortgage savings.
Times like these make you realise that financial stability and a roof over your head, are not something you naturally have. I’m very aware that people sometimes don’t find a new job straight away. And that it’s not always possible to fall back on family. Financial stability and a roof over your head are blessings and really shouldn’t be taken for granted. - The lockdown gave me an opportunity and incentive to finally start selling vintage homeware on Etsy and in the webshop. It’s something I’ve wanted to do for years and now felt like the right time to do it.
Setting up the shop. Finding and purchasing stock. Sharing the stock with you. And seeing the pictures of the vintage items in your homes. It has been such a fun process and I am so grateful for how well things have progressed in the first few months. I appreciate the trust you’ve put in me and I hope to be able to continue to offer you affordable vintage rustic (farmhouse-style) homeware. - Last but not least, I am so grateful for the health of our loved ones. My mother and stepfather caught the virus and they’ve been very ill with it. But once again, God has been so good and they seem to be recovering from it. I can only pray that it will continue this coming year.
Lessons I’ll be taking into the new year with me
What an opportunity the past year has been to re-evaluate our priorities and the way we live our lives!
I personally have really felt the urge to get back to the basics and to simplify my life. The past year has been such a great opportunity to step back and to ask myself if I want to do something different. I noticed that I very much felt the need to get rid of ‘clutter’ in my life. To simplify it. And to focus on that which really matters.
The word I’ve chosen for this year is ‘Growth’.
In the coming year, I wish to live in a closer connection with God’s creation (and very important: the Creator). And to follow the rhythm of the seasons more. I also hope to create a lifestyle that’s more natural, sustainable, and self-sufficient.
Rather than just consuming, I want to focus more on creating. I’d like to get better at growing my own vegetables and herbs. I may or may not be thinking of learning more about companion planting and implementing this. Let me know if you know any good resources about that!
I want to practice new recipes to create, preserve, and ferment food from scratch. I was given an amazing book called the Women’s Heritage Sourcebook. A lot of the recipes are brilliant and contain simple ingredients. So I look forward to trying those out.
I’d like to obtain new skills and knowledge that will be useful in our home, I’ve already started knitting!
And skills and knowledge that could help improve the ‘A Hopeful Home’ blog and webshop. I’ve already started following an online SEO course. And it’s been mindblowing thus far. SEO was always such a complex thing to me, that I frankly didn’t even bother the past year. But the course has really opened it up for me. If you’d like to learn more about SEO, find the free course here.
Rejoice in the here and now
Above everything else, I want to honour Him more. I want to rejoice in the here and now.
I’m reading an amazing book right now called Beholding and Becoming by Ruth Chou Simons. And she says something that really hit home:
We must stop constantly trying to gain the circumstances we’d rather have, the things we’d rather be doing, the success we’d rather be achieving, the challenges that would be easier to traverse, the praise we’d rather receive.
By knowing and reminding ourselves of what He has done for us, we’ll start to love what has to be done.
Well folks, I realise that I may have been rambling a bit. But I just love sharing with you what keeps me busy and interests me. In the end, that’s what usually inspires my blog posts!
Have you taken a moment to reflect on the past year and to visualize the coming year? What were your blessings and lessons? And if you had to choose a word for 2021, what would it be? Let me know in the comments below!
Much love,
Jenna
