Remember that time we sat around and cast vision for what the new year would hold.

Remember choosing a word to decide upon your year, your purpose, your future. 

Remember toying with what “2020” could mean. 

Remember February and the last long grueling weeks of winter. 

Remember the hope when the calendar turned to March.

Remember the panic and uncertainties that set in, in just a matter of hours. 

Remember the decisions that seemed weighty and all consuming. Should I send my kids to school, should we go to church, should we meet with our friends.

Remember watching the news, checking your phone, stocking up on non-essential, essentials. 

Remember sanitizing your groceries, buying masks and unending bottles of sanitizer. 

Remember the spring, the assumption the curve would flatten in 6 weeks.

Remember 6 weeks coming and going with little change.

Remember the amazon deliveries, the bread baking, the board games and the messages taped on windows.

Remember the Netflix binges, the countless zoom calls and the permanent shift to loungewear.

Remember counting heads before gatherings and that first time you took a child into a store after months. 

Remember the summer and the hope to travel, to explore, to have a break from the “break”

Remember the birthdays that passed without parties and the loved ones gone without being able to gather. 

Remember the simple joys, the countless walks, the sunshine.

Remember the hope that came with fall, the hope of structure, of routine, of our old life.

Remember the family meals, the movie nights, the intention with relationships inside your home.

Remember the protests, the politics, the unrest.

Remember the discussions, the division, and the often in your face differing opinions of those around you. 

Remember the cough, the runny nose, the fever and the million questions that now surrounded each ailment.  

We are called to be people who remember. More than 200 times the Bible tells us to remember. In fact, that’s really what the scriptures are, stories, experiences, testimonies of Gods goodness, a way of remembering. In the Old Testament, alters were commonly used as a way of marking an experience, a constant reminder to those around them and the coming generations of what God has done. 

Before we rush into the Christmas season and into writing off 2020 as quickly as possible, let us be people who remember.

Remember who you were when the year began. 

Remember what you hoped to accomplish. 

Remember who you gave your time to. 

Pause.

Reflect.

See the losses, the changes, the exhaustion and the growth. 

Remember Gods faithfulness. His provision. His constant presence. His unfailing love. 

Remembering gives us perspective. It helps us to realize that there was a yesterday and there is a tomorrow, we do not need to be so bound by our present circumstances. What we remember, what we meditate on, will become our greatest reasons for worship. Remembering is our path to trusting God more fully in the future.

Psalm 143:5-16 “I remember to think about the many things you did in years gone by. Then I lift my hands in prayer, because my soul is a desert, thirsty for water from you.