2019 Melissa doesn’t know what’s about to hit.

2020 will go down in the history books as this century’s 1929. I for one am not the same girl who toasted the new year with a kiss and a cheer. I doubt any of us are the same people we were. Over and over, we’ve popped our heads out of the foxholes only to be shot at again. We’re all looking forward to the election, the cure, the relief check, the finish line.

That said, I have gone places with my faith this year that I wouldn’t have if everything were rosy. I see a distinction in my family and my soul because the Lord is with us. Every time we faced something scary and exhausting, God showed up- every single time. Car troubles, bank errors, school finances, a hurricane that wasn’t predicted to hit us… Everything 2020 has thrown at us, the Lord has been our strength and a shield around us. Four times this year, sadness and despair overwhelmed me. I grabbed my Bible, or I went for walks to pray and cry, and God showed up. His Word restored my hope and confidence. He neither hurried me through grief nor abandoned me in the middle of it. He is an ever-present help in times of trouble.