Saying Buh-bye to 2020. Happy New Year!

I know we all know that just because today begins a new year, that all the troubles of this year will not be behind us — but still, there is always something so hopeful about entering into a new year.

It’s kind of like the beginning of every school year, where hope is alive and I’m just sure that this will be the year that I “nail it” as a teacher and a mom and all the other titles I hold — but a few months in and I’m like “maybe next year”. Ha!

And yet, we hope — well, at least, I do — and I believe that hope is what will get us through just about anything the world can throw at us.

Take this year for example: a dumpster fire in many people’s books, and yet, I have to say, keeping our eyes on Christ and His Church in the middle of the storms helped us get through it all.

Were there inconveniences? Yes! Scary moments? Yes! Moments I wanted to throttle a few politicians (working on it!), and again, I say yes! But looking back, we made it through and we’re alive and well and I can’t help but have hope for the future.

I know it’s weird, but I have to say I kind of loved seeing the many, many ways God stepped in and provided for our family and calmed our fears and held His hand out in the midst of the storm and steadied us.

Jesus and His Church is our Rock, and that Rock is a steady foundation that will not fail us — didn’t fail us this year — and I know will not fail us in the future.

A few months ago, John looked at me and said, “Moira, you haven’t changed with all the uncertainty of this year. Why is that?”

Honestly, I guess I hadn’t really noticed that I hadn’t really changed — if anything, I’ve grown more peaceful this year — instantly, I knew the answer.

It’s because of Him! It’s because of Jesus!

All those moments of fear and dread came to NOTHING — less than nothing, because they were me looking into the future without Jesus at my side — but Jesus did remain at my side, at our side as a family — and that made all the difference!

I now know — better than I did in 2019 — that Jesus is real and He loves us and He will carry us through all the storms of life, as long as we stay close to Him.

Jesus is never the One doing the walking away — it’s us! We are the ones who drift away from Him, who stop trusting and stop praying — and therefore we are the ones who need to turn back and run back to His side.

I’m going to share some words of a dear friend, Christine, who just took her last dose of chemo.

Talk about darkness, worry and fear — cancer brings all of that up to the forefront of our lives — but Christine discovered something so beautiful in the midst of that darkness.

She discovered Jesus at her side.

She walked this path the way many people of faith tend to walk it — quietly, prayerfully, waiting on God — hoping He would rescue her from the darkness and the pain.

She wrote a beautiful little post that made me laugh and cry and honestly feel so privileged to see the beautiful ways God took this awful diagnosis and did something absolutely breath-takingly beautiful in her heart.

The thing is, if you’ve spent any time reading the words of the Saints, you know that SUFFERING can transform a heart in ways few other things can do — it can purify, intensify, sanctify every little corner of our hearts that we never gave the time to look at.

The truth is, there are these beautiful souls living among us, quietly living their beautiful lives of love and faith, trust and surrender.  They inspire me.

Christine inspires me, and her words of are something I think everybody should hear— especially if you’re suffering right now.  She said I could share them:

“I am grateful because I needed to go through it all. There was much in me that needed to be weeded out, so much that I needed to learn.  I won’t know or completely understand all of it in this life, but I trust Him….He didn’t spare me the sufferings, but He was with me so tangibly that I don’t want to forget any of it. I know many of my friends are suffering fiercely right now… I hope you know that you are not alone…Cry out to Him if you need to, but truthfully, a whisper will suffice.  He is already so close He can kiss you.”

Christine (on her last day of Chemo!)

If you ask me why I believe in a good and loving God when there is so much suffering in the word, it’s because of people like Christine.  People who choose to LOVE even in the pain— who choose to believe — even in the darkness.

If 2020 has left you scared and afraid for what the future may bring, might I suggest you cry out to God! Don’t be afraid.  Immerse yourself in His word and His sacraments and stay rooted in His Church.

If you can can do those things, I guarantee you will have EVERYTHING you need to make it through the storms of life.

If you are having a hard time believing that, then cry out to God. Ask Him to show you. He is already so close He can kiss you.

Happy 2021 Everybody! The best is yet to come!