Worst Year For Some, Best Year For Me

January to January (err…Drcember) 365 days, and many moments that made up the 2020 year. For many, this year will go down in their life history book as the worst year of their lives. With Job cuts, loss of loved ones, and total or partial isolation. 2020 has brought to the forefront of the depravity that our world faces. Even for those of us with a hope in Jesus Christ, there may have been at times an eerie feeling of possible doom up ahead.

2020 will not be marked in my book of life as the worst year of my life. I can say with unshakable certainty that as of this moment when this is being written that 2020 was the best year of my entire existence here on earth!

Sure with the onset of the “big C-corona virus” there were moments of asking myself “what is right? What is true? How do I personally choose to move forward as the world around me is locked inside in fear?” I don’t feel the need to share my conclusion with you all at this time. However, I want to share what 2020 has done in my life.

If you have followed my journey for any length of time, it is no surprise that 2020 has been a year of transformation. I’m January I let go of the strongholds of anger in my life. releasing them from my hold subsequently allowed the chains of being entangled with bondage to slip away! For sure I’ve had to let go over and over again because my fleshy human spirit tries to grab for them once again. The Lord’s goodness and mercy have found me victorious over this sin!

February before the country went into lockdown I attended my fellowships Titus 2 day. This is a day centered around women teaching women. I had not gone out around mixed groups among my fellowship since I was fired and my life crashed. The day was joy-filled and full of peace! One particularly exciting moment for me was being able to fit into a dress that had been so tight before just the July before!

By March we hit lockdown right in time to celebrate my entering into my 29th year of life. It was an enjoyable day with the couple I live with including weight watcher friendly foods. 29 has been very good to me! I can’t wait to see what 30 will hold!

Apr, May, June, and July all seem a little blurry as they say. I’m sure I did things I just don’t know what! I mainly focused on my overall health journey. I found that my sleep cycle has stability, I have mostly joyful days and very few days that I feel down! I wake each morning ready to greet the day because “This is the day the Lord has made! I will rejoice and be glad in it!”

I spent the month of August working in Georgia with a family with children that have RAD. This was a tremendous opportunity that opened up further opportunities to return to their home in the future (including right now over Christmas as I write)! I’m thankful to get to do what God has for me and what I love to do. More importantly, I’m thankful for the friendship that can come in unlikely situations.

Returning home I spent September and October focusing on my health journey, I started babysitting a set of adorable twins, and I continued my local RAD work. I must pause to share how thankful I am for the jobs that I have. God has blessed me richly.

November was a highlight as a friend and I took a celebration trip to Florida! I have officially lost 54 pounds and she has lost 70 and is so close to her goal! We did many exciting things that made this trip an absolute celebration. There were two highlights that I must mention! One was a bucket list experience! We got to go Up, Up, Up into the sky on a hot air balloon! We floated over alligator swampland, neighborhoods, saw the sunrise, and even smacked right into a TREE! Truly an experience I’ll never forget! The second was getting to find opportunities for exercise on our trip! We even took a run! I never thought I’d be someone to go running but here I was doing my best! I have a ways to go before it’s a regular activity! I’m proud of both myself and my friend for all of our achievements over 2020!

Here I am at the end of December spending Christmas away from my family for the very first time. Yet I feel right where God wants me. My heart is full of thankfulness for my family understanding and supporting me.

As for the coming of 2021 and my hopes and dreams for the future. I plan to take another year to be singularly focused on my health so I can freely be solidified in good physical, mental, and emotional health! I believe that if I take this journey slow that it will become a permanent fixture and not a fleeting chapter in my life book. I sometimes feel self in my self-focus yet I trust that this is part of the journey and what I need to become fully who God created me to be.

To each of you, my friends, family, support system, and everyone else. I want to thank you for being the steadfast cheerleaders in my transformation inside and out! I’d be lost without every one of you! You all have been beyond good to me in every way!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year,

Nicci Price