Dear 2020,
Goodbye.
365 days ago, we were looking forward to you. You sounded so clear, like 20/20 vision. You didn’t live up to expectations. We still can’t see very far ahead.
We live by the calendar. Sundays for worship. Monday through Friday for school and work. Saturday for rest and football games. January and February were ok, pretty much what we expected, but then came March 16, and bam! The virus was on its way, and we rushed home and looked out our doors and wondered how this quarantine business would work.
Or how long it would last.
We reassured one another. A few weeks. A month or two. Until summer. Until September. We lost our trust in planning.
The school year is typically 180 days. Not in 2020. Classrooms emptied, and computers blinked on. There were no end-of-the-year picnics and parties. I am not sure we know when the school year ended. In September, schools began again, sort of.
Days we look forward to, days we count on, prom, graduations, anniversaries, and birthdays, all seemed to fall off the calendar. Thanksgiving and Christmas changed from big community celebrations to smaller more intimate events.
And the work week, 8-5 Monday to Friday, became anytime the internet was available.
We all learned to juggle in 2020. We learned to zoom. We watched hours of Netflix.
We waited. For results from COVID tests. Outside HyVee for our groceries. Outside when our loved ones went to the hospital or a doctor’s appointment. For a vaccine.
There were moments. Parking lot moments. Standing at the door moments. Sitting around lawns at a distance moments. We all learned to be more aware of moments.
We stepped further back from one another. We learned to air hug, which is nothing like the real thing.
Life went on. Babies were born. Children grew a little. The seasons changed, but always we were waiting for something we call "normal." But now we wonder what normal will look like.
So 2020, we are not sorry to see you go. We don’t mean to be disrespectful. Time is a treasure, but this time it tested us. Did we pass the test?
Goodbye, 2020. We will remember you. That’s for sure. We will remember you, just not fondly.
This year when we say "Happy New Year" we mean it.
Blessings,
Pastor Cindy
Pastor Cindy Hickman
West Des Moines United Methodist Church
720 Grand Avenue
West Des Moines, Iowa, 50265
515-279-0826
Like us on Facebook or visit us at wdmumc.org.
Our Sunday morning worship is posted at 9:30 on Sundays and you can welcome one another into worship. This Sunday we will be celebrating communion. Be ready!
This week at WDMUMC!
Our Everybody Eats School Partnership is packaging snacks for the school to distribute with its nutrition program for children who qualify for free and reduced lunch.
Our Little Food Pantry is getting lots of action too. There is a need for food in our community.
Remembering Stan Thurston. Stan Thurston was a member of WDMUMC for many years. He passed away last week. We hold his family and his wife Dotty in our prayers.
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