HOW CLEAR IS YOUR CRYSTAL BALL?
It’s not uncommon to hear people designate 2020 as the worst year in their life. I tend to feel that way myself. Realistically, when I look back over my 73 years, I recognize that there were other miserable times I wouldn’t want to revisit … times of family strife and loss, career disappointments, financial duress, etc. However, with that said, I am happy to see 2020 come to an end.
Of course, our so readily welcoming 2020’s departure presumes that 2021 will be a better year. But how certain is that? To gain a better perspective on that, I think it could be helpful to consider how 2020 was looking to us at this time a year ago and to assess how clear our crystal ball was.
2020 – LOOKING FORWARD
At this time a year ago, we were pretty optimistic about what the year ahead held for us. Here are some of the highlights of our expectations:
- Ruth had just received her Sentri/Global Entry Pass and since we had applied together in May of 2019, I expected I’d be getting mine soon. If you don’t know, this pass is very important to people like us who cross the U.S. border frequently. Without out it crossing can take hours … I think our worst has been 5 1/4 hours. With it, crossing usually takes less than 15 minutes.
- We had made an offer on a condo in the resort community where we had been leasing a villa and we expected that, once the purchase of the condo was complete and our remodeling had progressed sufficiently, we would get into a regular routine of hosting friends and family in our new home
- Likewise, we expected that we would regularly be visiting friends and family in the U.S., including a few special trips, e.g.:
- A July getaway for Ruth’s birthday
- A late September/early October getaway for Gary’s birthday/our anniversary
- A Thanksgiving getaway
- A Christmas/New Year’s getaway
- We were excited about our plans to join in a nine day missions trip to Calvary Chapel Oaxaca.
- And we were even more excited about our plans to join in Calvary Chapel Rosarito‘s semi-annual trip to Israel in November,
- We planned to enroll in a two-week Spanish emersion course in Ensenada.
- During MLB’s initial Spring Training, I secured four tickets for a mid-July Angels/Dodgers Freeway Series game at Anaheim Stadium. I planned to go with a CCR Intern, our Pastor and his Dad.
- We expected that activities we enjoyed so much through our church (Calvary Chapel Rosarito – CCR) would continue and even expand. These included:
- Helping with various church service needs as Missionaries on Staff.
- Joining in Weekly Staff Meeting and Prayer.
- Helping with a Mercy Ministry in Tijuana.
- Leading CCR’s Seniors Group, Legends.
- Joining in a biweekly Life Group.
- Joining in a weekly Men’s Bible Study.
- Leading a weekly Women’s Bible study.
- Serving in the Connections Ministry during Midweek and Weekend Church Services.
- Serving in the Prayer Corners during Midweek and Weekend Church Services.
- Enjoying the Worship, Bible Study and Fellowship associated with Midweek and Weekend Church Services.
2020 – LOOKING BACK
As they say, hindsight is 20/20. With 2020 now in the rearview mirror, we now know how it turned out. And we understand what circumstances led to the reality of the year and its significant difference from our expectations going in. Here is an overview of those differences for us:
- Although Ruth got her Sentri/Global Pass at the very beginning of the year, my application remained Pending Review until May. Of course, by the time it was Conditionally Approved, the interview required to complete the process were significantly delayed. I, finally, had my interview on December 23rd and I should be getting my pass within the next couple of weeks.
- We did complete the purchase of our condo but 2020-related delays meant that we didn’t take possession until July. And, we did manage for remodeling to progress sufficiently but getting into a regular routine of hosting friends and family in our new home remains in the future.
- Visiting friends and family in the U.S. was pretty limited but we did get in a couple of special trips.
- In July, we got away for eight days in Indio to celebrate Ruth’s birthday, sharing an AirBnB with Daughter Jill, her guy Chris and Grandsons Jake and Riley.
- In late October we got away for a week to celebrate our anniversary with a visit to the Grand Canyon and surrounding area.
- We chose to cancel our travel plans for Thanksgiving and we limited our Christmas getaway to a three day stay with friends in Huntington Beach.
- We were able to join in the nine day missions trip to Calvary Chapel Oaxaca. It was the second week in February, prior to 2020’s craziness really kicking in.
- Both the Israel trip and our enrollment in the Spanish emersion course in Ensenada were canceled.
- Most significantly, activities we enjoyed so much through CCR were radically different. The ones we were able to maintain included:
- Joining in Weekly Staff Meeting and Prayer.
- Though we tried to restart CCR’s Seniors Group (Legends) when some things started to reopen, we put it on hold until some time in early 2021.
- The weekly Men’s Bible Study was successful in restarting when some things started to reopen.
- The weekly Women’s Bible Study converted to meeting online.
- Worship, Bible Study and Fellowship associated with Midweek and Weekend Church Services was done online only at first. Then, that was supplemented with Car Church. Presently, we’re having in-person services but health-safety measures limit Fellowship along with ancillary programs and activities.
THE UNFORSEEN
So far, somewhat presumptuously, we haven’t addressed the elephant in the room – i.e. What in the world caused the reality of 2020 to turn out so very different from what we expected?! The obvious answer is COVID-19 but that is really an oversimplification. No doubt that was the overriding issue but, at least for U.S. citizens, COVID-19 became intertwined with cultural matters, particularly politics and religion, to further impact society.
But, as my old high school football coach taught us, “When the going gets tough, the tough get going.” And that resulted in some unplanned positive results. This included:
- We were able to share our condo with a key contributor to the remodeling. He is a deportee and he was able to have his family come down from the U.S. to stay with him in the condo.
- And, we have been able to make our home available to friends from Huntington Beach to use as their base as they lead a major construction project for the Calvary Chapel Church Plant in Otay Mesa.
- Although the Mercy Ministry in Tijuana was on hold, we found that we were able to help those who are closer to us who couldn’t get out for groceries, etc.
- As part of our effort to keep Legends connected, we formed Messenger and email groups who receive a Legends Daily Blessing … Daily Scripture with a related Worship song.
- Helping with new service roles necessitated by Online Church and Car Church.
- Contributing to a new program of five-minute daily YouTube devotionals called Today’s Good News.
- Reconnecting with numerous friends and family via social media.
2021’s GAME PLAN
So, having considered how 2020 was looking to us at this time a year ago and having assessed the clarity of that crystal ball, how should that impact our expectations for 2021? Now that vaccines for COVID-19 are being distributed, I’d like to believe that it won’t be long until things return to “normal”. But, I recognize that may not be realistic. In fact, I’ve recognized that, for those born during and after this year, they may never know a time when people freely join in crowds attending various events. With that in mind, I’ve determined my resolution for 2021 to be optimistic in my hope for things to return to “normal” while anticipating the likelihood of a “new normal”.
So, what does that mean? To begin with, for me, that means striving to be more intentional about plans for the things that are most important to me. If you look at the Gary Wiram – Editor page on this blog, you’ll clearly see that my life’s priorities are: Faith, Family and Community. Here’s how I see this year’s intentionality applying in each of those categories:
- FAITH – Considering 2020’s expectations for this category, the primary goals were:
- Supporting CCR in ministering to its flock and sharing the Gospel with the community.
- Supporting CCR’s Church Plants.
- Continuing to build ourselves up in the faith.
Intentionality with the goals of our faith seem pretty straightforward here. That is, look for opportunities to safely do these things hands-on but expect that we may may need to continue to do them virtually and in some cases, to find new ways to do them virtually.
- FAMILY and FRIENDS– Our primary goals here have been to share our time, our love and our blessings with our loved ones.
Intentionality with these goals seems straightforward too, with one key difference. While looking for opportunities to safely do these things hands-on and expecting that we may need to do them virtually, bear in mind how COVID-19 became intertwined with cultural matters and be proactive in not allowing that to happen.
- COMMUNITY – Our key goals here have been to become more and more a part of the community and in doing so, positively impact the community.
This may be the category where intentionality may be the most difficult. But, while it may not be as straightforward, it will be important to continue to look for alternative ways to accomplish what “normally” could be accomplished hands-on. The one thing that is a bit more straightforward, however, is working to remove a roadblock to our becoming more and more a part of the community … removing our language barrier would be huge. So, while our plans for enrolling in a Spanish emersion course in Ensenada may not return as a realistic opportunity, we need to embrace other ways to become conversant in Spanish.
2021 – THE CLEAR VIEW
Proverbs 16:9 tells us “A man’s heart plans his way, But the Lord directs his steps.” And, Isaiah 46:9(b)-10 tells us, “I am God, and there is none like Me, Declaring the end from the beginning, And from ancient times things that are not yet done, Saying, ‘My counsel shall stand, And I will do all My pleasure.”
During 2020, I realized, perhaps more so than any other time in my life, the importance of daily looking to God for His guidance. I’m determined to hold even more firmly to that wisdom, going into 2021. I recommend that to you all.
