2020: A Look Back

05 Jan 2020: A Look Back

The year 2020 started very special for me, because at the end of November 2019 we got a beautiful daughter / sister (Noëlle). In the new year I still had maternity leave, which gave me the time to get to know our daughter more and more and to gain balance in the new family composition.

I had to start working again in March, but I found it more difficult than I thought, because I enjoyed our girl so much. Before I started again we went away with the family for another week. We had rented a house and enjoyed the time together. On TV we heard more and more about covid-19 in China and Italy. As the week progressed, more and more people who had become infected by the virus, also in the Netherlands. We still followed the news closely and talked a lot about it.

On March 5 I started working again, but suddenly you were no longer allowed to spontaneously hug or kiss each other. This felt so crazy and unnatural!

Soon stricter measures were introduced and from March 12 I was back at home, because everyone from our office had to work from home. My parents could also suddenly no longer babysit, because they belonged to the vulnerable group because of their age. My husband works in an industry where he can’t work from home, so that was challenging too, but I felt God was helping us and giving us the strength to keep going. At one point my son was no longer allowed to go to school, so I suddenly had to multitask. I was a mother, wife, home worker and teacher all in one…. I can only thank God for His guidance in this!

Also in our church we were no longer allowed to meet and we switched to live stream services, even though this project was actually planned for 2021. I myself am in the worship team as a vocalist / worship leader and have acted as a worship team coordinator for years, only then I was still on my leave. Within a week a team was put together to arrange everything around setting up a Livestream service. This worked with God’s power and guidance! The 1st Livestream service was on Sunday 22 March. I remember watching the service from home and Pastor Nanny started welcoming the viewers. Tears rolled down my face with joy and pride that in this way we could serve the congregations and others who had ended up on our channel.

We are currently in a second lockdown, but God has shown His guidance even more in my family and in the church in the past year than ever before! I thank God for the extra time I am currently spending with my family, that we are healthy, that I can sing again in the worship team and that God also gives me more peace, now that certain joint activities have been put on hold for a while, but that also other beautiful things that come my way during the lockdown.

My heart and prayer still go out to all the people who have lost their loved ones to Covid-19 and families / individuals struggling with the lockdown. I pray that they may get to know God even more and give their heart to God, so that they may be touched by His love, positivity, strength, comfort and patience. Let’s look forward to a beautiful New Year with Him and thank Him for 2020 !! 

God bless you all!! Much love, Stefanie

THE AUTHOR