It’s already the last day of 2021 today. I could not help but be amazed and grateful at the same time that we made it to this day!
2021 has been one difficult year for my family and me. Even in the days leading to the new year, we are still faced with trials and challenges.
But I don’t want to focus on our struggles and troubles this year. Instead, I want to focus more on the blessings and miracles that God has given our family; because in truth, they outnumber and outweigh our challenges.
I made a similar list last year and shared it on this blog also. Most of the blessings I enumerated in that previous blog post are still true today. (You may read it here.) So, I will try to highlight more the new blessings and miracles God gave us this year.
BIGGEST BLESSINGS
Biggest Blessing #1: We are ALL STILL ALIVE, including our extended family members! This is really the biggest blessing for our family and extended family. Even though there had been several COVID-19 surges this year, we were protected by God from getting infected with the coronavirus.
My father got very sick many times this year. There were times when we thought he would leave us already. He was even hospitalized last November. But God, in His mercy, heard my prayers, and enabled him to survive and still get better. This is one of the miracles that we received from God this year.
Our extended family also from Surigao City were affected by Typhoon Odette. Their houses were damaged. But, thanks be to God that my in-laws’ lives were spared!
My prayer that none in our family and extended family would die this year was answered! I could not thank God enough for this big blessing!
Biggest Blessing #2: My husband and I still have work and we were able to work from home. It’s the second year of the pandemic and businesses are still struggling. Unemployment is still high. However, God continued to provide for our family’s needs through my husband’s work and my projects and business. Because of this, we were able to provide for our family’s needs, pay our bills, help our extended family, and support ministries. The bonus here is that we were able to work from home still. Some companies have asked their employees to report back to their offices this year. But, my husband’s employer chose to let their employees continue to work remotely. I consider this another big blessing. It’s an answer to my prayer also. This lessened my husband’s exposure to potential carriers of the virus.
Just like my husband, I kept working online as a blogger, author, speaker, and businessmom. I still got to conduct online talks this year just like last year. We even got to record almost all of them. Thus, I got to earn from the recording, too. I found new customers and clients for my products and services also. I discovered a new platform as well for my online talks/classes. The bonus here is that it was a global or international platform where I was able to teach people from other countries.
Biggest Blessing #3: We continue to have suppliers for our needs, both food and non-food. This was also one of our big blessings last year. God continued to provide for our needs through the many online sellers, stores, and suppliers who let customers order and pay online and then deliver their goods right to our doorsteps. I consider this another big blessing because it mainly protected us from being exposed to more potential carriers of the virus. There were only a few times when my husband had to pick up goods from the store because there is no available delivery person. I think this is one reason why we did not get sick of COVID because we were home most of the time and almost all our needs were delivered to us. Aside from that, we practiced no-contact delivery. That means we only ask the delivery staff to leave the items in our garage and we don’t meet them to receive the packages or items from them.
Biggest Blessing #4: We had another successful year in our homeschool and we continue to homeschool our children with a provider. Our eldest graduated from elementary. He is now in junior high school or Grade 7. Our youngest graduated from Kinder and is now in Grade 1. Our middle child moved up from Grade 3 and is now in Grade 4. We had our online graduation and moving-up ceremony, too, to celebrate this milestone.
Aside from being able to pay for their tuition fee last school year, we also got to enroll them in a homeschool provider this year. I also found a new homeschool provider for my two younger children wherein the tuition fee is lower than our previous provider. By the grace and mercy of God, we are on our way to paying their tuition completely soon. It was a big blessing and favor from God, too, that we were allowed to pay for their tuition in installments (6 months for our eldest and 9 months for our 2 younger kids).
Our kids learned a lot this past year, too. It’s amazing how fast and how much they have learned! The kids actually surprised me with their progress and accomplishments. My youngest child even wrote his own book! His book now has 4 volumes. My middle child won 3rd place in the National Age Group Chess Championship early this year. My eldest learned and recorded many songs on the piano for his YouTube channel. They also won 3rd place in the Pinoys Got Talent Group and Christmas Edition organized by the Philippine Homeschool Association recently. These are just a few of their achievements that are at the top of my mind as I write this blog post.
Biggest Blessing #5: We got to attend Holy Mass in the church again this year! By the grace and mercy of God again, this prayer was answered this year three times! We got to attend Holy Mass at the UP Chapel twice. We also got to attend Holy Mass in our parish once on Christmas Day and on the second Sunday of Advent. I could not hold back my tears the first time that we went to church to attend Mass again after a very long time.
There were also times when my husband gave Holy Communion to my eldest child and me at home during our online Masses. My husband served as a Lay Minister of the Holy Communion during the Simbang Gabi and he was given permission by our Parish Priest to give us Holy Communion at home. What a wonderful Christmas gift from God!
Biggest Blessing #6: I achieved my spiritual goals this year which included joining daily online Masses, attending online Lenten and Advent Recollection, and completing the Simbang Gabi (online)! There were only some Saturdays that I missed the Mass this year but I was able to join most days. This is a big blessing for me because it has been another crazy-busy year for me! I praise and thank God for the grace He gave me to persevere, to be faithful, and to sustain my desire to make time to nourish my soul.
Biggest Blessing #7: We got to visit my parents and brother in San Mateo, Rizal a few times this year. Those brief visits may have been bitter-sweet because my father had been very sick this year. But, I’m still thankful to God that we had those opportunities.
Biggest Blessing #8: I was able to write and publish another book. I was able to successfully publish my e-book on Amazon again this year. It even became a #1 Amazon bestseller in at least 5 categories! You can read about it here.
Biggest Blessing #9: We still got to celebrate special occasions and milestones at home this year. Our family really spent most of the year in quarantine or at home. The few times we went out were mostly to visit my sick father. All of our birthday and anniversary celebrations were done at home including my youngest son’s 7th birthday celebration. All other holidays were also celebrated at home. I’m grateful for these simple and intimate celebrations that God blessed us with. Those days were reminders to us of God’s faithfulness through the years.
Biggest Blessing #10: We finally had a family field trip or outing before the year ended! This was our only field trip and outing this year but it was worth many field trips. Find out why by reading the details here.
LESSONS (RE)LEARNED
Nothing is impossible for God.
We are stronger than we think we are.
God is faithful even when we are not.
God uses many people to answer our prayers and to provide for us.
God can also use us to answer other people’s prayers.
God always makes a way.
Those who hope in God do not hope in vain.
2021 has been one big roller coaster ride for me! There were many times when I felt so scared. I just kept hoping against all odds and kept believing even when what I was praying for seemed impossible. I kept reminding myself that God has given me many miracles already in the past. He can give me a miracle again and again if He wants to and if it is best. I’m so grateful that God helped me and enabled me to overcome all the storms that I faced this 2021!
So, cheers to a fruitful and blessed 2021 and to a hopefully much better year in 2022!
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