Year of Completion

The year 2020 has definitely been a challenging year to say the least.  It seems as though every person I speak with says how negatively this year has impacted them.  The pandemic has played a huge role.  It has hit close to home for me.  Like everyone else, this year has been challenging for me emotionally, spiritually, physically and mentally.  At times, I would look back and wonder how in the world did I make it this far.

In a few days I turn 43 years old.  I believe 43 is my year of completion.  The Bible represents seven as the number of completeness.  You may be wondering where I am getting the number seven from 43.  Well 4+3=7.  It has been four years since I relocated back to California and the past three years have been full of ups and downs.  I will say every experience in life whether it’s due to our own mistakes or bad judgments have lessons.  We just have to ask ourselves are we willing to learn from those lessons.  I told God I wanted to learn from my mistakes and turn them into lessons learned in order to help others along the way.

I recently had a therapy session and I told my therapist I thought this was going to be the year of completion for me.  He told me I was complete for the next chapter and assignment God has for me.  As I processed what he told me, I realized we may never be 100% complete until our journey ends here on earth.  There will always be things for us to work on in order to be more like Jesus Christ.  We just have to give ourselves the grace to keep pushing forward even when we mess up or do not feel like we are good enough.  Each chapter you complete in your life should be a celebration.  Thank God you made it!  He brought you through yet another chapter in this life.  We get knocked down, but we get back up.  As the scripture says: “We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed” (2 Corinthians 4:8-9 NIV).

I’m looking forward to this new year and what God has in store for me, my family, the ministry and most of all for His children. It’s easy for me to focus on the bad and think about all I have lost; however, I choose to focus on what I have gained and that’s growth, faith, strength and the revelation that through all of my bad days, God was carrying me.  I needed those three years of ups and downs to become who I am today.

The last thing God did in this season to complete me was He gave me something else; a fourth grandmother.  This sweet woman of God adopted me as her grandson and the blessing is, she accepts me for me.  Not only is she a strong woman of faith; she is a true prophet in the Lord’s church.  I had the pleasure of finally meeting her face to face last week.  I am so thankful to God for blessing me with this sweet vessel.  God has a true sense of humor.  He knows Italian food is my favorite and He blessed me with an Italian grandmother who is an amazing cook.  God used her to speak life into me.  She said I blessed her with my presence; however, I am the one who was truly blessed by her and for the first time in my life I can say my cup runneth over.