The Year was 2020…
By Shaun Shuler
“You saw me before I was born. Every day of my life was recorded in Your book. Every moment was laid out before a single day had passed.”
Psalms 139:16 NLT
I know I’m not alone in saying that 2020 caught most of us off guard. A worldwide pandemic that virtually shut the world down, racial tensions, and political chaos would be enough to deal with. Then add the natural disasters on top of all that: Wild fires in Australia and Western United States, massive swarms of locusts in Africa and Asia, powerful hurricanes/typhoons hitting the US, Guatemala, and the Philippines, flooding in the Midwest, etc. There was so much that happened in 2020 that there will definitely be movies made about it in the coming years.
This will not be a breakdown of everything that happened everywhere, however, I would like to talk about a few personal experiences from 2020 and how even in the craziest of times, I can look back and say 2020 was full of blessings and miracles.
2020
The Beginning
“Don’t brag about tomorrow, since you don’t know what the day will bring.”
Proverbs 27:1 NLT
2020 started off like any other year, fireworks, celebrations, resolutions, hope for the new year. However, it did not take long for the year to come off the rails for the world.
My wife works at a local hospital, so when the pandemic hit in early 2020, there was concern with the unknown nature of the virus. We both know people who contracted it, most of them lived but some did not and it was very tragic.
Work never stopped for her and one of our biggest concerns at the time was her contracting it at work and bringing it home to me and out 3 kids since I have a history of asthma.
At the same time, fostering two precious babies during this time provided extra uncertainty to the process. All visits with social workers and court appearances were done via Skype or Zoom.
More so at the beginning of all this with the lockdowns, the babies and I got a little stir crazy at times with not being able to go to very many places including the store and church, again not to risk it with my asthma history. Since the wife was already the one exposed to the outside world, she did most of the errands to limit us having to go out.
Amazing how awesome the frontline and essential workers were and still are during this pandemic. All of the personal care to patients and to those working at grocery stores and the food industry and all the changes they had to implement to serve the public.
May 2020
Mother’s Day
Her children stand and bless her. Her husband praises her: “There are many virtuous and capable women in the world, but you surpass them all!”
Proverbs 31:28-29 NLT
One of the top moments of the first half of 2020 for me was Mother’s Day. I submitted an essay on why I felt my wife deserved to be recognized as an incredible mother among all the great mothers in Lake Charles and the surrounding areas.
Here is an excerpt from what I wrote:
One of her passions is working with the elderly who are usually stroke victims. Prior to this pandemic, when she was not working at the hospital, she would also work part time in two local nursing homes. Due to the lockdowns, she has only been able to work at the hospital.
When she’s not being awesome at the hospital, she is being super awesome at home with our foster children. We can’t have biological children so we decided to foster back in 2018, Currently right now we have an 18-month-old and a 10-month-old. Being a foster parent has tons of stress, worry, and heartache, but also amazing joy and love.
She has stated this to me over and over, “It’s impossible to truly love these kids and not become attached. We just have to remind each other that at the end of the day, it’s not about what we feel, but all about what they need. What they need is to be loved unconditionally. We as the adults can and will bear the pain that they were never meant to carry.”
Sunday May 10th came and she was chosen as 1 of 5 Super Essential Moms of 2020 and blessed with all kinds of goodies from local businesses!
It was so awesome to see my wife honored not only for her hard work and dedication to her patients, but also as an incredible mom!
July 2020
Carson’s 1st Birthday
“Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart...”
Jeremiah 1:5a NIV
As mentioned prior, due to reasons beyond my control, I cannot have kids. So, after prayerful consideration of all our options, and confirmation, my wife and I decided to foster in 2018, hoping this path would lead us to our forever baby. The purpose of foster care is to take care of children that were living in neglect of some sort, provide them with stability and normalcy they deserve, give the parents time to get their act together. The goal of foster care is reunification. However, in certain instances, this never materializes in foster care, so parental rights are terminated and children become available for adoption.
A little background, on October 26, 2018, we received our 1st placement, a 10-month-old boy named Garon. To protect myself from pain, my plan was to not get attached, but that was thrown out the window the 1st time he smiled at me. We loved and bonded with Garon for 3 months before we returned him to his grandmother. By divine intervention and his incredibly family, we are still a part of his life today. As a result of this blessing, we were in position for another miracle.
On July 2, 2019 a baby boy was born, and on July 12, 2019 my wife picked him up from the hospital and brought him home to us. His name is Carson and he is Garon’s baby brother.
It was very unfortunate that he was born in this situation. And due to the circumstances, he had to be placed in foster care. Since we had the blessing of having a good relationship and ties to Garon and his family, we were in the perfect position to be there for Carson.
Then on July 2, 2020, we celebrated Carson’s 1st birthday. In fact, it was our third 1st birthday in a span 18 months. What made it extra special is he did not just celebrate his 1st birthday with us, but also with his three biological siblings as well. It truly is amazing how GOD can create such beauty from a tragic situation.
Overall, the first 7 months of the year was odd, but we were ok. Not being able to go to movies or our favorite restaurants, not being able to take trips, not being able to watch any sports, all were inconveniences, but we grew so much closer as husband and wife.
But we had no idea what was instore for us next…
August 2020
Hurricane Laura
Courtesy of National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
“For the mountains may move and the hills disappear, but even then My faithful love for you will remain. My covenant of blessing will never be broken,” says the LORD, who has mercy on you.”
Isaiah 54:10 NLT
August started off like in other month. Family get-togethers, kids playing outside in the kiddie pool on hot summer days. We also celebrated our dog Fritzi’s 5th birthday, and our other foster child Emma’s 2nd birthday.
Then news reports began about a hurricane could be heading our way. This happens every year, but usually they go east or west of us. Not in 2020, not this time.
On the night of August 25th, I went to bed planning on staying through the forecasted category 3 hurricane that was coming straight for us in less than 48 hours. My wife and kids would leave first thing in the morning to go to Houston, Texas to stay with great friends and my mom and niece would head northeast to stay with my sister. Then I woke up at 4am on August 26th, and had this deep spiritual uneasiness. It was more than intuition or a feeling, I believe it was a warning that came from GOD. The forecast changed to a potential category 4 hurricane and I had this tugging and urgency to get out of town now.
So, I woke my wife up, called my mom to wake her up and to get her to start packing and to go ahead and carpool with us to Houston instead of going to my sisters. We immediately started loading the van and car with important documents, supplies, food, and clothing, which we prepped the day before. We secured as much of the house as possible, put the kids in the van and then left. My biggest concern was getting stuck in the previous days traffic for hours due to everyone evacuating, but we were able to get to the west side of Houston with no problems. What a blessing.
Then we sat there, powerless, watching hours and hours of news reports as this hurricane was headed for a category 5 (the highest category a hurricane can reach). Just after midnight on the morning of August 27th, Hurricane Laura hit the coast of Louisiana as a high-end category 4 hurricane with maximum winds at 150mph and moved straight over our home and city. Hurricane Laura was the strongest hurricane to have hit Louisiana in 164 years and the 10th strongest to ever hit the United States.
It would not be until Saturday August 29th before I was able to see the damage to my home and our city and there were no words. The drive home and the devastation was like straight from a catastrophic movie set.
The home we bought in December of 2016, that had already suffered two floods in 2017 and 2019 (and we are NOT in a flood zone), was a mess. Our home did not flood, but water did get in the house from the hole in the roof. It broke my heart after all the blood, sweat, and tears we put into fixing and maintaining our home, it was no longer livable. Also, I pondered how this would affect the kids, because this is the only home they have known.
With the generosity of other good friends, we were able to stay at one of their beach house properties about 30 minutes south of Houston in Galveston, Texas. It is a 3 hour drive one way from Lake Charles, but it gave us our own place in the meantime so we could get our ducks in a row and create a game plan.
When my wife had to go back to work, she would stay at the hospital while in town and would drive back to us on her off days. I would then drive to our house to clean up and salvage what little we could while she stayed in Galveston with the kids.
After a month, we were blessed to move to closer to home to stay at my wife’s co-worker’s house in Longville, Louisiana that she had for sale. We were not home yet, but at least we were only 30 minutes away from Lake Charles as opposed to 3 hours away.
And then 6 weeks later the unthinkable happened…
October 2020
Hurricane Delta
Courtesy of the National Weather Service
“When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow you. When you walk through the fire, you shall not be burned, nor shall the flame scorch you. For I am the LORD your God...”
Isaiah 43:2-3a NKJV
43 days after Hurricane Laura made landfall we were hit with another storm, this time Hurricane Delta. Delta was only a category 2 at landfall with maximum winds at 100mph, but to a region already damaged from Laura it was still devastating. For a typical hurricane, the east side of the storm is usually the worst and for Delta our home was actually on the west side of the storm. However, Delta decided to be different and the west side of the hurricane ended up with the strongest winds and very heavy rain fall. We did not evacuate for Delta since we were 50 miles from landfall, but we did lose power.
So how did our house fair from this hurricane? 18 inches of water inside the house!
Floors ruined, electrical outlets need to be replaced and whatever was salvaged from Laura got destroyed from the flood waters getting in the storage container.
It was very frustrating and hard to see past the destruction, but we are all safe and still together, things in general can be replaced, but the photos and keepsakes that were damaged are memories that will eventually fade from our minds.
There is 2 months left of 2020, what else could come our way?
Well, I am going to skip November because if you are like me, you are exhausted with politics. So, I fast forward to December because…
December 2020
The Adoption
Photo courtesy of Southernsuedesigns.com
“Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the FATHER of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.”
James 1:17 NIV
A journey of love that began 17 months ago and had its share of ups and downs and uncertainties culminated in the highlight of 2020. Our adoption of baby Carson.
Knowing he will be safe and still having a relationship with his 3 siblings, his Maw Maw, aunt, uncles, and cousins is such a blessing. Seeing him grow the last year and a half has been amazing and we cannot wait to see what he becomes as he grows into a man. He is our little bundle of joy, and he now carries our last name. It is such an exciting way to end 2020.
Now currently as of writing this, we have been displaced for 6 months. Our home has a new roof , but still a lot of work to be done, as we have been waiting on the insurance company, the mortgage company, and the contractor to all get on the same page. We are in the process of buying a new house and then GOD willingly, maybe use our old house as a rental property.
It is so easy to focus on the negative, it is very easy to gripe and complain, but honestly it truly comes down to perspective.
“Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is GOD’s will for you who belong to CHRIST JESUS.”
1 Thessalonians 5:18 NLT
This verse is easier said than done, if you are going through a traumatic time in your life, but I ask you to look around. Look past the ruble of heartbreaks from the storms in your life and find those precious things you can be thankful to GOD for.
You can go through the bad circumstances of life and only see those bad times, or you can focus on the One who loves you and still has plans for you regardless of your mistakes, something someone did to you, or some natural disaster that has affected you.
“For I know the plans I have for you,” says the LORD. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.”
Jeremiah 29:11 NLT
New Year’s Day 2020 we had no idea what would happen the next 12 months and we have no idea what will happen in 2021, but we know who is in control and our faith rests securely in Him and the plans He has for us!
“Even to your old age and gray hairs I am He, I am He who will sustain you. I have made you and I will carry you; I will sustain you and I will rescue you.”
Isaiah 46:4 NIV
GOD Bless!
Need Encouragement or Advice?
GOD’s Love for You
One Irrefutable Truth in the Midst of Trouble
Anger
Anxiety
Hope
Prison of Loneliness
Encouragement from King David
15 Promises from the Bible (Part 1)
15 Promises from the Bible (Part 2)
Protection
Jonah: Beyond the Great Fish
Failure
3 Ways to Tame Pride
Faith over Fear
JESUS and HIS Resurrection
Where is GOD in my Suffering?
When will the World End?
Thank you for visiting and please leave any comments, questions, prayer requests, or ideas for new topics you’d like for me to discuss in the comment box below.
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