Except for 1998, when my second daughter, who was born on Christmas day, was one week old, I have not missed a New Year’s Eve Service for as far back as I can remember. Growing up in a Christian home attending the New Year’s Eve Service was always one of the high points of the year.

 The New Year’s Eve service of 2019 was no different. I eagerly awaited my favorite part of the service (the message), as I did every year.  I usually used the word as the springboard message to guide me through the following year. For that particular service, Pastor spoke about God’s supernatural abundance and supply. He told us we should expect to see God’s hands as we have never seen them before, and boy was he right.

 I heard about the COVID-19 pandemic very early in 2020, and before I knew it, I was working from home, my children’s colleges and Church moved online, and I was sending more RIP messages in a month than I had sent in the last five years.

 The pandemic hit the world like a powerful tsunami. Many died and millions were wounded.

 Fear and terror gripped the world on every side, and I prayed daily for God’s divine protection to help me and many others make it through that year. 

 It was a strange and solemn moment as we sat around our television on New Year’s Eve of 2020 and watched a pre-recorded New Years’ Service that ushered in 2021, and as the minutes slowly slipped

 away as we approached the midnight hour, I raised my hands in thanksgiving to the Great God who allowed me and my family to once again cross safely into a new year.

 Armed with that scripture from Hebrews 13:8  “Jesus Christ, the same yesterday and today and forever” I confidently faced 2021 and will continue to do the same in 2022.  

 The pandemic saw me (like many others) drawing closer to God. I prayed like I never did before, my faith increased, I trusted even in the darkest of situations, and God stayed through to his word, and, as stated in  Psalm 91.3, “…he delivered me from the pestilence”.

 We can never be the same again after the experience of living through a pandemic. One big takeaway from that experience is how brief life is, how much we need to cherish, forgive, and love each other, and also be more grateful for the little things in life.

 So much has changed since then, and so many things will never be the same gain. However, my prayer is that we all remain expectant, very grateful, and continue to hold on to the one who holds tomorrow.