A new year at Heritage Farm.

As a new year opens up before us here at Heritage Farm, our hearts and our minds are again renewed with a sense of purpose set before us. Although we don’t really do the “resolution” thing, the turn of the year has always been a favorite time to “take stock” of what we feel the Holy Spirit leading us into as we continue in our commitment to being led by Him.

I know many will rejoice that 2020 has finally passed, bemoaning all the difficulties that presented themselves to folks all across the earth as we dealt with unprecedented global ramifications of political unrest, a frightening pandemic, and a growing swell of uncertainty.

As with all families, we’ve had our share of struggles, but I set myself to try to perceive this intense, unsettling time through the eyes of those of us who believe that there IS a master plan and that all things work together for the good of those who choose to be part of it.

To me, many things about 2020 became a Sabbath…a resting place…a time when people were driven home and were given no choice but to assess their lives based on things bigger than themselves.

I’ve done a lot of reading by the late Rabbi Abraham Herschel, and he said that a Sabbath is a “sanctuary in time.” When we are able to recognize those times, they become a precious, holy “place” instead of an aggravation that simply interrupts our selfish plans.

Although I know many suffered, and I make no light judgment about those difficulties, I chose to see this past year as a pause…not a minor pause, but a major one. I know I’m not the only one that found those times at home—with our families unable to fill our days with the busyness of lives greatly impacted by media and culture—to be precious. Important. Powerful.

I mean, as the cliché’ sign at Kirkland’s reads: Home is where your story begins…right?

What a great opportunity 2020 was to BEGIN some stories in our lives. Those quiet, uncertain days brought an opportunity for the conception of new ideas, fresh assessments, shifting priorities.

What a beautiful gift.

I couldn’t help but see the absolutely immeasurable opportunities that could be attained when fathers and mothers and sons and daughters couldn’t go to church, couldn’t go to school, couldn’t go to work…but they COULD be home…together…beginning some new stories.

Through all the difficulty I know we have all endured, my hope for our friends—near and far—is that in the midst of all of that, you experienced a Sabbath rest that gave room for something new to come forth.

Happy New Year, and may 2021 be filled with beautiful things for you and yours!