By John-Mark Echols
Founder and CEO

An email I came across this morning used the term “emotional whiplash” to describe the feeling of strange numbness as we approach the end of the year. That really struck a chord with me. I feel tired and things that I look forward to seem far away. 2020 has been hard; hard for so many people in and endless variety of ways. We’ve had friends lose loved ones, jobs, hope. There has been such apparent and vitriolic division across a spectrum of issues. The phrase “new normal” has become the cliché of the year. I don’t want this to be the new normal, but as Ecclesiastes says, “there is nothing new under the sun”, and somehow that brings me comfort. I think it’s because it is easy to feel that things have never been so bad, but they actually have, and the Lord has sustained the world by His grace since the beginning of time. What reason have we to doubt the reality that 2021 holds no surprises for Him?

I went through my calendar yesterday starting all the way back in January and some of those events and appointments feel like a decade ago in a completely different stage of life. I feel in my bones like I have aged exponentially. Remember the blizzard in February? Tell me that doesn’t feel like 10 years ago! The grind of 2020 has changed me in ways that I can’t quite express, and despite the fatigue, I feel that I have also experienced deep healing and joy that surpasses my understanding. There have been so many amazing graces this year:

· In February, Ted was lifted off the street into an RV, becoming our 4th neighbor.

· We had 6 new board members step up to serve.

· We sailed through Planning and Zoning and City Council with community wide support giving us the go-ahead to begin construction on the village.

· Our Glean Up workforce first program launched successfully in the middle of a global pandemic and the crew picked up nearly 35,000 pounds of litter.

· We did drive-by llama grams to spread some joy during the lockdown.

· Our friends at Fonte delivered potato soup for donations to help us place Port-o-Potties and handwashing stations around the city to provide much needed hygiene facilities to our homeless neighbors while businesses were closed.

· We moved our family’s tiny home to the farm at Fostering Restoration Ministries and have been blessed with respite, community, and a feeling of rootedness and home while we wait to move to the village next year.

· We lost Olan, Johnny Ray and Jay Walton , but Jay;s daughter from across the country who had never known him, found our blog about him and we got to share many stories with her about her biological father.

· We welcomed our 3rd child, Mercy Lee into the world and Briana and I celebrated 7 beautifully sanctifying and joyful years of marriage.

· We were able to break ground on the village and move forward with construction despite having to cancel the groundbreaking ceremony when I got Covid.

· Our neighbor Perri was named Employee of the Month at United Supermarket.

· John graduated Glean Up, paid off his debt, got his truck running and is finalizing his goals of furthering his education and pursuing work. He shared his whole life story with us this week and thanked our program manager Jeff for investing in him and helping to lift him up.

· I had the honor to sit down with my friend Conrad Coleman to narrate a series of beautiful photos he has taken of our homeless friends.

· We hired Richard as our Construction Project Manager, our 4th employee when just over a year ago, I was the sole employee of TFE working part time out of my friend’s kitchen.

God is so good!

Yes, there was a lot of difficult things and times of discouragement this year, but I am so unbelievably grateful for all that God has done. I can actually feel the truth of Genesis 50:20 when Joseph says to his brothers who sold him into slavery, “As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today.” Things have happened this year that would not have been possible in other circumstances.

So even though entering into 2021 for me can feel like just another humdrum day, I know that God is good. If I can get past the fog of weariness and self-pity, I can reflect on an overflowing abundance of grace. And even though the events of 2021 are veiled to me, I have full assurance that God is sovereign over all and that He is working for my good and His glory. Lord willing, we will complete construction on the village in the 3rd quarter of 2021 and welcome 4 more neighbors home. Lord willing, we will be able to invite more volunteers and supporters to have their hearts changed by this deep work we’ve been called to. We can be sure of trials and difficulties, but we can be infinitely more certain of an inexhaustible supply of the grace of God. As it has me, I hope that awakens a radical hopefulness in you and gives you the courage to step into the New Year with joyful expectation and peace.

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“Thy goodness has been with me another year,
leading me through a twisting wilderness,
in retreat helping me to advance,
when beaten back making sure headway.
Thy goodness will be with me in the year ahead;
I hoist sail and draw up anchor,
With thee as the blessed pilot of my future as of my past.”
- New Year- Valley of Vision

2020: Fatigue, Gratitude, and Hopeful Joy