Grapes of Anticipation 2020

It's time for New Year's Day and the fresh feel it brings with a strong sense of anticipation for the year that is starting to unfold.

To reflect on what I'm anticipating, I shall follow the model I used to reflect on 2019, and share 12 grapes for 2020.

Grape #1, Tokyo 2020 Summer Olympics: I am eager to follow the coverage of the athletes and see what kind of show Tokyo puts on as the Olympics continue at yet another Asian city.

Grape #2, reading plans: I'm always eager to keep reading.  Included on my list is Nikki Haley's newest book With All Due Respect.

Grape #3, exploring more of Illinois: All the traveling and exploring I did for Illinois's Bicentennial has piqued my interest to continue sightseeing in Illinois.  I look forward to doing a short road trip somewhere in Illinois this year.

Grape #4, the 2020 presidential election: While election campaign seasons have gotten more fickle in recent years, I still appreciate that we have a process in the United States for electing officials, and I look forward to seeing the American governmental process play out in 2020.

Grape #5, milestones in the family: I think about milestones ahead this year for members of my family, particularly my parents.

Grape #6, 2020 Census: I look forward to hearing about the results of the census.

Grape #7, trips: I already have been making plans for a trip to the Southwest USA.  I'm also hoping to visit my friends in Madison, WI, and take a trip to Columbus, OH.  There's even a possibility for another trip to Philadelphia.

Grape #8, leadership transitions: I look forward to following the changes in leadership that are on the horizon.  I'm looking forward to hearing about Robert McClory's work once he is formally ordained and installed as the next Bishop of the Diocese of Gary.  I'm interested in learning who will become the next President of Valparaiso University, and the next pastor of Ascension Parish.

Grape #9, Leap Day: It's kind of interesting to have an extra day in the calendar every year, and I anticipate what I can do and what will happen in this year's Leap Day.

Grape #10, being in the audience of great content: Since I enjoyed some great presentations in 2019, I hope to be in the audience of more great speakers, whether in person, or on the radio, with Relevant Radio programming, and the Roys Report, too, along with more great podcasts.

Grape #11, commemorative anniversaries:  There are some anniversaries coming up that have meaning for me personally.  Maine celebrates its Bicentennial as a State on March 15, which reminds me of the summer vacation my family had there back in 2000.  The Bicentennial of Florence Nightingale's birth is on May 12, which makes me think of nursing, a profession with which I've had close contact in my life.  And just days after that is the Centennial of the birth of Karol Wojtyla, who became Pope St. John Paul II.  His biographical story has inspired me since elementary school.  I feel this occasion is suitable time to delve into his biography Witness to Hope, much as attending World  Youth Day 2019 and the 40th Anniversary of his October 1979 United States trip got me pondering his life more and more.

Grape #12, personal anniversaries: I will mark 15 years since my 8th grade graduation and my Confirmation.  I look forward to be renewed in what those experiences mean for me through my celebration of them.  I have felt the impact of those two significant days in the way I live my life fully, especially in putting faith into action, as I do so significantly in Religious Education.  I'm eager for new opportunities to offer the gift of what those occasions brought me as I continue teaching RE.

Indeed, God has granted us the gift of another year, this 2020.  I pray we embrace the opportunities to offer it back to Him as the blank slate starts filling.