My Dear Friend,

Can you believe we are at the end of another year…on the cusp of 365 brand new days? 2020 has gone incredibly fast and incredibly slow all at the same time, hasn’t it? We are breathing a sigh of relief knowing we made it through to the end of this year. We survived!

I remember last December very well. In my heart, I was very unsure about the year ahead.  8 months pregnant with my first baby, my husband and I were about to experience some major life changes. On top of having a baby, we were also finishing up deputation, planning to move, and making preparations to plant a church. This means we were getting ready for my husband’s job to change as well. How many major life changes could we cram into one year?!? 

Throw in the coronavirus pandemic, state wide lockdowns, two heart surgeries… and this year gave us quite a wild ride! Looking back, I can see how God made all the pieces fall together “just so”. There were hard moments for sure, but there were equal amounts of answered prayer. I think in the years to come I will look back on 2020 with fond memories – not because it was a year of smooth sailing… but because it turned out to be an incredible year of growth and change for our little family. 

I am sure you can look back and see hard things and good things rolled into one… this year wasn’t easy for you either! I hope you can look back and see the ways you have grown and changed in this difficult year.

This year has taught me to be thankful for many things… my health, a supportive husband, going to church, modern medicine (without it, my baby wouldn’t be here), and the manifold, ever-flowing, abundant grace of God. I recently shared a little gratitude list naming all the GOOD things that 2020 brought our way. It’s so easy to focus on all the negative in our lives and completely miss the gifts that God is dropping in our laps from Heaven above. (“Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.” James 1:17)

Whatever took place in your life this past year, my friend, please don’t miss the good gifts. We don’t have to look too long or too hard to see new lessons learned, good memories made, or mercies we received. Please, please don’t miss them.

As we turn our eyes ahead to the New Year, there’s something I want you to remember. The New Year is not a magic wand to fix all the negative things that happened in 2020. 

Yes, we do get a fresh new slate of sorts. Yes, there is always excitement in the promise of a brand New Year… but when the clock strikes midnight on December 31st, not much is going to change. You and I will still be the same person. The political turmoil in our nation will still be there. The coronavirus will not magically vanish away. But most importantly?

GOD will still be the same. 

And because God will never change, you and I will always, ALWAYS have hope. Hope that God can work miracles in our hearts. Hope that God will give us the grace we need to change and become who HE wants us to be. Hope that He is still ruling and reigning. Hope that He still has a plan. And hope that in the end, God will triumph over evil. 

Our hope should not be in 2021 or in a brand new year. Our hope should be in THE LORD.

“The Lord is my portion, saith my soul; therefore will I hope in him.” Lamentations 3:24

I love the New Year.  It’s honestly one of my favorite times of the year. My hope should never be in the promise of the New Year, but instead in the ONE who created the times and seasons and orders them perfectly according to His will. 

I genuinely hope and pray that 2021 will be a better year than this one. But if it’s not? We will still be okay. 

If you have placed your faith in Jesus and have received Him as your Savior, there is no need to fear or despair. We have a hope that the world will never, never understand. We are on the winning side!

So, as you prepare for the brand new year ahead, be careful where you place your hope. Don’t put it in yourself, because you will fail (we always do). Don’t put it in the government or the current president of the United States (they will fail too!). Don’t put your hope in the magical feeling of the brand New Year (that will wear and fade away as the year goes on). 

My friend, put your hope in GOD… because He is in control and is waiting with open arms and never-ending grace for the brand new year ahead!

With Lots of Love,