Just Like That, It's Gone

 December 31, 2020

In an effort to bring some jovial send-off to the year, I’m met with a wave of melancholy. Scrolling through my social media, I see everyone giving 2020 the boot, with an astounding “good riddance”. My end to this unfavorable year looks very different from what I’m seeing all around me. 

This afternoon, we made it home from visiting my in-laws in Midland where we were greeted with a spectacle of snow all around us! We were beaming with joy! What a fantastic completion of an already joyful season of Christmas.

See, the God we serve isn’t confined to 365 days. He doesn’t wake up one day in Heaven and say “Hey, Gabriel- go downstairs and send people hope and good news! It’s January 1st again! Holy Spirit- set a fire in their hearts! We’ve got to get the ball rolling on this new year!” No. As funny as that sounds, I think we assume that. Instead, the word of God tells us that “His mercies are new every morning.” 

The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. “The Lord is my portion,” says my soul, “therefore I will hope in him.” (Lamentations 3:22–24)

I think we’ve willfully operated in this New Year Hope because we’ve seen the past year as hopeless. Dear friends, if your hope is on a day of the year, your hope is in the wrong place. Jesus Christ died for you to have new hope every day. Every moment. Every second has hope within it! There’s no such thing as a hopeless year. No such person is a hopeless cause. When we are at a loss and brought to a feeling of helplessness on this earth- He is our ever present help in time of need. Hopeless, we are not. 

January 1, 2021 

It’s not that we didn’t want to celebrate the coming of 2021. I’m sure we were just tired. So we went to bed around 10. As the clock struck midnight, I was sound asleep atop a mattress on my guest room floor. My husband and daughter cuddled close as our baby boy slept in his crib. The roof had leaked onto my daughter’s room and my own bed had been muddied up by the snowy paws of my canine children. So there we were, snuggled in tight with a space heater to keep us warm. 

I woke up before the sunrise to a very chatty 1 year old. Yay, 2021. As we shared breakfast, I looked out my window and saw that the snow had faded. The sun invaded our front living room as the ice melted and rained onto the porch. I thought to myself- just like that. It’s gone. 

I know this year has been a tough one for so many of us. I’m not here to negate any of that. People have lost jobs, said goodbye to loved ones, missed the births of grandbabies, and so much more. But just like that, it’s gone. I can’t help but think of all the terrifying seasons I’ve walked through in my life, thinking there was no hope, no end in sight- and before I knew it- God had made a way. 

Disruption, destruction, death, dismay, discouragement, discord, and dissent. Such is 2020. Such is 2019, 2018, 2017, and so it will be with 2021 if we aren’t careful. 

We will always find reasons to carry hurt. This year, I pray we find more reasons to carry hope. 

Our God, He is a great God. He has the power to bring the snow and melt it away any day of the week. We only need to continue to trust Him, and seek Him out in every moment. Great is His faithfulness. 

Happy New Year, aka, Happy Friday!

Love, Kari