New Year's Eve by Susan L.

  One of the things I remember doing as a kid was figuring out what my age would be in the year 2000. It seemed so old and so far away. Imagine being an ancient thirty-four! That particular double digit has long been left behind in a blurry, flurry of years.
  Which leaves us at 2017. Gasp!
  I've been feeling sort of lost lately. Maybe because it is the season to look ahead, to plan and dream what the new year will bring. It's not something I am particularly good at, this seeing and hoping for tomorrow.
  I suppose part of it is because I've felt the keen edge of disappointment far too many times.
  Lord, help me be grateful for all the things you have brought into my life. You, for starters. Without You, I wouldn't know joy. Without You, I wouldn't know peace or hope or contentment. Without You, there would be no trust. Without You, there would be no tomorrow. Without You there would be no freedom. Without coming to know You better, I wouldn't have come to know myself as You see me, not as the world sees me. Without You, there would be no grace, no forgiveness, no understanding, no comfort in the trials of this world. Without You, I would be rudderless in a tempestuous sea.
  So maybe it isn't about hoping for tomorrow. Maybe it's about celebrating the blessing that God is present right here, right now, for today and always no matter what the future may bring.
  Here's wishing all my readers around the globe a very Happy New Year. May 2017 be filled with blessings and the richness of God each and every day.
  "Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel," which is translated, "God with us."" Mat 1:23