Saying farewell to 2016

"Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. I thank my God upon every remembrance of you, always in every prayer of mine making request for you all with joy, for your fellowship in the gospel from the first day until now, being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ."
Philippians 1:2-6

As I look at the gathering night on this last day of 2016, I find I am fighting a bit of melancholy. Having had a cold for over 10 days probably contributes to the malaise. I am weary of not feeling good. I feel as though Christmas snuck past while I was trying to fight this nasty bug.  Other members of my family were ill as well, so the holiday lacked quite a bit of its normal luster. Although the upcoming New Year is merely hours away, I find I have no energy to celebrate. I am glad to bid 2016 good bye, (it's been a stretching year emotionally), but my zeal for the coming year is lagging.

When I find myself in the valley such as this, I am comforted by the knowledge that God holds all things in His competent hand.  He has not looked down on my situation with surprise.  He is fully aware of the place I am in my journey today, and holds great things in store for me. He is kind and patient and able to wait for me to get to where He needs me to be. I know He will strengthen me for whatever task lays ahead.

For now He is allowing me a moment to rest at our canyon retreat and reminds me not to worry about tomorrow.  Tonight my husband and I will lift our family and friends in prayer as we close out the year together as we normally do, enjoying one another's company in the quiet of our home.  The days of loud parties are distant memories that make us smile, but that neither of us miss. A quiet evening spent with each other is much more to our liking.  If we stay awake late enough, we will share a kiss after watching the ball drop at Time Square. In years past, we have managed to wake up from our slumber long enough to watch the celebration, pray for a  blessed New Year for all we know and love, kiss each other and thank God for another year together.

So even though wearied from a cold that has lingered far too long, stretched because of a year that had many rough patches, and tired, simply because I'm getting older, I can still rejoice.

God is still on His throne and carefully measuring out the moments for each of us.  As we head into 2017 I pray that each one of you will find the purpose and joy in following the path He has laid before you.  Rest when He says to rest, move when He says to move.  Above all things, trust Him.  He is worthy of all our praise and faithful to complete that which He's begun.

Have a blessed and safe close to 2016 and a joyous 2017. 

Emmanuel~ God with us

As I sit here watching the storm roll in and the Christmas lights twinkling brightly against the gathering night, the Amy Grant song Emmanuel runs through my head. Wonderful, counselor, mighty God, holy One...
The words bring comfort to my spirit.
The last few weeks have been difficult with the passing of my oldest brother, and the memorial service put off until Januray. There has been a large hole in my heart since hearing of his passing and the delayed services have made it difficult to bring a sense of closure. In addition to not being able to grieve with my siblings who all live out of state, December also marks  the month we lost mom ten years ago. It is bitter sweet. Christmas was her favorite holiday.
I find I struggled to find the energy to decorate this year. Grief threatened to rob me of the joy of the season.
And yet as I pressed forward I found the simple act of putting up the tree and decorating the house began to chase the gloom away from my heart. Much like the lights twinkling on the front porch push away the gloominess of the impending storm.

Just like Jesus brought light into a world darkened by sin.

As I look at the house being transformed into a festive celebration of Christ's birth the joy of the season begins to penetrate my heart.
God has promised in His word to never leave or forsake us. This is great news that brings immense comfort and peace. Not only will He be forever with us, but  the light of His grace and truth will ever guide us in His love.
It is news worth embracing and sharing.