Happy New Year!

“A man can plan his steps

but the Lord will lead him right or left

Sometimes it seems so clear

but sometimes it seems like years since we heard Him speak

and that’s when faith runs deep.”

I wish you a wonderful new year, dear readers.

I wish you time in God’s Word, precious moments of worship and prayer, and a daily filling of His presence and peace.

I wish you priorities, vision, and strength that will bless and enrich your life like never before.

I wish you “new wine skins” for a “new wine”; new spaces that become clear and clean for God to fill as you wait on Him, and new spaces that become lush and vibrant through remaining in Him.

I wish you hope and also acceptance and surrender if things go completely upside down this year.

I wish you the ability to receive grace, because it is the most real gift- whether we actually accept it or not. I say it is real because so much of our judgment, criticism, efforts at self-improvement, and perceptions of how others or God view us are just making those wheels spin but getting nowhere and it’s not real. These attempts at being better are not the way, and they are surely not the truth and the life. Jesus is the Way. He is the Truth. He is the Life. We can get off the treadmill, and actually take His yoke upon us and move forward with Him, doing some real work, covering some real ground, instead. Amen, dear ones?

I wish us to go at His pace.

I wish us trust, obedience, and peace.

In Jesus’ name.

“And like a stream that may freeze

in the spring it comes back with the leaves

begins to flow and bring life

a stream will not remain still for too long

before it must go on.”