Restore Our Hope Again
So here we are. On the threshold of 2022, not sure whether to celebrate (parties are cancelled), or mourn the year that was.
2022
For some, it is just another day, a change in the calendar, and we move along, carried by time.
For others, a New Year invites reflection; an analysis and remembrance of the good, the challenging, the moments. It is also a time of looking ahead.
I love the quote on the drawing . . What lies within us will give us the strength to face whatever is before us.
Last year many of us were filled with hope. And as we all know, this year has not been easy, as we have experienced disappointments, challenging weather events, and for some huge losses and deep grief.
If 2021 was a container, it holds a lot of pain.
Each year I choose a word to live by, or if I am honest, that word often chooses me. Last year the word “brave” was impressed upon my mind, and not wishing to go there, I tried to find another word. One day the mail came, and unexpectedly a little word plaque fell out, the prize for a authors group I was part of. The words? “Be brave”.
So it stuck, and has spurred me on this year, to keep on living and loving and showing up. To not give up when things seem hard. It was a very good word.
This year, the word JOY has come to me. Not once but twice this verse showed up in my devotions and I’m going to use it as my verse for 2022:
“The Lord is my strength and my shield; my heart trusts in him and I am helped. My heart leaps for JOY and I will give thanks to Him in song.” -Psalm 28:7
Psalm 28:7
So we move forward with hope! God is our strength and help. And yes, we can approach this coming year with Joy, knowing we are not alone.
