Happy New Year!

I realize I am a little bit tardy, but I have been thinking about this new year a lot lately. People always seem so optimistic about the start of a new year. I hear lots of "This is going to be a great year!" I have even said it myself. However, a new year also brings with it a great amount of uncertainty. As I grow older, I am not so naive to think that things will always be as they always have been. Things can change drastically in a year. We may not begin next year in the same place, in the same health condition, or even with all our loved ones. Already this year there has been devastation. People who counted on living out 2010 with their families are gone. Many people have already had their whole world literally crumble around them. Life is fragile and moments are fleeting! How can anyone possibly feel optimistic in the face of such uncertainty??

I can. Although I don't know the circumstances this year will bring, I know this for sure: The God that holds me tightly in his grasp today will not let me go. My world may fall around me, but He will hold me fast. So I walk into this year with confidence, knowing that hardships are coming my way, tragedies may occur, but He will be the same as He is today. And everything is going to be okay. I know that God's plan, no matter what it is, is the one we would choose if we had all the information.
So I am going to breathe deeply in all the little moments this year holds. I am going to play with my little girl when she asks, and when we dance (as we often do) I am going to gaze intently at her giggling face as the world spins like a blur around us. I am going to enjoy every little moment, for I don't know what the future holds. But that's okay because He does.

It is going to be a good year indeed.