New Year

Somehow, I ended 2011 in a bit of a funk. I'm hoping I've put it behind me. On Christmas Day, I didn't feel well and ending up sleeping through Christmas breakfast and our big family Christmas lunch. I did get up in between and go to church and to my momma's for gift exchanging, but then I came back home, got into my pajamas and crashed again. Usually, I love Christmas, and at the end of the day on December 25th, I will the decorations to stay up for at least another week. We are talking about the person who once left the tree up all year long just because it put me in a good mood. This year, I wanted the decorations down and in the attic the very next day.

Usually, I love celebrating NYE with my whole family. This year, I finally decided to venture to the celebration around 11:00 that night. I just haven't been in the festive spirit, I guess.

This morning, I made it to church (in time for singing and preaching, might I add), and my daddy preached a sermon that touched my heart. His scripture reference was Isaiah 43:14-21, a scripture in which the Lord is letting the Babylonians know that He is all they need and that He will bring them out of their suffering and grief. The scripture that resonated through my soul was
18 “Remember not the former things,
nor consider the things of old.
19 Behold, I am doing a new thing;
now it springs forth, do you not perceive it?
I will make a way in the wilderness
and rivers in the desert.

2011 had some high points and low points. All in all, it was a year in which I have spent a great deal of time being sulky and generally feeling low. But all of that is in the past. This scripture reminded me that I need not wait for a New Year; Lamentations 3:23 reminds us that God's mercies are new every morning. I feel like I've spent a year searching for peace in places or people who could never bring it to me. I'm ready for the wilderness now because there's a way through it. And that way has never left me, no matter how far I've drifted from Him.