Scrolling through social media, here are some of the comments I have noticed as the year draws to a close:
That’s all till next year – thank goodness summer’s coming.
Say good bye to December. Hello to giving your January a little boost.
Leave a positive word I can carry into 2018.
If I asked the question ‘What one word describes how you feel as you enter a new year?’ I wonder what you would say? Some of my friends said:
Happy
Hopeful
Alive
Optimistic
Excited
Blessed
Expectant
Anticipation
If I’m honest, I have always struggled between Christmas and New Year. The excitement of Christmas has gone with the tree lights and the tinsel. Now the cold, dark nights of the long month of January loom ahead. I remember at school writing a poem about this time of year and visualising it as a snowy field – untrodden, white, unknown. The poem didn’t impress my teacher – but the sentiments described how I felt.
So we may be happy or hopeful or anxious or fearful – and we may have good reasons to be all of those things in the course of this New Year.
What a relief, then, that our adventure into 2018 does not depend on our feelings. The Christ-child we have just celebrated at Christmas was the One whose coming changed everything for us. He is Emmanuel – God with us. Pause and think about that for a moment. Let the wonder of it soak into your soul. God is with us.
GOD is with us.
God IS with us.
God is WITH us.
God is with US.
Paul Tripp, in his devotional ‘Come let us adore him’, says this: ‘My prayer is that as you live with the glory of a birth-of-Jesus mentality, it will cause you to carry with you the security of a child-of-God identity’.
That truth is what provides the security I need as I step into 2018, regardless of my feelings.
Happy New Year!
God is with us!
Tales from Taughlumny 
I too struggle at this time of year Pauline, particularly this week, which is in total contrast to the week leading up to Christmas with all the anticipation and excitement. Thank you for your post this morning it really resonated with me and instead of melancholy I look forward to the coming year with something akin to hope and the feelings of joy that God is indeed with us !
Thank you for your honesty, Lynne. I don’t think we are alone! I wish you a new year filled with hope because God is with you!