Thoughts and Prayers

We barely have a week under our belts in 2025, and of course the world is already going crazy. Here in America, we have the dance of fire and ice. While California battles devastating wild fires, much of the rest of the country is battling dangerous snow and cold. It’s even snowing down south. No, your slip is not showing. It’s the actual weather report. It is actually snowing in Dallas and Little Rock, and other places where snow is not the norm. Here in the Midwest, we were blanketed with more than a foot of snow in some places. And that’s just the weather. I haven’t talked about the death of president Carter, the deaths of more than 46,000 people in the recent iteration of the Israeli/Palestine conflict, (an overwhelming majority of the casualties are Palestinian), what’s happening in Sudan, or Justin Trudeau resigning as a party leader. I haven’t discussed the tragedy that happened in New Orleans, a place near and dear to my heart, nor the veteran who killed himself and the ensuing explosion of a cybertruck in Las Vegas, though at some point, we are going to have to talk about what is going on with our veterans. It’s been 9 days. It’s going to be a banner year.

In church news, which is the primary focus of this blog, we have the poor teenage girl who went viral for apologizing to her church for getting pregnant. I was 13 when my friends started getting pregnant, and while I definitely had a visceral reaction to this clip, I have decided not to start my 2025 writing year focusing on what the church is doing wrong. I imagine over the next 11 months, we’ll have plenty of time to do that!

Instead, I want to focus on worship. What better way to start off the year! While I did not attend a watch night service this year, I did watch part of an online service. There was technology failure which caused me to miss the end of the sermon, but I did at least catch the scripture. Isaiah 43: 18-19, and a song welled up in my spirit.

Everybody generally starts getting excited at the vamp. If you are unfamiliar, it quotes Psalm 34:4, “I sought the Lord and he heard and he answered.” And while that is certainly true in my life, there is a subtext that resonates with me, more than this refrain ever could.

Have you ever received an answer to a prayer that you hadn’t even uttered yet? A majority of my life is a testimony of anwered prayers that I had not even thought to say out loud. God is so good! My God has delivered more than that I could think, or even imagine. In 2025, I am trusting in the God who has plans to prosper me. I am trusting in the God who has plans for me and is faithful to perform it!

I am not claiming to be prophetic. I am only claiming to be a believer in the God who sent the prophets.

And so in 2025, I am believing God to be everything God proclaims to be. I am believing me to be and have all that God has proclaimed over my life. I am praying that for you, too. And even if I never even whisper your name,(my prayer list is long) I hope that you know how much you are loved and treasured, by me, and by the God of the universe.

God is good, even when we are not…and for that alone, God deserves our praise. God is more than able.

This year, I will worship…even when it hurts. Even now.

Hallelujah and Happy New Year!