New Years Letter

The following was the article I put in the Church Newsletter up here at Our Redeemer, enjoy...

It’s that time. The time where flip the calendar to the next month...and then I realize, I need a new calendar! It’s hard to believe that my internship experience is over half done. It’s a strange feeling, one with mixed emotions. But one cannot dwell and be sad for what is over but rather can embrace what’s yet to come.

A new calendar, a new year. The year 2012. I think about what one will accomplish this upcoming year. For me it’s a year of finishing college. It’s a year of my wedding, the year of 50th anniversary celebration for Our Redeemer, it’s a year brand new, and filled with potential.

If you are in the 45% of individuals who make a new years resolution then this is a time of contemplation and reflection to once again set your goals for the upcoming year. What can be done differently? What change would you like to make?

You've heard the old joke: How many Lutherans does it take to change a light bulb? CHANGE!?!?  We don't like change, do we? This attitude can cause real problems for a person who doesn't like change in their personal life, or for a church that needs to grow as society grows.

For this brand-spanking New Year, I propose we change an attitude. Let's be completely open to what God is going to do in our lives and our church! Yes, it's unpredictable, maybe different, but if we go into the year expecting that God is going to do a new thing among us, and are open to whatever God calls us to do and be, it will be an exciting year!

We read in Isaiah 43, “ Do not remember the former things, or consider the things of old. I am about to do 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.”  Isaiah 43:18-19.

What new things do you suppose God will do among us? What "way in the wilderness, river in the desert" do you suppose God will lead us through? I get real excited thinking about it! In my own life I never would have imagined Alaska for an internship but God had a different plan and boy am I glad! The Christian life, led by the Spirit, is never boring, never predictable, never "old," but always exciting, always life-giving, always "new." Would we really want it any other way? I don't think so.

SO GET GOING!!

Is your life playing out as you hoped? Do you feel fulfilled? These questions are meant to transcend money and material haves and have-nots. These things come and go, and if we tie our emotional and spiritual well-being to what we have or don't have, we surely will be in for a rough ride!

For  people of faith, the real answers begin with our faith and faith-response to God's love and grace in Christ. What God HAS DONE FOR US THROUGH JESUS is where we start. We are set free from the power of sin and the fear of death. We are forgiven and empowered to live lives of healing and forgiveness ourselves. We are blessed with God's love, presence and hope, and because of that, we are free to find fulfillment in how we live, making choices that bless others and bring them to know Christ as we know Him.

So - back to New Year's resolutions. Resolve to deal with the issues in your life (like that M&M addiction!), but more important than that, resolve to take steps to grow in your faith.

In Christ,
Kristi

Happy New Year