Final blog of 2023. Wow. So much going on in my mind. How does one sum up an entire year?

2023 has been vastly different from every other year. Started the year in the hospital. Have been sicker than at any other time in my life. Came to realize that the path God placed me on back in 1973 can actually have an end. Had to leave my church family and dear friends. 2023 has not been easy. 

But I have never been one to look back, even when the year was incredible. If it was a very, very good year (and there have been a number of those), it belonged to God. If it was a not so good year (and there have been a few of those), it belonged to God. That is the thing about walking the path God has laid before you; it is all His. No room for pats on the back, no room for despair. So, you don't look back.

You look forward!

Each one of you are facing change. Family changes, church changes, personal changes. 2024 holds so much uncertainty, yet so much promise. It is pretty much a given that 2024 will not end as we all imagined it would end. Now, if we are walking the path the Lord has laid out for us, we should be filled with anticipation, not dread as we look forward! 

I started 2023 in the hospital in more pain than I would have thought possible. My spinal cord had swollen inside my spine due to the arthritis spurs inside my spine. It was like every nerve in my body was on fire. I end 2023 feeling better than I have in years. I started 2023 pastoring a church family I loved more than my blood family. I end 2023 at loose ends, wondering if I will ever step into a pulpit again. It is all unpredictable.

But it is all in His hands. That is why I look to 2024 with joy! This is going to be so neat! And next year, when I look back to 2024 and see what kind of year it was, I will be content because I walked the path He set before me.

Blessings can be found even in the dark of pain and uncertainty. My prayer for you this day and throughout 2024 is to find God's blessings all along the way.