Embrace the New Year

We can’t see the future. We cannot know what 2025 will hold – even if we have plans and hopes and dreams for it. We can’t anticipate the twists and turns coming our way, but neither should we fear them. In fact, I suspect that for all we think and hold and feel as we stand at this annual threshold, we can expect God to show up relentlessly, every moment of every day, all year long. And because of that fact alone, we can embrace the new year and all it will embody with holy expectancy.

Embrace. A word that simply means to hold, as in a person and usually with affection, or to accept a belief or idea or change willingly. Enthusiastically. 

As I said goodbye to my parents after Christmas, we stood in our entryway in a full-on embrace, not wanting our time together to end. 

Back in July when we got word about our move to Atlanta, I made the choice to embrace the coming change, rather than fight it. Willingly. And, in moments, enthusiastically, but perhaps my choosing found its source in hopefulness in what God was doing rather than my actual feelings. 

Embrace the Now

Embrace is a word I have literally looked at – its letters typed in lowercase Courier font across the center of a wooden heart atop a decorative, wooden block on my desk – for a decade or so.

Handmade with pinks, blues, and golds, this funny little heart-on-a-stick caught my eye in a consignment shop and has held my gaze ever since. Yet, I never really stopped to think about what embrace could mean. Until now.

Now – a new year that holds so much newness that I, at times, am overwhelmed.
Now – a transition season that will carry Larry and me twelve hours east of Texas, away from all we’ve ever
known and the people we love.
Now – a month of plans and checklists as we sell one house and buy another.
Now – a new beginning as we settle ourselves in Georgia and, literally, start over.

Now is a time for me to embrace all that lies ahead, all that God has for us, all the possibilities – even when I have no clarity on anything except the next step. And, perhaps that’s the beauty behind the idea of embracing – choosing to willingly accept what we cannot see or fully know. 

If we hold our plans too tightly, we have no space, no strength to hold what is ours in the present moment. If we look ahead with eyes full of fear, all of our attention on the unknowns of the future rob us of the joy and hope and love God wants to give us right now. 

May we each embrace all that we have in this moment of now – without smothering it with our tight-fisted attempts at control, without dousing the goodness of it with our worries and angst.

Embrace What’s to Come

I have a tendency toward eagerness as each autumn rolls toward winter – an eagerness to know what my next word of the year will be. Some years, as I experienced at the end of 2023, I have a deep knowing the instant the word comes to mind. Then there was the year I had no clue what word God had in mind even as the calendar flipped to the new year, so I kept asking and asking the Lord until one finally rose up.

This past fall I had an entire list of possible candidates, and each time I had a thought or idea about one of my possible ‘words’, I’d jot it down in my notes app. At first no one word seemed to shine brighter than the others, but as the days ticked by and our house continued to sit on the market, my impatience grew thin – and I recognized the need to embrace my reality.

I never looked at the list again. Embrace came to me at a critical moment. And now that our house has sold and we’re finally, actually moving in a few weeks, I find myself in need of a good embrace to hold me steady as I face the obscurity that lurks in shadows of what is to come.

When we choose to embrace all that the new year will hold – all those things we cannot yet see – we are choosing faith:

“Faith shows the reality of what we hope for; it is the evidence of things we cannot see.”

Hebrews 11:1 NLT

The word faith takes on multiple meanings for us as followers of Christ. 

• It can simply describe our once-and-for-all decision to believe Jesus for who He says He is – our faith in Him. 
• It can also be our source of moving through this world in Christ-like ways – our faith in Jesus propels us into the world with love and grace because we trust Him. 
• Simultaneously, faith can be our anchor each time life threatens to unmoor us. 
• And, ultimately, faith is “the fundamental fact of existence…that this trust in God…is the firm foundation under everything that makes life worth living. It’s our handle on what we can’t see” (Hebrews 11:1 MSG).

If we choose to look ahead full of fear rather than faith, we step into the new year burdened with blinding doubt – when, instead, God would have us look to Him for all we need, trusting Him to shine His light on each step of our path (Psalm 119:105). And, as we do, we will live expectantly for God’s goodness to win each day.

May we each embrace all that is to come with the hope and assuredness of faith!

Embrace the Word

There’s absolutely no way we can will ourselves through the new year. There’s no amount of inner fortitude that will hold us up or self-powered wishing that will get us what we want. The only thing in the entire world that will feed our faith and keep us on the right path is the Lord’s will. And the only way to know God’s will is to be in His Word. 

“Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.”

Romans 12:2 NLT

To embrace God’s will and Word is to devote ourselves to Him – not our phones or our television, not our propensity for spending nor our proclivity for scrolling. Only when we willingly step into Scripture for the purposes of knowing God and growing closer to Him will we be able to settle into the abiding rhythms that sustain and sanctify us.

What I’ve come to understand, then, is that one word of the year is powerless on its own. An individual word can help us focus. It can even give us some direction or something to hope for. But it will never fuel our ability to grow deeper in our faith or enable us to walk more fully as God’s daughters in this world.

However, a single world paired with God’s Word can do all of that – and more!

Last year my word was hidden, and my Word was Colossians 3:3, “For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God.” I could never have imagined the future that was hidden from me in January of 2024. All the physical pain, all the emotional turmoil, all the worry and angst in the waiting could not have been foreseen. Yet, God in His wisdom knew I needed the message of hidden and the truth that I live hidden with Christ in God well before I did. 

Week-in and week-out, you and I walked through lessons that unpacked what it looks like to live hidden with Christ in God, and it sustained us. It strengthened us. It helped us hang onto faith and hope and love when we thought it impossible.

I recently set out to search Scripture for all the uses of embrace just as I had with hidden last year – only to discover…very little. And I chose to embrace that reality rather than panicking. I chose to believe that since God led me to embrace as my word of the year, then He would reveal His Word for me, as well.

In other words, I held steady in my faith and abiding rhythms…until, suddenly, it came to me one day as I read my lesson in Acts 22.¹  

Tucked near the end of our eight-week study, this verse supernaturally super-imposed itself on the page of my Bible as I had never experienced before. Instead of reading on, as my productive-prone brain told me to, I paused. I reread. I read a third time then wrote it out on a sticky note – because I knew that I knew that I knew God was telling me that I was chosen:

• To know His will
• To see His Righteous One
• To hear words from His mouth (v.14)

In the moment, these words felt like an anointing – a promise for the deep parts of my soul, for the season of long waiting, and for the future packed full of unknowns. 

And I embraced it all.

Friends, we always have a choice as to how to live this life we’ve been given. No matter what social media may show us or other people try to suggest otherwise, every person on this planet struggles. At some point we all suffer. And every one of us looks ahead into a foggy future and wonders: What will it hold? How will I fare? What is mine to do? Will my dream come true? Will my plans fail? Will I live my life as fully as possible?

We don’t need to give-in to the pressure of having all our days plotted out, all our resolutions printed and posted. We also don’t need to wallow in the fears of what might be. Instead, we embrace the here-and-now, as well as the future we cannot see – and we can do this because of our faith in Jesus, the One who walks beside us, hems us in from behind, and goes before us to prepare all we need for the days to come. 

So, sure – dream! Make plans! Set goals! Then hold them loosely, hands outstretched before our Sovereign Lord. And it’s probably a good idea to name the fears, as well as the if-onlys and what-ifs so they can also be given to our Redeemer — that way we can be set free and made ready to embrace all that the new year will hold. 

Father God, we are grateful that You have claimed us as your children, that You have loved us unrelentingly since the beginning of time, and that You go before us to make a way for futures that are to be full of goodness and hope. We enthusiastically look forward to many days in the Word with You, to witnessing our own transformation, and to hearing your voice – so we can know your will for us. Lord Jesus, we thank You for offering yourself as a sacrifice so that we can have continual communion with the Father by way of your Spirit. We choose to live in the present, releasing our plans and fears, in order to give You space to work in us and through us. We choose to take hold of all that You have for us in the here-and-now while trusting You with the future we cannot see. We choose faith. We willingly choose to believe You and your Word. Holy Spirit, we need your help to strengthen our resolve to remain steady in our faith, to stay secure in our trust that Jesus always keeps His word. Fill us now with your holy presence in such a way that we can be confident You are with us today and in the coming days and year. Help us to document this moment in such a way that we will never forget it. We choose to embrace Jesus, the One who is the Word of God. In His holy name we pray, amen.
(inspired by: Deuteronomy 31:8; Psalm 103:11; Jeremiah 29:11; Romans 12:2; Acts 22:14; Hebrews 10:19-22; Proverbs 16:3; Philippians 3:12; John 14:26; John 1:1)

Resources: I love sharing with you the books, podcasts, articles, and anything else that has inspired, encouraged, or taught me. These are humble offerings with no expectations.

• 1 – The Devoted Collective is an online women’s ministry I’m blessed to be part of that offers resources, prayer, and Bible studies for women who embrace the life of devotion to Jesus. Our recent study on the Book of Acts was nothing short of amazing! If you’re looking for a book/study to help guide you through a book of the Bible, I cannot recommend Reading Through Acts more.^ The price is worth it because of the way it is designed – daily segments of Scripture that are unpacked with given themes and questions to help you see more of God’s character and Jesus’ presence. Then the meaty devotions become teaching aids that guide you through what you’ve already read and processed. It’s an eight-week study – and it’s so so good! If you choose to do the study, please let me know. I’d love to support you however I’m able!!
• I’m extending a playlist to you that I have actually been listening to throughout this entire waiting-to-move season. Up to now I’ve only made it available through my newsletter, but it is now ready to be shared more broadly! When I built this playlist, I knew I needed TRUTH and a lot of FAITH for the season of change and all that would have to be done. And, I was so right! Some songs on this list have long been my steady streams of truth while others are much newer to me. Some songs are packed with encouraging words — God is with you! He goes before you! He keeps His promises! Other songs pour out words that my heart feels then shores them up with the truth I need to believe — God has good plans for me and my family; He has never failed us and He won’t now! Then there are songs that remind me that God wants to grow me, stretch me, and use me in this season of waiting and moving — and in the season of new that is quickly approaching. And, finally, there are a few songs on the list that simply say the words that God has been speaking to me — “Just Watch!” and “You’re Gonna Be Okay!” Without further adieu, here is our Embrace Faith playlist (formerly known as Move ’24). May the lyrics and tunes on this playlist bless and carry you just as they have, and continue to do so, for me. XOXO
• The The Abiding Life Newsletter will be coming out in the next few days! If all goes as planned, I’ll be concurrently sending it to my email subscribers and posting it on Substack. Would love your prayers! Please email me if you’d like for me to send it to you — clarify if you want it sent by email or Substack.

Rhythms: As my newsletter’s title infers, we seek to develop an abiding life in this space — a place where we can get informed but also be transformed as we learn to abide in God’s presence throughout our days. I like to think that developing rhythms is what aids us in our desire and ability to become more Christlike.

It’s a new year — obviously. 😉 And with that comes the natural inclinations to clean out and look ahead. All of which I recommend and practice to a certain degree. I mean, if we’re being motivated by “have-to’s” and “should’s,” then all those projects and plans can stress us out more than help. I’m coming to believe that if we can approach all the good that the new year can lead us toward with hearts in rhythm with the Father’s, then we’ll be more likely to be motivated by actual desire. Not duty.

So, this week, may we each lean into the rhythm of getting still before the Lord and asking Him what He’d have us (1) reflect on from the past year, (2) hope for in the coming year, and (3) let go of. I’ll unpack this more in the newsletter!!

• Finally, as a community, let us not neglect sharing God’s amazing grace with others! Share your God-stories with people around you. Share this site. Share God’s Word. Shine His light into the world!

Featured Photo by Joshua J. Cotten on Unsplash. “All the Bits and Pieces” photo by Sahand Babali on Unsplash.
^Denotes an affiliate link, with which this ministry earns a bit to help it keep going. 😉