Well, I got unpacked. Presents are put away and preparing to entertain some friends tonight to welcome
in the New Year over some fried chicken. (It’s really about the fried chicken.) And I’m about to do what I do every year at this time…I’m about to remember. There are a lot of things in life we are told to forget. But I’ve learned that remembering can be your friend. And on December 31st of each year, when I sit down and read my last devotion for that year I spend time remembering. Remembering all of the amazing and beautiful things God has done in the life of my friends, my family and myself.

This year I’ll remember the baby he gave my precious friends who have struggled with the inability to have a child of their own for years, the disappointment they endured earlier in the year over a failed adoption, and the miracle of the little girl that now rests as their own under their roof.

This year I’ll remember how God faithfully provided for some family members who have spent the last year without a regular job, but who have never missed a bill and have seen God provide supernaturally.

This year I’ll remember how God has beautifully directed the heart of another friend in her desire for ministry. How He has settled her soul quietly before Him and she is resting in the peace that His plan is good and His timing is perfect.

This year I’ll remember my friends who discovered new love and had places in their hearts come alive and are now building new families and homes and experiencing the beautiful gift God gives in companionship.

This year I’ll remember my friends who have suffered some of life’s deepest losses and come through it more compassionate, more alive and their “ears pierced by their Father”, able to hear Him in ways they’ve never heard Him before.

This year I’ll remember how God allowed something I’ve dreamed of for over ten years be brought to fruition. Something I tried so hard to accomplish on my own, but it was my pain, that He chose to redeem to allow it to happen.

This year I’ll remember how wonderful it was to get back into regular ministry and The Whole Woman Revolution was launched and the first VBS in Franklin began and I discovered ministry in a way I’ve never known.

Remembering can be sweet…Remembering can give us a moment to remind ourselves that God has been extremely present and extravagantly kind. Before you put on your party hat, take out your sparklers and belt out your version of Auld Lang Syne, take a moment to remember all that our Father has done. It will be the perfect way to end your year…I promise.