Nicole’s e-Pistle

January 1, 2025

Greetings, Friends, and Happy New Year!

I hope that you are enjoying the holidays with your families and friends! We had a wonderful time with Bjorn’s family over the weekend as we celebrated Christmas together, and we arrived yesterday at my parents’ house. It’s not bad getting to celebrate Christmas three times in one week! We have all been getting some much-needed rest while watching the kids play!

January 1^st always fills me with such hope for new beginnings, but there is often an element of angst as well. I confess that I usually set lofty goals for myself – I’m a horrible New-Year’s-Resolution-Maker – and too often fall short of my goals, almost always before the end of February! I’ve set exercise goals, self-care goals, goals for reading the Bible all the way through in a single year (I’ve read through Genesis and Exodus at least a dozen times, always to get tripped up in Numbers!). It can be very discouraging to feel like a failure every March, when once again, I cast aside all hope of reaching that year’s resolution.

Therefore, this year, I make no resolution, and I invite you to do the same. Instead, let us wake up each morning, simply remembering that the Spirit of hope we have felt during Advent, Christmas and New Year’s Day will continue to be with us throughout the year.

I’m sure you’re familiar with the saying that God’s mercies are new every morning. Did you know that the passage comes from the book of Lamentations? The whole book consists of only five chapters, and most of the poetry in the book centers around the complaints, or laments, of Woman Zion (the personified city of Jerusalem). As Kathleen M. O’Conner says, “Laments complain, shout, and protest. They take anger and despair before God and the community. They grieve. They argue. They find fault… In vulnerability and honesty, they cling obstinately to God and demand for God to see, hear, and act” (Lamentations & The Tears of the World, pg. 9).

In the middle of nearly five whole chapters of lament, the author plants a seed of hope in the middle of chapter 3, saying…

²¹ But this I call to mind,
and therefore I have hope:

²² The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases,
his mercies never come to an end;
²³ they are new every morning;
great is your faithfulness.
²⁴ “The Lord is my portion,” says my soul,
“therefore I will hope in him.”

Therefore, friends, no matter how you’re feeling on this New Year’s Day, may you wake up every morning this year knowing that you are covered in the full measure of God’s love.

Blessings and peace to you all!