There's something a little magical about New Year's Eve.
Living in-between two years - the one behind you and the one ahead of you - feels like traveling between dimensions. You're on the edge of one and stepping into the next. You can't do anything to go back, you can only move forward. Time is rushing you ahead, and half the time you're not sure whether you should be exhilarated by the way days wizz by you or daunted by how quickly sand is shifting in the hourglass.
These deep thoughts, among others, go through my mind every December 31st.
Everyone counts down from 10 together and we leap across an invisible chasm into the future. We're here. Right now.
I hope you look forward to every new year with hope. Nowadays, everyone is trying to convince you that the future is dim and bad and that it's only getting worse from here on out.
That's not only depressing, it's simply not true.
"Wait, Angela...doesn't the Bible say that the world is in a constant state of decline and decay until the second coming of Christ?"
Ok, Bible scholar.
Yes, the world is getting darker. But God doesn't change.
Do you feel me?
God is constant. He has been since he was hovering over the waters, before matter existed (see Genesis 1.) He's not changing.
And if God is all-powerful and all-good, and if everything He says is true, we're in good hands. AKA...we can always be hopeful, even when the world is not.
It's daunting and hard to have hope, especially when everyone is telling you why it's a stupid idea to believe good things are ahead. Cynicism is socially relevant.
But when has anything Jesus said or did been socially relevant?
So I'll make my to-do lists for the year and celebrate the ball dropping in Times Square and I'll only laugh at Mariah's performance an appropriate amount of times (God knows we all need grace)because New Year's Eve can (and I daresay, SHOULD) be a celebration of God's faithfulness in the past and His promises for the future.
This year I partied for hours in a suite overlooking the Texans stadium as the hours danced past me on the way to midnight. I shouted the numbers backwards from 10 just before the clock struck midnight. I crossed boldly over into the sometimes-scary, mostly unknown frontier of 2017 because I know God already lives in this year. He's already seen it, and He confidently holds it.
So excuse me while I celebrate.
About Angela
A self-proclaimed "overdramatic weirdo," Angela loves connecting with people (and often embarrassing herself) live on the radio. Some call her a hipster. Others just don't know what to call her. She is recent graduate of Cedarville University with a degree in Broadcasting and background in music business. All it takes is a mention of music, coffee or traveling to get her excited.