A New Year…A Fresh Start! (Guest post by Tara Ulrich)

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being. What has come into being in him was life,[a] and the life was the light of all people.”
-John 1-4

It’s the beginning of a new year. And I don’t know about you, but I was ready. The weariness of the past year weighed heavy on my heart and soul. 2020 was not the year any of us hoped or dreamed about when 2020 started. The year held loss and grief of various shapes and sizes. I, for example, grieved started a new call right as the pandemic and quarantine set in here in the United States. Many others are grieving the loss of a loved one to this virus.

After this year, with so much loss and grief, a fresh start in the form of a new year are much needed. There is so much newness that a new beginning and year brings with it. A blank calendar that needs important dates to be filled in, the smell of a new planner and so many other things that remind us of new beginnings.

A new beginning first came in the form of the infant Jesus; God’s one and only son who came into the world for us. This infant who was born as the promise of Emmanuel “God with us” reminds us of God’s love for each of us (See John 3:16-17). God sent God’s son as the light in the midst of the darkness.

This light shines on even the darkest of nights and brings hope to a weary world rejoicing. So as a new year begins, may we cling to the promises of hope born in the manger in Bethlehem that one holy night.

‘The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it.” -John 1:5