The year 2020 has been a challenge in good and bad ways. It’s time to turn a page and start new. A new year offers that.

A clean slate. An empty journal. A second chance. A new beginning. A hope.

What are you hoping for? What are your expectations? What are your dreams?

If frustration, depression or fear seemed to overcome you in 2020, it’s time to look for hope. It’s time to look up.

“For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.”( Jeremiah 29:11)

This year I am hoping for a chance to gather once again with family and friends. To hug. To laugh. To just be together again. It’s been too long.

I am hoping that soon I will be able to hug my granddaughters and be in the same room as they spin and dance to The Nutcracker.

I am hoping to sit and help my grandson build a tall tower of blocks and watch as he gleefully laughs and knocks them over.

I am hoping to sit with my grown grandchildren and listen with a glad heart as family stories are shared.

I am hoping to hug my great-grandson and kiss his brand new baby sister.

Hope keeps me looking forward and anticipating something good. I will wait and watch for it. As a child looks forward to Christmas morning.

Romans 5:5 says, “And hope does not put us to shame…”

It’s okay to hope. Everyone needs hope. Hold onto your dreams.

In 1 Thessalonians 1:3, hope is defined as a confident expectation with sure basis. “We remember before our God and Father your work produced by faith, your labor prompted by love, and your endurance inspired by hope in our Lord Jesus Christ.”

God already knows what this year will hold. He knows each of us and has the best plan for our lives. God knows us better than we know ourselves. He created us to do great things. The Psalmist says, “Be of good courage, and He shall strengthen your heart, all you who hope in the Lord.” (Psalm31:24) God bless you.