From the Pastor's Desk (Jan. 2026)

Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness .     ~Lamentations 3:22-23

The holidays are time of pondering old traditions and making new ones. In the last article, I shared about my night light tradition, a very fond memory indeed. In thinking about all of my old holiday traditions this year, I also began pondering what New Year’s celebrations looked like for our family.

New Year’s was always a bittersweet time for me. I had so much enjoyment of Christmas, that when December 26 came, even though I was enjoying the gifts I had received, there was a sense of sadness. It was like the faucet of Christmas cheer turned off on that day. Except, New Year’s Eve was also a fun time for our family, so I would often consider it Christmas’ second wind. We would always go to my cousins’ house, have dinner, and then play a lot of games and just have a grand time until it was time for dessert and counting down for the New Year. Another hour or so of fun, and then we would go home.

After a night of sleep and waking up later in the day on January 1, sadness really set in knowing that the holidays were truly over for another year – no third wind or anything else to celebrate. I would unplug my special Christmas night light for another season, and work through the heavy feelings that many people feel through January, February, and March. The celebrations were over, and even the “newness” the New Year was supposed to bring seemed short-lived.

I am glad the blessings of God and the newness He offers isn’t like that. Lamentations reminds us of that feeling of being consumed. Indeed, we know that sin can certainly do that to us, and without the grace of God through Christ Jesus, we certainly would be consumed by eternal judgment. But not only does the believer no longer need to worry about that, that person can also find ongoing benefits from that same love of our awesome God. We do not need to wait until January 1, or the anniversary of our baptism, or Christmas, or our birthday, or any other single, solitary day on the calendar to receive a blessing from God. Lamenations reminds us that his compassions, mercies, and blessings are new every morning.

Just like His love, God’s blessings, presence and all the other good things from Him are always available to us. Every morning when we hear our annoying alarm, we can thank God for another day he gave us to live. Every time we get behind a driver that seems like his primary goal is to make us late, we can thank God that we have the ability to drive and a car in which to do it. Every time the boss fills our schedule with one more daunting task, we can thank God for the money that task is giving us so we can feed our families, have a place to live, and pay for everything else we must.

As we work through what many consider the three longest and toughest months of the year, we may not be able to easily fight those sad feelings, but we can be thankful that God is there, not letting us go through those winter months alone, and that every day we have something to be thankful for.

Here is something you can try this year. Every morning or evening, whenever it fits best on your schedule, starting on January 1 and going through March 31 (though it doesn’t need to end there), write down one thing you can thank God for. For an extra challenge, see if you can go the entire three months without repeating something you already wrote down. Do you think you can come up with 90 different things to be thankful for over the next three months until the green and the warmth returns? Give it a try. Happy New Year!
~Pastor Eric