but even if He doesn't in 2016

I know. It's practically the middle of January but I want to talk about the fact that we are staring down the face of a brand new year. 2016. Criminitly, I feel old. [As you all hang your head, thinking, "You just used "criminitly"; you are old."]

I don't ever do a big thing for the new year. I've tried a few resolutions before. Last year I wanted to remember two truths  I had learned as I headed into the year; the year before that I took an image with me into 2014.

This year, as we tossed our old calendars and hung up the new one, I was able to spend a day in a little solitude. It was so good for my soul. And during that time I had a few things stand out to me that I want to remember as I head into this year, a year of unknowns as we add another girl to our family.

// I want to remember that day of solitude, and how good it is to abide in Christ. He is rest for the weary, and sometimes I just need His rest above all.

// In one of my first devotions for the year was the phrase: confident peace. In Christ I can have confident peace as I step into unknowns, as I face chaotic days, and as I grow fearful and weary. Confident Peace. Amen. 

// I finished a book at the end of the year called "Just Show Up". It was about exactly that: just show up for people. Sit with them in their grief and in their messes and in their hard stuff. Don't try to fix things for them or heal them: just show up. I want to do that more.

// And lastly: I was able to reflect some on the story in Daniel 3 of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego [it's really a shame I didn't have three boys…]. In that story, when they are confronted by King Nebuchadnezzer [or four boys…] for not bowing down to the golden image they say, "Throw us in the fire and our God will save us… But even if He doesn't we still won't bow down." God will show up. But even if He doesn't. That's a bold move. That's real, gritty, hard faith. And in 2016 I want to remember that and have that kind of "throw me in the fire" faith. I've been listening to a Lauren Daigle song called "Trust in You" on repeat [if you aren't, you should be too], and in it she proclaims the truth, "There is no place that I'll go, He's not already stood." 

I want to walk through hard things with people, abide in Christ, have confident peace at His hands, pray hard, and despite what happens… even if He doesn't … I want to still trust in Him. Because He's already stood in 2016.

Let's get this party started.