Like many of you, Christmas  time this year was a roller coaster of emotions.  Our family is scattered, and getting together was impossible, except for a couple of hours here and there. While we had planned to have a small Christmas celebration with one other couple whose family is far away, illness [not Covid; we were quarantining ourselves before Christmas] interrupted those plans.  The few Christmas presents that I purchased online did not all arrive, the weather was awful, and to  top it all off, I miscalculated the time it would take for the chicken to roast, so we had had only vegetables ready for our Christmas meal!

Yet through it all, I kept asking God to help  me celebrate Christmas in my heart with true joy and thanksgiving.  I also sought His direction for the new year.  I felt led to repent of unkept promises, to  release all those who had disappointed me, and to fulfill some long term projects that I was involved with.

Then on January 3,  2021, I believe that the Lord sp...