Compliments of the season to you, my friends! Thank you for journeying with me through this year. Your readership is the fuel that has kept the fire of this blog burning. Your comments and reactions, on and off this blog, are sparks of hope that give it a reason to exist. I write only because you read. Thank you for your time. I hope you have learned a thing or two here this year, or you have at least smiled or giggled as you read one thing or another. As you navigate into the New Year, I pray that your heart will find rest in God and that His Light will guide your steps as you fulfill His good purpose for you.

Winter in Edmonton is in full session, as we are reminded by the increasingly regular excursions of temperature into the negative thirties degree Celsius region. A blistering cold that has no respect for human life pervades the atmosphere as everyone seeks warmth and shelter to survive the season. Yet every now and then, I will find some strange being who has their hands exposed to those extreme temperatures – temperatures that cause pain when you are exposed to it even for a minute, pain that is worsened when you warm up those hands, bringing back feeling into frozen, unfeeling fingers.

With exams over and the Christmas season in the air, I have been able to take a moment to breathe, look back and look forward. All I can say is “Thank You” to God for His mercies, for friends and family, and for blessings we don’t even remember to ask for or didn’t realize we need. We spent Christmas Eve and Christmas Day at the houses of friends – wonderful people who invited us over to their homes for food, conversations, and celebrations. It is a reminder that we were never created to be alone, and that God always places the solitary in families, satisfying their inner need for connection to others.

For us believers, Jesus is still the reason for the season, whether or not we know the exact date of his birth or the origins of the countless Christmas traditions that often overshadow the story of His birth. It is because Jesus came into the world that we have hope of reconnecting with God and possessing eternal life. “Unto us, a child is born” is not just a phrase for them. It is a phrase for us, for everyone who believes. It is a reminder that Jesus came to bring peace to our storms, hope for our despair, and joy to our sorrow-filled hearts. So we rejoice and are exultant because God is with us. The Light is here!

For the past few days, some words from Gen. 24:27 (KJV) have been ringing in my ears: “…I being in the way, the LORD led me…”. These are the words of Abraham’s servant who went to find a wife for Isaac among Abraham’s people. As he thanked God for being led to Rebekah (who would become Isaac’s wife) and her family, he acknowledged that he was led by God as “he was on the way”. Being on the way is a metaphor for at least two things. One is initiating action concerning our desires as we seek direction and clarity from God. The other is following a course of life that represents “the way” that pleases God.

That said, I now share with you my parting thoughts for 2022. Be definite about acting on the desires of your heart while trusting God for direction. Except the Lord has specifically restrained you from action, do not sit back and do nothing. God leads us as we are in the way. More importantly, being in the way is figurative of honoring God with our lives, through our thoughts, words, and actions. If we disobey or dishonor God in the areas we know, it is not likely that He will direct us or show us new things that we desire to know. Again, God leads us as we are in the way. I wish you a wonderful and prosperous 2023!