The new windows encasing my home office gleam. Where once six single-paned glass panels brought fractured light through three decades of dirt plastered upon them now stood new double-paned, sparkling glass. These new panels allow shimmers of sunlight, showcase songbirds at outdoor feeders, and welcome wandering cats when they sit atop the wooden gate of our side-yard fence.
There are still finishing touches and pieces of equipment to put together to make the room complete, but my dogs already enjoy being there, and I look forward to spending time in the renovated space.
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New year, new windows, new light, new adventures.
When a new year rolls around, many people vow to lose weight. Others desire to change their negative attitude. Still others plan to repair broken relationships. There’s something about a new year that generates change.
The pregnancy help and pro-life movements are no different. As 2021 ends, we recognize the momentum made that may generate additional adventures and additional change amid people and laws in 2022.
This last year
We experienced a revival of sorts in the pro-life movement in 2021. New pregnancy resource centers launched and/or revived in places like Georgia and Texas. The Supreme Court kept the Texas heartbeat law intact for now and is discussing the Dobbs case from Mississippi. Many states have passed pro-life legislation, and pregnancy centers around the country are meeting the needs of women and men experiencing unplanned pregnancies through housing and fatherhood programs. Abortion facilities have closed, and in my own state of Wyoming, the lone advertising abortionist is considering closing his practice and moving elsewhere.
The New Year
Many in the pro-life movement envision a change in abortion laws at the federal level. Yet, no matter what happens regarding Roe v. Wade, there will always be a need for pregnancy help ministry because unplanned pregnancies occur no matter what takes place in Congress, the White House, the court systems, or state legislatures.
Changes happen yet some things stay the same. The Greek philosopher Heraclitus is attributed as saying, “Change is the only constant in life.” How true that quote is. How many times does a person move? Or switch jobs?
Changes in my life, and my career, are happening and will continue to happen, next year.
At the pregnancy center where I work, changes will take place in 2022. Our CEO is retiring, and a new leader has been hired. I, too, plan to retire at the end of next year, to spend more time with my elderly parents who live out-of-state and pursue a deeper and expanded writing career. One of my colleagues graduates with her doctorate in nursing and plans to open a medical practice alongside a nurse-midwife, while juggling her work as Program Coordinator at True Care. God gives us all dreams, hopes, and aspirations, and through prayer and a strong, trusting faith walk, He makes our paths straight (see Proverbs 3:5&6).
A faithful God
“’For I know the plans I have for you,’ declares the Lord, ‘plans to prosper you, not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future,’” records the prophet Jeremiah in Jeremiah 29:11. That is my life verse. No matter what we go through, a health crisis, a financial setback, property loss, career change, a new administration, we can know that God knows even before we do and that He has plans for us. We are not to lean on our own understanding, but to trust and submit to Him (again, Proverbs 3:5&6), “for he who promised is faithful,” says the writer of Hebrews (10:23).
Not only is God faithful, but He makes all things new. Revelation 21:5 says, “He who was seated on the throne said, ‘I am making everything new!’” That verse also reminds us that God and His Word are “trustworthy and true.” How wonderful are His promises!
A New Year, a new us
Just as those new windows in my home office glimmer, bringing unfractured light into that special space, so we can shine the light of Christ, the unfractured light of love, no matter what path we travel or what adventures await us in the new year. We may not fully know what lies ahead, but we can trust the One who does know.
Tweet This: We can shine the light of Christ no matter what path we travel or what adventures await us in the New Year.
The prophet Isaiah gives us these words from the Lord: “Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland” (Isaiah 41:18 & 19).
No matter what comes our way, individually or corporately, we trust the One who is faithful and true as we look forward to a new year, a new us!
