Dear Friends,

For those of you who know me, you know that I am a rather practical person and not always great with the personal side.  I can get very task oriented and forget about why we're all really here…to glorify our Lord and Savior, and to enjoy Him forever.  This past year has been one of the most challenging for me personally and for my family, overall.  I know many others feel the same. As I began putting together goals for myself for the coming year, I realized that I am so hopeful, so much more than in past years.  Although my life has changed a great deal, the hope does not come from those changes, many of which were very difficult to work through.  The hope comes from faith…faith in a God so great and awesome that it is impossible not to be hopeful. 

I am often distracted by the world…work to be done, finances, my children's schedules, even politics and news can envelope me without much effort.  Gratefully, God is ever patient, redirecting me regularly with His word and His Spirit.

I was with you in weakness and in fear and in much trembling, and my message and my preaching were not in persuasive words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and the power, so that your faith would not rest on the wisdom of men, but on the power of God. (1 Corinthians 2:3-5)

As a writer and teacher, I have always valued wisdom.  I have always felt that a real education can overcome so many ills of this world.  But education, or anything else for that matter, without faith in our Lord and Savior and reliance upon Christ, is worthless.  I pray that our curriculum would encourage parents to incorporate education into Christ, not just Christ into education.

Life can be so hard some times…children with terminal illnesses, tragic youth without guidance, friends and family with cancer, our young people at war in foreign lands, unresolved personal conflicts and more, but this is not our eternity and we should never treat it as such. My prayer is that as we begin this year in hope, that our faith will grow and more hope comes with that, creating a cycle that centers on Christ.  

Finally, brethren, rejoice, be made complete, be comforted, be like-minded, live in peace and the God of love and peace will be with you. The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit, be with you all. (2 Corinthians 13:11,14)

Blessings on a hopeful and Christ filled New Year!

Beth