(Christ Is Coming)

Ephesians 1:3-5

When she was tiny, just barely able to talk, one day my niece reached up to me to be held. Once she was at eye level, the first words out of her mouth were, “Alli, I have a plan.” She proceeded to tell me that she was coming to my house to stay the night. And that we would watch Daniel Tiger and eat ice cream. We had a lovely time. All according to the blueprint she had laid out.

(Christ Is Coming)

Isaiah 35

As I sit down to write this first post of the new year I have to admit that I’m wishing I hadn’t signed up for this particular week. There’s no one to blame but me since it is an assignment I gave myself, but I’m still finding the process hard.

You see, today is one of those days that carries a heavy personal significance. We all have them. Days we dread, not because of any terrible new thing we anticipate happening, but because of the story we know is already married to the date. Nothing changes on “the day”. The narrative has already been written. The story is the same now as it was the day before and as it will be the day after, but somehow the marker of the specific date makes the realities more acutely felt.

Today is one of my days. Tomorrow may be one of yours.

New Year’s greetings from the pastoral staff of the Arlington Adventist Church. We hope you are all off to a good start with resolutions, plans and everything else you have lined up for the year 2022. May it be a year of growth and blessing for us all.