Making the New Year New

by Emily Conrad


I’m not ready to give up my Christmas tree, so I took down the collection of colorful ornaments I’ve amassed through the years and replaced them with the classy and pretty ornaments my husband gave me for Christmas this year. I also set aside some old ornaments that don’t have meaning to donate or toss as appropriate.

I’ll probably take down the tree this weekend, but in the meantime, the tree is a little less cluttered and more golden.

This unwillingness to take down the decorations when I’m normally ready by this time could be related to going from no kids to one exchange student in November, or perhaps to other situations that have been weighing on me. Regardless, the holiday season went quickly, and though it has passed, I continue to crave the lights, the beauty, and the peace of Christmas.


Whether the tree is still up or not, we always have access to these things in Christ. He is the source of life and beauty, the light shining in the darkness, the peace of Christmas come to stay.

I haven’t made resolutions, and I don’t intend to, but with Jesus, I intend to do to my life what I did to the Christmas tree.
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