My Beloved Children,
I know many of you are busy making resolutions now.
New ways to be happier and healthier.
New ways to be more creative.
Inspiration is all around if you’re looking to change your life,
Or just to make it more exciting.
Or perhaps simpler.
Lists are everywhere.
How-tos fill up your social media news feeds.
The top ten ways of being more resilient can be found.
On and on and on.
And then February arrives and all the well intentioned ideas and meal plans and creativity gets bogged down with day-to-day living.
And you’re frustrated.
And tired.
And feeling defeated.
You wonder why you decided to change at all.
And so on this start of the new year, this beginning, I give you not another to-do list or way to be healthier or smarter or greener.
I won’t tell you that you need to change.
I won’t inspire you to get up earlier or stay at the office later or do another round at the gym.
All I give you, all I have ever given you is love.
I’ll just tell you that you are deeply and fully loved.
No matter how you feel this New Year’s
Whether you’re in desperate need for a change
Or whether you can’t face another day
You are loved.
If you’re feeling alone or if you’re feeling overwhelmed by social commitments,
You are loved.
If you’re hungry for attention or starving for some quiet,
You are loved.
Maybe you’re tired of the daily grind or perhaps you’re ready to settle down,
You are loved.
When you look at all this year holds, remember that I hold you.
Remember that I am invested in your life.
Remember that I formed you in the womb,
I knew you before you were born.
I will know you till the end and beyond.
You are loved.
When you want to make a difference in your life,
Look to me first.
Read my Word
Meet me in community.
Taste and feel and hear the good news that I offer.
Sit in the silence and know that I am there.
When you want to make a difference in the lives of others,
Look to me first.
See how I care for you.
See how I know you intimately and deeply.
See how I welcome the stranger and the outcast.
See how I feed and clothe and love.
When you feel overwhelmed by the world,
Look to me first.
See my peace and feel my presence.
Trust that I tell a different story, a better story.
See how death never has the final word.
See how love transforms.
My dear child, you are mine.
I have called you.
I have claimed you.
I have loved you.
Over and over again.
Remember
You are loved.
You are loved.
You are loved.
All my Love,
God
Kimberly Knowle-Zeller is an ordained ELCA pastor, mother of two, and spouse of an ELCA pastor. She lives with her family in Cole Camp, MO. Her website is http://www.kimberlyknowlezeller.com
Image: MaxPixel