We’re coming to the end of 2021, with 2022 looming ahead of us, full of uncertainty, promise and tentative hope. I think we’ve all learnt the naivety and futility of hoping that next year will be “better”, that WE will be “better” next year. Globally, locally and personally, so much is out of our control, sometimes it feels like we are merely pawns in this game of Life.

But we must face forward with hope. We must take a minute and gather together all the scraps of knowledge, experience and wisdom we have learnt from this year. Sift through them, remind ourselves of them, smile at the ones that were joyful, cry at the ones they brought us pain and think of how to move forward with this hard earned truth.

I’ve learnt this year that we need people. Not just in the “let’s be friends because we both like TayTay” way, but in the “let me do your washing, let me bring you food, let me carry your burden, please will you help carry this burden with me” way. I’ve relied on and leaned on people in a way I would have previously been embarrassed about, but I hope that they know I am up for reciprocating any time. I’ve text people I barely know asking intimate questions about struggles peeing after a C-section, I’ve shared with total strangers on the internet the pain of leaving your babies in hospital, I’ve cried with anxiety in Zoom calls with faces of friends on a screen. And each time, the siren call of “me too, me too, me too” has reminded me that I’m not alone. I’m not alone in my anxiety, in my sense of loss, in my fear and in my darkness. We can be each others’ light in the darkest places of our lives, and haven’t we all walked through dark places, especially in the last couple of years?

Next year holds big changes for us as we move for Sam’s curacy and Caleb starts school (!) But I look at what we’ve faced this year, with Covid of course, but also with the stress, grief, wonder and exhaustion that accompanied the arrival of the twins, among other things. I am not the same person I was a year ago, and neither are you. I’ve looked on as friends home schooled their children, as they lost loved ones, as they welcomed new life, new jobs, new homes, as they walked through the valley of the shadow of death. So much lies ahead of us that we just cannot see yet. Yes that may include darkness and pain, but also such light, love and joy.

We don’t need to be afraid, as much as we don’t know what the future will bring. All we have is now, this moment, these people, these memories. And I believe in a God who sits with us in this moment, who has blessed us with these people, who draws out meaning and purpose from these memories.

Love your people, be proud of yourself and face the coming year with boldness. For you have faced “unprecedented times” for a couple of years now. I hope you know, or are starting to see, what you’re capable of. Great things, friend, great things.