Get Ready, 2025 Is Here

Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland. Isaiah 43:18-19 NIV

“Dear Santa, if you haven’t time to pick out things for me, just leave everything you’ve got.” I have my doubts this little girl got everything but you have to admit she made sure all her bases were covered. This was the first published letter to Santa Claus in the Tampa Bay Tribune in 1899. Though there is no exact number of letters sent to Santa, estimates range from half a million to eight million letters sent annually.

“Today, despite the advent of more modern communications like email and texting, hundreds of thousands of children, from all over the globe, continue to send their Christmas wish lists to Santa using old-fashioned snail mail.”  (Alicia Ault, Smithsonian Institute)

Letters have ranged in requests like the one from Ayden in Tennessee who says, “I’m 11 years old and I think I’ve been really good this year. My favorite things are dinosaurs and space” to those needing help like 14-year-old Maddison from Maryland, “Hello, how are you? Please if I can ask you to help me and my mom for the Christmas holiday…Mom pays the bills, she’s a great mom.”

Occasionally, letters include ones like Tenisha, a mother of two, “My wish is to bring a smile to my children’s faces this year. These past few years have been really challenging for us, financially. If there is any way for you to bless me with a gift card at a grocery store…to buy groceries to make them a memorable holiday dinner, I would appreciate it.” I hope Tenisha got what she asked for because there are a lot of great non-profits and churches meeting the practical needs of families.

Santa letters originally originated from parents before the focus changed to children asking for things. Mom and Dad would write to their children, normally focusing on their actions and behavior, on behalf of Santa Claus. J.R.R. Tolkien left his children elaborately illustrated updates on “Father Christmas and his life in the North Pole—filled with red gnomes, snow elves, and his chief assistant, the North Polar bear.” (Alex Palmer, Gundir agency)

Parents throughout the years have sought to help capture a bit of fantasy for their children yet not lose the reality of Christmas which is the celebration of Jesus’ birth. Corrie ten Boom said it well, “Who can add to Christmas? The perfect motive is that God so loved the world. The perfect gift is that He gave His only Son. The only requirement is to believe in Him. The reward of faith is that you shall have everlasting life.”

This Christmas season is over and the New Year is fast approaching. As we enter this liminal space between Christmas and New Year, it is a time of mixed emotions. In many ways there is always a sense of relief, there are no more shopping lists, concerts, or events to attend and yet there is a sadness as we will miss all the activities, the hype, and the anticipation of Christmas. This liminal time finds many of us taking down the decorations, sending out thank you notes, and watching lots of bowl games. It is also a special time to reflect upon the old year and think about what is ahead in the coming year.

If we look at 2024 as unwrapped gifts lying all around us in a heap, they are just a memory now. We look at many of the 2024 days as ordinary, practical, simply get out of bed days, nothing spectacular kind of days but each so needed for life. We were also blessed with a few gifts that were amazing days such as the birth of a new baby, that promotion at work, a new friend that speaks into our soul, or those incredible sunrises we saw on vacation. Unfortunately, not every gift of 2024 was a day we really wanted such as the death of a family member, a close friend moving to another state, that terminal diagnosis, or the 30 days of continuous rain. Yet, in each of the 2024 days, we can see the hand of God moving in our lives. “Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.” (James 1:17 NIV)

The gift of 2025 will come to us in a couple of days. There is always a bit of fear not knowing what lies ahead but there is also a lot of excitement on what the year will bring. If history holds true then the vast majority of days will be those ordinary, practical, simply get-out-of-bed days but we will get a few spectacular gifts that we will treasure because of their priceless value. Thomas Merton penned a beautiful prayer of guidance in his book, “Thoughts in Solitude.”

“My Lord God,
I have no idea where I am going. I do not see the road ahead of me.
I cannot know for certain where it will end. Nor do I really know myself,
and the fact that I think I am following your will does not mean that I am actually doing so.
But I believe that the desire to please you does in fact please you.
And I hope I have that desire in all that I am doing.
I hope that I will never do anything apart from that desire. And I know that if I do this you will lead me by the right road, though I may know nothing about it. Therefore I will trust you always though I may seem to be lost and in the shadow of death. I will not fear, for you are ever with me, and you will never leave me to face my perils alone.”

We do not know what 2025 will bring but we do know God’s love and presence will be with us daily. “So we say with confidence, The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can mere mortals do to me?” (Heb 13:6 NIV)

Wishing you a blessed and hope-filled New Year.

God is great!