Last night I was text messaging (because we millenials do that, right? 😉 ) with one of my dearest and closest friends, and we both said that we were both just “ready” for 2016 to be over. Between things in our personal lives, having walked with the people we serve in our congregations through very difficult events this year, and just feeling overwhelmed by the state of the world we said we’re both “done” with this year. It’s been too hard, too frustrating,too…everything. Pretty pessimistic for pastors, huh? Well, we would agree with you on that, I’m sure! And yet, even with the struggles 2016 has brought, we could still speak of some good things that had happened in our personal and professional lives this year, and in the lives of the people in the congregations we love. We could see God’s work in 2016, which makes it possible to look to God’s continued presence and promises of love, grace, and forgiveness to guide us into 2017. Surely, there are things we all went through in 2016 that were difficult and life changing (in both good ways and bad). Things that we’d like to forget and bury away forever. But let us not forget the ways in which God has walked with us through this tumultuous year, so that we can be guided into 2017 knowing our God loves us and will remain active among us through whatever the new year may bring.