Lots of recent years have seemed to have a theme that I kind of felt in January. I would spend time in prayer and dreaming and have a feeling that this new year would be a year to change directions, to grow a lot, to work on peace; fill in the blank, etc.
This year, 2025, nothing. I can’t calm myself enough to get to a good place for that. Emotions are just rolling. Right now the emotions are ready to fight. I hit the punching bag so much today that my shoulders hurt and my knuckles are sore. But, man, it felt good to do that!
Then I pulled out my books. I have some plans and goals for this year. And one is to do much, much better about daily time reading, studying, and staying grounded. This book here. WOW! Just the intro had me smiling and my eyes watering.
A few days ago I read or watched (I don’t remember) someone’s reflection on Lot’s wife. You know Lot? From the Old Testament? I’m more of a New Testament girlie myself. But, I’ve read about Lot and his wife. She was told not to turn around to the land they were leaving. But she did it anyway and she turned in to a pile of salt. All these years, I’ve just taken that as a reminder to do what God says, right? Well this guy was talking about God talking about salt in the New Testament. I forget exactly what he was saying, but I remember the overall thoughts. In Matthew 5:13 Jesus tells his disciples, “You are the salt of the earth; but if salt has lost its taste, how can its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything, but is thrown out and trampled under foot.” Lot’s wife was clinging so much to her past that she missed out on the good things that God had set before them. She lost her taste, her zest, her flavor, and was not good for that future anymore. Kind of harsh, maybe. But the Old Testament had different rules and I’m not going to get in to that right now.
Then I read these intro pages today. And, wow. Death is hard because we miss those who are gone. And we need to learn to move forward without them. We don’t want to rush forward because we don’t want to lose what we had with them. But, we don’t want to stay in despair either. We want to keep our flavor, our saltiness, our capacity for a great and wonderful future. And how do we get there? We trust God. He has something great and wonderful in mind for us; if we trust him enough to go there. He knows us. He loves us. And he wants better for us than we could imagine.
Tonight I am thankful for these reminders going in to this year. I don’t know what this year’s theme will be. I am making plans and goals and I am ready for redirection if I am wrong. The one “feeling” that I have right now for this year isn’t a theme; it is love, comfort, and reassurance. ❤️
Momma's Silver Lining 