On A Mission to Encourage: New Years Tradition
By: Bob Etzel
This year started out a little bit differently than most years with my family. Of course Covid-19 was a concern for gathering with others. This, however, did not stop us from our family tradition of making homemade lasagna and garlic bread.
I remember back when I was a six year old boy making lasagna with my mom on New Year’s Eve. We would cook it New Year’s Day and eat it all afternoon and evening while watching football games. There were no football games this year though – instead, we played some fun family games, including Bible charades.
As we sat down for the meal, Mom suggested we go around the table and thank God for a blessing He gave us in 2020. We all took our turn thanking God for His many blessings. But the next thing we did is something I’ll never forget. As we all joined hands for the blessing over the food, my mom suggested that we sing a song before we pray. She said God had laid a special song on her heart , and she believed it should be the theme song for this new year. Here are some of the words to that song. I chose verse 3 because it’s the most unfamiliar verse, but it holds a wonderful truth!
I don’t know about tomorrow
It may bring me poverty
But the One who feeds the sparrow
Is the One who stands by me
And the path that is my portion
May be through the flame or flood
But His presence goes before me
And I’m covered with His blood.
Chorus
Many things about tomorrow
I don’t seem to understand
But I know who holds tomorrow
And I know who holds my hand.
A new family tradition was created that day. From now on, we will sing this song while holding hands before we ask for the blessing on our New Year’s lasagna dinner. And we might even play Bible charades after dinner. But the one thing we will always remember is what this song says: “I know who holds tomorrow, and I know who holds my hand.â€
No matter what the future of our world may look like, God holds tomorrow. We just need to hold His hand and walk through it with Him.
Proverbs 3:5-6 says, “Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not to your own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct thy path.”
So as you are going about your day, think on these things: Am I putting my trust today in the One who holds tomorrow?
