There’s something great about each season. Most people I know usually claim fall or summer as their favorite time. (Even after 62 years, I still haven’t decided which camp I’m in.)

But I’ve always wondered why we didn’t place the New Year celebration during the emergence of new life, in spring. After all, isn’t spring a time to celebrate beginnings, the birth of cute little wild animals, crocuses coming out of the sleeping soil, leaves finally sprouting on the trees?

Oh, I know about the winter solstice and the days turning longer on one of those late December days.

But the days are so short. What’s to celebrate about dark days.

Except, maybe New Years celebrations have something to do with hope.

Hope that—just as each day is a bit longer as we progress through winter— each day will continue to get better.

Just like peaking through an ice-laden cyclone fence, we can choose to see the foreground: the fence, or we can focus on the land beyond those icy crystals. That land in the background might look hazy, but we can, with optimism, envision glory days ahead.

Even if you do focus on the crystals, aren’t they beautiful, too?

I have a friend who is going through a hard time right now. What keeps her going is hope.

That’s what the New Year celebration is about. Moving beyond what wasn’t so good last year and hoping for a better tomorrow.

The best kind of hope is that which is centered on the One who never disappoints.

“I wait for the Lord, my soul waits, and in His word I put my hope.” (Psalm 130:3 NIV Bible)

There are a lot of things we can put our hope or trust in. But even the most sure thing, or the most reliable person will disappoint at some time during this new year.

But the Lord Jesus and His Word offer a solid foundation for how you think and how you live your life. Not a bunch of rules, not condemnation, not stifling…

but life, light for your path, hope in the provision and protection of God for the coming days.

“May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in Him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.” (Romans 15:13 NIV Bible)