It’s New Year’s Eve Eve, also known as New Year’s Adam, or just another excuse to go get a McRib from McDonalds. I’m fairly certain that no actual cows or ribs or anything involving actual meat products were harmed in the making of those sandwiches.

I know a lot of people are bashing the year 2016 for taking so many beloved celebrities.  I agree that it seems like more than the usual number of famous people have died in the  past 12 months, many in tragic and sudden ways.

But I wonder how many real unsung heroes die every day, those whose deaths go virtually unnoticed. How many soldiers, police officers, firefighters, EMTs, and others sacrifice their lives in the line of duty each and every day?

I for one am thankful for 2016. It was a year where I saw God faithfully provide time and time again. It was a year where I got almost nonstop reminders of God’s providence and sovereignty.

That said, I’m excited for all the possibilities in 2017. I believe it will be a challenging year that calls me out of my comfort zone in many ways, yet it will be a year that will see some spiritual breakthroughs.

My prayer for you in 2017 is the same as my prayer for you in 2016 (and probably the same prayer from 2015). It’s from Ephesians 3:14-21 from The Voice translation of the Bible:

“Father, out of Your honorable and glorious riches, strengthen Your people. Fill their souls with the power of Your Spirit so that through faith the Anointed One will reside in their hearts. May love be the rich soil where their lives take root. May it be the bedrock where their lives are founded so that together with all of Your people they will have the power to understand that the love of the Anointed is infinitely long, wide, high, and deep, surpassing everything anyone previously experienced. God, may Your fullness flood through their entire beings”