February 7, 2021
My word of the year for 2021 is encouragement. God knows we desperately need this.
(Last year my husband and I each lost a sister; my platelet numbers took a nosedive; we could not see most of our children nor any of our grandkids; I lost $520.00 in a fraud, Dave was in a car accident; I spent a morning in emergency for pain and dehydration, plus a week recovering; Dave was out of work for weeks because of COVID closing his regular office practice.) However, we are keenly aware that others suffered far more that we did.
We tried to follow King David’s example: he “encouraged himself in the Lord his God.” The root of the word encourage is courage from the French word for heart. God’s loving heart for us gave us hope.
As we round the bend this month towards the one-year mark of pandemic restrictions, aggravations, and pain, let’s reflect on the red hearts we see popping up everywhere. May they remind us, not of romance, but of the need to “take heart” and press on with hope and courage into this new year.
