Glass half full or glass half empty?

HAPPY NEW YEAR! Or will it be? What do you feel as you look toward all that lies ahead in 2010?

I didn't manage to stay up to see the new year in this year (too tired!) One of my favourite new years was a few years ago when we were spending two or three days at our flat in Scarborough. On new year's eve the snow started to fall heavily, and by the time midnight arrived, the ground outside was covered with a few inches of snow. It was beautiful to step outside and walk crunchily to the Scarborough Esplanade as the snow flakes continued to descend. Images from that event will long remain in my memory.

I dropped into a deep sleep soon after my head hit the pillow last night. I was still sound asleep when the phone started ringing; the time on my bedside clock was around 2am. I don't know about you, but I'm not used to having phone calls at 2am in the morning! All sorts of things go through your mind, especially if you're still half asleep. A phone call at 2am in the morning is unlikely to be a "normal" sort of call, and into one's mind rushes the thought that the phone call will bring bad news. And we'd already had our fair share of that this Christmas!

Not only had Sue's mother, who was staying with us over Christmas, had to go into hospital for an operation on her broken arm, but our son Chris and his wife Megan were involved in a car accident whilst travelling up to us earlier this week. Their car was a write-off, and Megan was taken to hospital in an ambulance, but thank God they are both OK. They did manage to spend a few days with us, and travelled home yesterday. One of the thoughts which came into my head as I began to awake was the possibility that they had had another accident on the journey home.

I picked up the phone with a mixture of curiosity, drowsiness and anxiety. Who was it? One of our friends had decided to send a "Happy New Year" text message to our landline!! With friends like that, who needs enemies? On reflection, I value the sentiment, but I didn't value it very much at 2am this morning. What's more, it took me ages to get back to sleep! At least it wasn't the kind of bad news which it could have been, for which I am thankful.

All this has got me to thinking about how we view the future. Do we look forward with hope, optimism and faith, or with fear, anxiety and dread? The truth is, we don't know what the future will bring. We don't know exactly what 2010 has in store for us. But if we put our hand into the One who holds the future, we can walk with confidence, knowing that he will never leave us. God says to us in the Bible, "For I know the plans I have for you. They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope." (Jeremiah 29.11). With a promise like that, we can be glass half full people!