Hello Friends, near and far! Happy New Years to you. My name is Katie Newton and I am a part of the Mid America Yearly Meeting. I had the opportunity to work at Twin Rocks Friends Camp in Oregon this past summer and spend some time with the Northwest Yearly Meeting, and I attended Friends Summit 2014 and met many Friends from all over. It seems hard to believe that 2018 has welcomed us already and that Friends Summit 2018 is now only 12 months away! I remember last Summit so vividly and how incredible of an experience it was for me to make friends that I have still kept connected with today. Because of this, I get so excited as we near the arrival of this Friends gathering.
New Years Eve and New Years Day are always such a bittersweet experience. In some ways for me, I have always felt it to be a bit overrated, but in other ways I always find beauty in closing off one year and beginning a new one. I suppose sometimes fresh starts are more anticipated than other times, so new years can bring about many emotions. Ever since junior high, my NYE plans have always consisted of celebrating at an EFM-MAYM winter conference with students from other Friends churches and that means I have always had the privilege of welcoming in the new year surrounded by healthy community, and this year was no exception. We just had our annual event called ReGENERATION where we dove into the message of discerning what it looks like for us to live into the Kingdom of God in our everyday lives. As I enjoyed journeying with junior high and high school students through these topics, I feel great excitement for a similar experience next December at Summit with young adults who are coming from similar (and yet extremely different) backgrounds.
As we have 12 months that stand between now and this gathering of people, there is so much to come. While we can’t know what this year will bring, I pray a blessing on you as you read this in anticipation for this new year. I challenge you to look for God in the ordinary things in life as we remember that God’s Kingdom is here and now. I challenge you to remind yourself that you belong to hope now; if this year brings you deep and dark valley’s, Heaven isn’t all that far and we are still becoming who we are. If this year is full of abundant blessings and great achievements, praise be! Let us live into these next twelve months with a level of intentionality, that we might be able to come together as Christ’s Body in December to share our joys, struggles, lessons learned, and all that 2018 is to bring. Remember these words that Paul taught us in Philippians 4:4-7,”Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”
I look forward to meeting/hanging out with you all at the end of the year!!!
Peace in His name and mine,
Katie