At the end of last year, a friend asked me to care for her five-year-old daughter. On New Year’s Eve, two of my sons and their wives invited me and the little girl to accompany them and their two young girls to Icaraí, on the Guanabara Bay in southeastern Brazil.
We all really had fun, as the three young girls walked together hand in hand and we chatted along the way. We got to the beach, and the children had a lovely swim. Then we ate our picnic dinner and enjoyed the music shows provided by the city council.
At midnight, the fireworks started. For me, it was nothing new, but when I looked at the little girl in my care, I saw that she was completely amazed with wonderment. The arrows of fire would shoot up so high and fast and then explode into giant fireballs of so many different colors, sizes, and forms!—How could I be watching such a marvelous event so matter-of-factly?
I started to compare each of the fireworks to a New Year’s prayer. First, they are like those thin missiles of fire going up, but as God receives them in His bosom and begins to move in our favor, they appear as awesome light shows to brighten our lives. Then, I remembered the scripture: “Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory … for ever and ever!” (Ephesians 3:20–21 NIV).
What makes New Year’s Eve so special? It is a chance to reflect on the goodness of God and His work in our lives in the past year. It is a commemoration of hope as we look to the future, something so essential to our existence.
As I make my list of prayers for the year, I am visualizing each of them as a firework shooting upward that will explode beautifully and then fall from heaven to fill my soul with new joy and victories. I am confident that, as that little girl was amazed at those marvelous explosions of colorful light, my heavenly Father will amaze me once again with His wonderful manifestations of love and grace in my life. And I wish the same for all of you. Happy New Year!