The End is Near!

Well, the end of the 2011 year anyways. 

Good-bye, 2011! You were a good year. I will remember some of you. 

Thanksgiving is now just a fading memory. Christmas is over. And the new year is quickly approaching. January 1, 2012 will be just another day~well, another Sunday anyways. 

And so, 2012 is rapidly approaching. The year the world is supposed to end according to some Mayan calendar. I guess that's who predicted it. 

And well, maybe there's some truth to that. Because it will be a different world in 2012 just as each day is a different day. The world our grandparents knew when they were children is a different world than we know it today. Technology didn't exist then as it does now. Lifestyles were different. Diet was different. So many things have come into existence that have greatly affected the "look" of this world. 

     The horse and buggy died sometime after cars were invented. 

     The internet has revolutionized communication, shopping and information gathering. 

     Facebook changed the definition of friend.

     Facebook, twitter and texting have affected social skills of today's younger generation. 

     Coffee can still be taken black with or without sugar... but we have so many more choices now! 

     Homosexuality is an accepted lifestyle practice. 

     Christianity seems to be vastly more criticized today than decades ago. 

I don't know when the world is going to "end" and when Jesus is coming back. Scripture doesn't clearly state that. And I don't know exactly how that's going to happen. But what I do know is this: 

   

1. We have an eternal hope
2. Jesus is coming back for His followers
3. We will get to meet Him 
4. We will get to be with Him forever
5. And that is worth being encouraged and encouraging others! 

       ~I Thessalonians 4:13-18 

And so with all the adversity, transitions, trials and difficulties we may have faced this year (because everyone has them), those are all behind us. We can't change the past, but live in the present and look forward to the hope of the future blessings to come~the hope of Jesus taking us to heaven!

And that keeps me walking by faith.

And so, as 2011 closes and 2012 enters in I will probably go to sleep before midnight on December 31 and wake up on January 1 like it is any regular day~ because it is. 

And I will still thank God for his blessings as I assemble with the church that Sunday as I patiently wait for His return to come get me!