In the past, I have written a few Christmas and Thanksgiving poems. I haven’t written a New Year’s poem since I was a kid and collaborated with my friend Tim Johnson on what we called “Twas the Night Before New Year.”

I’ll save you from having to read the sophomoric humor and inside joke laden tome. However, this year, I decided to write a heartfelt poem to wish us all a wonderfully blessed New Year. I read a shorter version of this poem on the Tulsa Beacon Weekend radio program this past week, but in case you missed it, I present it here.

HOPE IN THE NEW YEAR

We anticipated the blessed holiday, but now it’s Christmas past. We have come to the end of another year at last.

With each passing year, they seem to go much quicker. Twelve months fly by in what seems like just a flicker.

It might have been a good year, it may have been bad, but a new year’s right around the corner and for that I am glad.

You see, things didn’t always go the way I had planned. Some may say, I was dealt a bad hand.

Now, my year may not have been as bad as yours. In fact, it wasn’t the worst, and my spirit endures.

But through it all I laughed and I cried. I learned to make the best of things, Lord knows how I tried.

Get help, some suggested, from counseling or a med. But some days, I felt like just staying in bed.

I didn’t stay down for very long, because that’s not how I roll. But the stress of the year has certainly taken its toll.

The good news is I have friends I can talk to, friends who care. Those who will just listen or offer a prayer.

This is not meant to be a poem about depression, but of hope and inspiration and of positive expression.

That’s the message I wish to convey, for when you’re down and defeated, or just feeling that way.

You see, with the new year comes much hope for tomorrow. A year of love, prosperity and hopefully no sorrow.

We never know what life may bring our way, all we can do is just trust and pray.

Will there always be good times? Well, you know that’s not true, but God promised He will never leave us, and He will see us through.

Having a relationship with God is such a bless-ed thing. With Him in your life, you can face anything.

His love is never ending; His grace will abound. I just love to have Him near me and always around.

He’s a friend who sticks closer than a brother. I’m glad, because I never had one; it was just me, my father and my mother.

So, as we enter this new year together, I want to wish joy and happiness to all of us. I pray you’ll ask the Lord to guide you, and most of all, I wish you Jesus.

TULSA BEACON RADIO

Tune in to “Tulsa Beacon Weekend” radio show every week, featuring interviews with local and national guests, talking about everything from politics to family issues. This week, we will air a replay of my interview with Alex Miranda talking about this experience of walking the Camino de Santiago in Spain with his father. The show airs on Saturday at 12:00 p.m. CST on 970am KCFO.