Lisa Surratt

Hi Friends!

I’m always so excited when a new year rolls around as we plan and anticipate what it will hold. We spend time dreaming about what God will do. We plan our travel, list our goals, and map out a strategy to achieve. With 2020 being the beginning of a new decade, the year ahead seemed brimming with potential! Little did we know the unimaginable challenges we would face!

I’m sure I’m not the only one asking God, “Why?” Global pandemic, racial tensions, quarantine, homeschool, political tensions - and that doesn’t even scratch the surface of so many personal challenges people have faced this year. Times have been hard! People have never been more uncertain about the future.

Proverbs 16:9 says, “We make our plans, but the Lord determines our steps.” We may never understand why God allowed us to walk through this tough season, but we can be certain of one thing: Our God is faithful! Romans 8:28 says, “And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them.” If we allow God to use not just the good things — but the hard things in our life — he will bring beauty from ashes.

So, this year, we revel not in the certainty of our future, but in the God who holds our future. As we look ahead to next year, let’s still make our plans and dream our dreams - although we may hold them a little more loosely in light of what we have experienced this year. But, let’s hold more tightly to our trust, hope and faith in the God that holds our future!

So thankful for each of you!

Lisa Surratt
Director of Seacoast Culture