When Midnight Didn’t Change Anything ✨
When Midnight Didn’t Change Anything ✨
As a millennial, I remember December 31st, 1999 as though it were yesterday.
My grandmother had come in from out of town to spend New Year’s with us. I recall her and my dad sitting in our downstairs living room, watching the news. Stories about the new millennium played on repeat. Reporters, interviewers, and talk show hosts spoke with an energy that was contagious—an excitement that stirred wonder in anyone listening.
At the tender age of seven, I braced myself as our foyer clock struck 11:00 PM.
It was about to happen.
In one hour, would Jesus come back?
Would we all be launched into a future that looked completely foreign to the prior day?
Would my life suddenly resemble the Disney show Zenon, which I loved to watch?
Time passed.
Then the neighbors’ fireworks went off. 🎆
Flashes of people embracing, kissing, and cheering—favored drinks in hand—filled the television screen.
My grandmother smiled and said, “Happy New Year,” then turned her attention back to the next new’s segment.
And despite all my hope and excitement—despite a full day of daydreaming about what the year 2000 would feel like—I was still there.
In my seven-year-old body.
Sitting on the carpeted living room floor.
Feeling… exactly the same.
A little too much of the same.
The Disappointment I Didn’t Have Words For
I’m not sure why that night remains so vivid in my memory, or why the disappointment I can now properly diagnose—from a distance—felt so deep.
Can I share something without any proper segue?
You’ve probably have already heard this.
It’s a…
New year.
New breakthroughs.
New blessings.
New relationships.
New opportunities?
Sure—those things can be true. Yes and amen if that’s the Lord’s will for you this year! Look forward to those things with anticipatory excitement. Additionally, in the other hand, acknowledge also that such can be true… yet not complete.
What do I mean?
Over the years, I’ve found myself reflecting on what it was I was actually waiting for when that clock struck midnight. And I think what I yearned for—what all our hearts long for, though often misdirected—was for Him to come and make all things new.
For the old to pass away.
For everything to feel new.
For everything to be new.
For us to behold Him—new. 🌿
Instead, such longing can get redirected overwhelmingly toward things like:
Financial freedom
A new spouse
A new home
A new job
Peace
Health
Less stress
And to that, I join the choir—even speaking to myself:
“Yes, yes, yes—hope for these things (well… not a new spouse for me, but you get my point).”
And while hoping, may your eternal hope shine even brighter.
Because even when the job comes…
Even when health is restored…
Even when the home is purchased…
Even when the marriage flourishes…
The longing for Him, if you follow Him, still and ought to remain. It’s the longing for “more” that we were all born with. Unfortunately, that “more” can be confused with temporal things that will never fully satisfy.
The Hope That Doesn’t Disappoint 🕊️
As I read Revelation 21—a passage I returned to nightly during my college years—my hopeful seven-year-old self comes to mind again.
I wish I could tell her then what I know now.
There will be a day when this old earth will pass away.
A day when we stand before our Maker—whether at the Great White Throne judgment or the Bema Seat.
And for those found in Christ, we will watch Him make all things new. There will be no more death, mourning, crying, or pain. He will forever be our God and us His children.
That truth fills me with far more joy and excitement than anything this world can offer.
Present disappointment acknowledged
And for those of you who hold this same hope, yet look at your current life or circumstances with disappointment—may I offer this as well (I felt like Holy Spirit told me to add this section at the last minute):
God is not only the One who will make all things new later; He is also a Redeemer now.
Keep seeking Him and His Kingdom first, trusting Him, and CLINGING to the hope that He has good, good plans for you and for your family.
One of my most prayed prayers is this: “Restore what the locusts have eaten,” drawn from the book of Joel. Interestingly, the locusts were sent to Israel by the Lord Himself—not to destroy them, but to call them back to Him. There have been many “locust seasons” in my own life—times meant to turn my heart back again.
And rather than becoming weighed down by the consequences of my own sin, I just throw up my hands and say: “Lord, I confess. I messed up. Restore what the locusts have eaten.”
Maybe your season isn’t a locust season but simply one of weariness due to circumstances you couldn’t have anticipated.
Beloved, what you are walking through will not last forever. Continue to hope for what is to come, even as you live faithfully on this temporal earth.
Do I still hope for things here? Yes—of course.
I look forward to seeing the fruit of my hands in the flourishing of Thoughtful Scents Co.
I just organized our homeschool lessons for this week and I’m looking forward to what I get to teach our kiddos.
I’m looking forward to painting two of our walls haha.
I’m anticipating summer fun now that our youngest is a bit older—more outings, more splash pads. ☀️
I’m excited about an upcoming trip to Miami.
I cherish the hope of spending more time with my living parents.
Yes, beloved—I have hope.
But More Than Anything…
More than that clock striking midnight.
More than what this year could possibly bring.
I long for my home.
My true home.
I hope in His return.
May this be the resounding hope you carry into 2026. 🤍
1 John 3:2–3
Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when Christ appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. 3 All who have this hope in him purify themselves, just as he is pure.