2025 Here We Come!

Happy almost New Year! It is SO hard to believe that I am starting yet another year with you guys on this website. How am I halfway through my SIXTH year doing this? 7 come Summer! So crazy.

Well, it’s a couple days before 2025 begins & my hubs & I have spent the last week sick. What a way to end 2024, am I right? But, actually, it’s been a little bit of a blessing in disguise because it has forced me to lay low & just rest & reset instead of trying to cram my break full of activities & projects as per usual.

God has a way of knowing just what I need, even though I don’t always see it in the moment & can feel frustrated by it. In the end, I can usually look back & think, “wow, okay, God did something good through that… who knew?”

I find that a lot of things that were unpleasant & undesirable have ended up being a blessing in disguise as well.

God Can Do What Seems Impossible to Me–Bringing Good Things Out of Hard or Undesirable Situations

Even looking back to getting grounded as a kid—yes, I got in trouble sometimes—having tv restrictions ended up being a huge blessing because it prompted me to find more creative ways to stay entertained, like learning a new hobby, doing a craft, or exploring outside & getting fresh air & sunshine. Who knew!

And I think to more recently, how, when we first moved back to Guam, our temporary apartment had no hot water—cold showers in the morning anyone? For weeks? But surprisingly, the girl who ONLY did hot showers, (once I got past the initial WHOO shock of the cold), found it to actually be quite invigorating & refreshing! Now, I actually end showers by INTENTIONALLY setting it colder & colder to get that chill ON PURPOSE because I grew to love it so much. I NEVER would have tried it had I had a choice. Who knew!

Or, when the power went out for the hundredth time after our super typhoon last year & discouragement was just sort of smacking me around because it felt like returning to normal kept repeatedly slipping out of grasp with those frequent power outages, & so, I went to take a shower in the dark, using my phone flashlight as my “candle” & it made reflections of the water droplets light up all over the bathroom like a kaleidoscope. It was beautiful! And I never would have tried it otherwise. Something unexpectedly beautiful in the aftermath of destruction. Who knew!

And even in my not realizing that my current job would be requiring daily bathroom cleaning (my least favorite chore), only to have the unexpected benefit of me getting into such a rhythm with it that now home-cleaning our bathrooms really seems like no big deal. How nice! Who knew!

Or how super hard seasons can really make you soak in & really appreciate blessings & people, when you may have otherwise grown to take them for granted….

In the Hard, We Get the Chance to See the Love of Others Lived Out

And back when I had COVID in the thick of COVID times & was forced to move into isolation apart from my husband, in a room encrusted with dried vomit & dog urine in the carpet, no tv, no food or dishes, no drinking water, rooms mostly completely bare because they were condemned for eventual tear down or remodel but then became the COVID isolation towers… on my BIRTHDAY… AND Thanksgiving… for the entire MONTH of November. We had to rely completely on the generosity of others for food or dishes or toilet paper even for a MONTH—most of it separated & only the last 5 days or so together with my husband (over Thanksgiving). And we got to see our church family aka friends come to our rescue every single day, sacrificing on our behalf… with groceries, clean water, dishes, pots, pans, baking dishes & supplies… bringing me breakfast, lunch, & dinner from favorite spots for my birthday… bringing me presents of coloring books, bath bombs, puzzles, & games for my birthday… & on Thanksgiving, they all pitched in 2 meals’ worth of a full Thanksgiving FEAST, complete with a turkey table decoration. I never would have experienced such generous LOVE from my friends without going through such a miserable experience. Who knew.

God. God Knew.

God’s ways are higher than our ways (Isaiah 55:9). God knew. God sees what I don’t… what I can’t. He can DO what I can’t possibly do with the hard… in the hard… through the hard. God knows. We can trust Him to bring good things even in the undesirable & the uncomfortable & the unplanned misfortunes of life.

His goodness is not at all dependent on life “being good.” Thank God for that!

It’s so amazing how God can take the hard in our life & still show us something so beautiful despite of it or even because of it.

It can give you new perspective, new appreciation, & even a newfound sense of compassion toward others.

God really knows what He’s doing. Even in the hard.

What If There Is Something Better?

I know it’s really easy to pray the hard away. To pray for comfort & healing & to take all the struggles away. It’s easy for ME anyway! But what if there’s something better?

A video came across my feed on social media recently & it just really illuminated this point for me… what if God doesn’t answer to take the pain away right away nor replace it with comfort instead when you ask? What if there is something better?

That sometimes He may not answer the way you think you want because He knows that what you truly need is Him.

Even in the Hard

If you feel strength-less & weak… can you choose to trust Him as your strength?

If you feel tortured in your restlessness… can you choose to trust Him as your rest?

If you feel you have nothing left to give… can you choose to trust Him as your sufficiency?

If your life doesn’t “get better”… can you choose to trust Him as Good?

Can you trust that He can bring blessings… even IN the hard?

Can you trust beyond what you can see or feel to know Him as GOOD?

This new year of 2025 does not come with a promise of improvement… or “better”… or of ease, comfort, & “happiness.”

But, if you have trusted that Jesus has died for YOUR sins to make you right before God & you have repented of that sin you could never yourself pay, trusting Jesus as LORD over your life… you can count on this new year of 2025 coming with HIM… even in the hard. (Romans 3:23; Romans 5:8-10; Ephesians 2:8-9; Romans 10:9-10; John 14:6)

Jesus Is the Only Way to Light in the Darkness

With peace… His peace. Peace that can exist IN the storms.

With love… His love. Love that doesn’t depend on you being lovable.

With hope… His hope. Hope that doesn’t require your efforts to make it so.

With strength… His strength. Strength that doesn’t require yours.

With rest… His rest. Rest that is born through assurance that He is GOD & you are not.

With wisdom… His wisdom. Wisdom that goes beyond your understanding.

What beautiful assurances we have going into 2025. That even in the hard, we have a God Who is GOOD!

Shine HOPE in 2025!

Shine HOPE by sharing the love we have because Jesus was born as God-in-flesh to die for the sins of man, rising again victorious over sin & death. AMEN!

“The next day, John saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!” (John 1:29) (emphasis mine)

“God sent His son, they called Him, Jesus;
He came to love, heal and forgive;
He lived and died to buy my pardon,
An empty grave is there to prove my Savior lives!

Because He lives, I can face tomorrow,
Because He lives, all fear is gone;
Because I know He holds the future,
And life is worth the living,
Just because He lives!” (lyrics from “Because He Lives” by Bill & Gloria Gaither)

“These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.” (John 16:33)

Coming Next Week

Join me every Monday morning, EST, for more encouragement right here on my blog/website @ www.MichelleHydeOnline.com.

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As God grows me, may it encourage you to seek Him & know Him & love Him more every day.

A Note from Michelle:

(***Check out my FREE Journal Printable Resources: “Accountability Partner Guide + Question Prompts” & “Bible Study Question Prompts ,” as well as “Prayers of Surrender” prayer guides!***)

This blog/website has been running for 6.5 years now! THANK YOU for your continued support & encouragement. <3

If you would like to learn more of my story, check out the “About Me” tab. And if you would like to hear how I found my lasting source of HOPE, read the “Hope Is Found” tab, on this site. I hope they are an encouragement to you! <3

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Fashion as a Force for GOOD:

Each week, I feature an item that is changing lives for women around the world. These hand-crafted pieces are offering job creation opportunities for women artisans in impoverished nations all around the world! Consider these pieces when shopping for friends, family, or yourself. Check out this week’s featured beauty!!

Rescued Heart Necklace-Golden (INDIA & DOMINICAN REPUBLIC)

DAYS OF HOPE – Limited Edition! Create hope for young girls rescued from human trafficking in the Dominican Republic when you purchase the Rescued Heart Necklace. The United Nations ranks the DR as having the third-fastest growing human trafficking industry in the world. Every purchase of the Rescued Heart Necklace not only supports the artisans through the sales of their pieces, but ALSO gives $5 to Batey Rehab Project in the DR, an organization dedicated to rescuing and providing holistic care to each survivor in their care. 

*****Purchase this handcrafted necklace, using the “Shop Here” link below, to help provide safe jobs with fair wages in areas of extreme poverty where vulnerable women are often exploited by sweatshops.*****

How You Can Help Artisans around the World AND Help Support My Website:

#1 is PRAY. Financial help is great & helps pay my website fees & helps support these women artisans… but God’s help is always needed most… both for encouragement & for spiritual hope, through Jesus, for the women we support through our ethical fashion purchases. Always PRAY first.

SHOP Here, OR, Email me at michellehyde.tradesofhope@gmail.com with any questions, & I will message you personally with more information!! Thank you for inspiring HOPE around the world, Lovely!

Your purchases not only help these women, but my commissions help me in continuing this website/blog, encouraging women all around the world with the HOPE we have in Jesus. Win-win-win!

Love ya lots! Have a wonderful week living for His glory in all that you do!