God Is Good – All the Time
Dear Praying Friends:
As we say “Farewell” to 2025 and greet 2026, we probably have mixed feelings.
On the one hand we remember the happy times, when it was easy to say, “God is good.” On the other, we must admit that sometimes life seemed hard, perhaps even unbearable. This next year of 2026 will probably bring the same mixture of pleasure and pain. For some, the prospect of more intense pain appears more likely, even certain.
At the outset of this letter, therefore, I want to declare with the psalmist that “the LORD is good; His mercy [steadfast love] is everlasting, and His truth [faithfulness] endures to all generations” (Psalm 100:5; see also Psalm 34:7; 145:9; Nahum 1:7).
We know that because Jesus declared, “’No one is good but One, that is, God” (Mark 10:18), even though he was perfectly aware of how bad the world is, and how terribly he would suffer. Indeed, God demonstrated his love and goodness supremely in the death of Christ for us (Romans 5:8).
Therefore, let us “be thankful unto Him, and speak good of His name” (Psalm 100:5).
In that spirit, we mention a few of the Lord’s tokens of goodness to us this past year.
God gave me a wonderful month in Taiwan and then a lovely reunion in California with Dori and some of her family. Our trip to Virginia in August brought us together with old friends, evoking happy memories of the 26 years we lived in Charlottesville. I experienced the same joy on a brief visit to North Carolina.
God supported me during times of relational tension, illness, and chronic fatigue. My speech therapist “graduated” me this month because I now stutter only under certain conditions. As a result of microcurrent neurofeedback therapy in the early months of the year, the different parts of my brain were brought more into regulation with each other. That process was virtually completed when God did a special work in my mind by the Holy Spirit on Easter Sunday in Taiwan.
We continue to love our church. Participation in the choir brings Dori both the joy of singing and rich fellowship. The members of her new women’s Bible study group want to continue meeting under her leadership. After a “drought” of many years, we again experienced the old joys of worship, Bible study, and fellowship in Mandarin with the Chinese Sunday school class.
Dori and I pretended to be young again at a festive event put on by Christ the Reconciler, which is led by her nephew and his wife. Our daughter Sarah has started going to a new church, which has welcomed her and our grandson Blaise. We were all together for Christmas Day. As a result of a surprise visit from Dori’s niece and her family, Blaise has found an unexpected source of delight – ice skating.
And much more! Yes, our bodies frequently remind us that we are getting older, but our Father continues to show us new mercies every morning (though waking up takes longer!), and we know that the best lies ahead of us. A church-wide study on the Second Coming reminded us that it could be soon.
Yours in that sure and certain hope,
Wright and Dori
