#freshstart | itsawonderfilledlife

Posts Tagged ‘#freshstart’

Morning Sky

Posted in life, tagged #freshstart, #merciesneweverymorning, #morningsky on January 13, 2019| Leave a Comment »

Though every morning there is a morning sky, there is a morning sky that speaks more intimately to my soul.

It is the sky that is free of clouds, with the horizon splashed with oranges, corals, even pinks.

It is the sky that calls ones eyes to it, to watch and await the rising of the sun.

It is the sight of the sun rising that causes a smile of satisfaction, of further anticipation of the day.

Though the sky does not always provide such a morning sky, the potential beauty and, in turn, anticipation, can be ours everyday.

As our eyes and minds awaken each morning (even if that morning begins in what might seem the dark of night) we are given the opportunity to start fresh, to do things in new ways, to speak new words.

Lamentations 3:22-24 speaks to this daily refresh opportunity:

“The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. “The Lord is my portion,” says my soul, “therefore I will hope in him.””

God gives us new mercies each day. We awaken each day with forgiveness and compassion offered anew to us … we do not have to live in the storms, the mistakes, the sins of yesterday.

We can start each day saying, from our souls, “the Lord is my portion, therefore I will hope in him.”

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Happy (second) New Year

Posted in life, Walking with God, WONDER, tagged #afterlaborday, #anewbeginning, #backtoschool, #createapureheart, #freshstart, #genesisweek, #happynewyear, #happysecondnewyear, #seasonschange on September 4, 2018| 2 Comments »

A lifetime of the day following the Labor Day weekend signalling the beginning of a new school year simply reinforces my belief that this is the second new year of the year.

There’s the new paper and pens, the new clothes, routine changes, shorter days and goals-setting. There’s a distinctive chill in the air in the mornings and we all know that pumpkin everything is about to flood the market.

I love that it is a second chance to start fresh in the year (not that we can’t do that any day). I love that, with the end of summer break and beginning of school, there is also a season change, a rhythmic change to our lives.

Daniel (2:21a) tells us, “He (God) changes times and seasons.”

And here we have a new season, a fresh start, a new beginning.

The words from the Psalms have been on my mind as I approach this second new year. They are the words of David, “Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me.” (Psalm 51:10)

I love how this message is communicated in The Message:

“God, make a fresh start in me,
shape a Genesis week from the chaos of my life.”

A Genesis week … that so communicates a brand new start, an ‘in the beginning’ experience! What an opportunity that is as a new season, a new school year begins.

So lets start this second new year off with a Genesis week mindset, this is the freshest of fresh starts, for this is the beginning … and there is so much hope in that!

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Pushing the Restart Button

Posted in FAMILY, life, WONDER, tagged #freshstart, #newbeginning, #pushingtherestartbutton, #restart, #resurrectionpower, #riversinthewasteland, Redemption on June 14, 2018| 1 Comment »

Screen Shot 2018-06-13 at 6.16.59 AM

Recently, my son told me about a comment he made to a friend about our upcoming move.

“This move, for us all, is pushing the restart button.”

I love the visual. He nailed it, perfectly!

A different home and neighbourhood, with fresh possibilities opens the door to not just a physical, but also a mental break from the past, an opportunity to start fresh and an open door to try something new.

What a lovely way to anticipate this change … as a blank slate, a fresh (re)start.

As one who loves and sees value of understanding the past so that we do not repeat past mistakes in the future, I also love what the prophet Isaiah had to say about the past:

“Forget the former things;
do not dwell on the past.

There comes a time when we need not just move forward, but also stop glancing back.

For anyone, clumsy like myself, knows that glancing back can be the start of a catastrophe! Yet, I do it frequently … thinking that I will be assured that I am going in the right direction if I can see where I have been. But that simply takes my eyes off the direction I am heading, causing me to not live in the gift of today, but in the room with ripped wrappings and all the worn out gifts of yesterday.

Isaiah didn’t stop at counsel on the past, for he also had something to say about what is to come:

For I am about to do something new.
See, I have already begun!
Do you not see it?
I will make a pathway through the wilderness.
I will create rivers in the dry wasteland.”
Isaiah 43:18-19

The new thing that God has for our family, for all of us, had already been in the works long ago. God himself has cleared the way, bringing life to what seems dead, destitute.

That path in the darkness isn’t just about the hope for the future of my family, it is what is available to all.

In the Matthew Henry Commentary of the above verses, concerning the prophesy of the deliverance of Babylon, a reminder is given:

“there is reference to greater events. The redemption of sinners by Christ … and all that is to be done to rescue sinners, and to bring the believer to glory, is little, compared with that wondrous work of love, the redemption of man.”

Perhaps, better than I, Chris Tomlin describes the restart button best, in his song, Resurrection Power.

“I see the old has passed away
The new has come!
Now I have resurrection power
Living on the inside
Jesus, You have given us freedom
No longer bound by sin and darkness
Living in the light of Your goodness
You have given us freedom”

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