#newbeginning | itsawonderfilledlife

Posts Tagged ‘#newbeginning’

Morning Prayer

Posted in GOD, life, WONDER, tagged #blankslate, #mercies, #morningprayer, #morningrituals, #newadventures, #newbeginning on July 10, 2018| Leave a Comment »

There is something about the freshness of each new day that puts thanks and praise on the heart and coming from the lips (well, if you are a morning person).

I love the words of Anne of Green Gables (aka Lucy Maud Montgomery):

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And that is what the mornings are, reminders of the freshness of a new day, a blank slate, a new beginning … not an impediment in sight.

So, the freshness of a new day, thanks on our lips, and a prayer.

I love to find the perfect place in the house to start my day, with a warm cup and my WonderDog (sometimes hubby is part of the ritual too). The perfect place with just the right light, a view to the world outside, and a cozy chair.

In our new home, finding a seat uncluttered by boxes and their contents is still a bit of a struggle. I wonder where our morning space will eventually emerge as.

This new home is like the freshness of a new day. It is a blank slate, a new beginning. Like God’s mercies, that are new every morning, this space, this place is our place of grace, sanctuary from the world.

And, as we begin our new day under this roof, thanks and a prayer to start this new day:

Morning Prayer

God shield this house.
When the hail must fall upon the roof,
bid the ice be kind.
When the snow must come upon the shingles,
bid the cold be warmer than it wants to be.
When the floods rise against the walls,
make these bricks the exorcist that drives
the water demons from the foundation.
Bid the glazing of the windows
hold the blast of northern winds at bay.
For this home is a temple and
we-this poor band of lovers all-keep here an altar.
Here we love the great God
and find the adoration our Lord so full
abundance spills over to the loving of each other.
This is our sanctuary-our holy place
-our citadel of hope-
our shelter from despair.
(Calvin Miller: Celtic Devotions)

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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 »

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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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