Isn't starting a new year fun?! It's an opportunity to start all over again, a fresh start! Now that should count for something, should it not?
Although I am excited about the prospects of my new year, I admit to you that it is a bit disconcerting to know that tomorrow I begin a new year of work, that really isn't "new" in the sense of "brand new," but then each day is a new day, so I intend to make the most of it. Who knows, tomorrow I may just meet a new friend to help. Now that's optimistic!
As I begin my read through the Bible again this year, retracing the steps of our origin, I am amazed at what I never saw or hardly paid attention to the year before. I have been making it an annual practice to read through the Bible for a very long time, so this is somewhat of a revelation to me, but then isn't that the way life should be? We should always learn something fresh each day. If not, we may as well dig a hole and bury ourselves.
I'm an avid reader, and I relish meeting new authors who inspire my imagination. Now that is saying a lot, because I have a phenomenal imagination! Bigger than big! Huger than huge! Anyone who knows me, knows I can be a bit eccentric in my thoughts at times, but then, that is magical to me. I hope I never lose the wonder.
In my closing moments of 2015 while visiting with my author friends I read the following:
12/30/15
"Whenever we realize we have not taken advantage of a
magnificent opportunity, we are apt to sink into despair.
Let the past sleep, but let it sleep the sweet embrace
of Christ, and let us go on into the invincible future with Him.
Never let the sense of past failure defeat your next step."
Oswald Chambers
12/31/15
"The grace of God means something like: Here is your life.
You might never have been, but you are, because the
party wouldn't have been complete without you. Here
is the world. Beautiful and terrible things will happen.
Don't be afraid. I am with you. Nothing can ever
separate us. It's for you I created the universe.
I love you."
Frederick Buechner
Now that's magical!
Somewhere between wanting to live and wanting to die I came to a crossroads in my life during 2015. I realized that God does have something here for me to do. Of course I knew that all along, but unless you've fought certain battles in life and engaged in warfare, you really cannot understand what it means to "Stand your Ground!" It can become wearying to stand against the icy blasts hitting you in the face, stabbing you in the heart, and be able to see through spiritual eyes that everything will turn out right. But never have I consciously doubted what I was told by the loving voice of my Abba Father prior to my daddy's death on December 20, 2012, when He assured me that my family would be okay. I am beginning to see and understand the scope of what He was saying to me as opposed to what these past three years have spoken to me in the natural. But then, that's faith.
In my reading today about Noah and the great flood the questions were asked; "Is God trustworthy?" "Does he keep his word?" I really didn't have to think about the answers to those questions, because I can agree wholeheartedly to both with a resounding "YES!" But then, as I was reading about His promise to Noah and his family, as well as to all of us, that He would never destroy the earth in that manner again, I began to wonder how many people who see rainbows in the sky remember His promise. Or do they only remember the tale about gold being at the end of a rainbow?
I don't know about anyone else, but God's beautiful gift of nature speaks to me every day. Who can adequately capture on canvas or in a photo the incomprehensible beauty of a sunset sky over mountains topped in snow against a majestic sky?! Each day brings a new canvas of infinite design by the hand of our Creator. And we get to see it and marvel at the artistry and design.
Two choices...all up to us to decide.
"But blessed are your eyes because they see,
and your ears because they hear."
Matthew 13:16
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