My New Skin Doesn't Fit
Happy New Year.
I am so thrilled to have it be 2007, I can’t even tell you. I just think God is so cool to have thought of the idea of a whole new year. A Bible verse that I really love is “His mercies are new every morning*.” To me, this means that we get to push a “re-do” button every single day and start again, fresh.
If you’ve had a bad day, and I’ve had a few, this is very encouraging. No matter what I left undone from yesterday (dishes, laundry, people to call, notes to write), I have a fresh chance to do it today. The new mercies don’t only apply to my To Do list, of course. Every day I have a new opportunity to become more and more the person I am meant to be. I have a To Be list and a new chance at it with each morning’s light.
But a new year? A whole new year? That’s huge. I am filled with anticipation at the thought of what this year will hold.
Dave will get a new job this year. His old job ended as a Christmas gift, of sorts . This will be The Year of Dave’s New Job.
This will be the year Alex, 15, will get his first job, we hope. Maybe he’ll even get his driver’s license in 2007.
This will be a year when I will be a published writer. (March 2007, P31 magazine.) Maybe this will be a year that I publish a lot. Maybe I’ll find an agent. Maybe.
In this year, I will learn more about God and His nature. One of the ways He teaches us to trust Him is to stretch us beyond our own comfort. Think about it. If it were up to you alone, would you take risks? Would you make changes? Would you go new places or meet new people? God stretches us in order for us to grow. He also allows us to be stretched so we can trust Him more.
In 2006, I felt like the old Stretch Armstrong doll. You know the one? It had gooey arms and legs that could be stretched to four times their normal length. Once Stretch had been, well, mauled, many times, he would never quite conform back to his starting size. I can relate to this. I was stretched a lot last year. Now my skin doesn’t quite fit me like it used to. I need to grow some more, trust some more, love some more, and fit into my new skin.
God's going to have to help me with this. How about you? I pray we all enjoy God’s gracious gift of a new year. Only He knows what it holds. Oh, thank you, Lord! His mercies are new every morning!
*Lamentations 3:22-24
22 The unfailing love of the LORD never ends!
I am so thrilled to have it be 2007, I can’t even tell you. I just think God is so cool to have thought of the idea of a whole new year. A Bible verse that I really love is “His mercies are new every morning*.” To me, this means that we get to push a “re-do” button every single day and start again, fresh.
If you’ve had a bad day, and I’ve had a few, this is very encouraging. No matter what I left undone from yesterday (dishes, laundry, people to call, notes to write), I have a fresh chance to do it today. The new mercies don’t only apply to my To Do list, of course. Every day I have a new opportunity to become more and more the person I am meant to be. I have a To Be list and a new chance at it with each morning’s light.
But a new year? A whole new year? That’s huge. I am filled with anticipation at the thought of what this year will hold.
Dave will get a new job this year. His old job ended as a Christmas gift, of sorts . This will be The Year of Dave’s New Job.
This will be the year Alex, 15, will get his first job, we hope. Maybe he’ll even get his driver’s license in 2007.
This will be a year when I will be a published writer. (March 2007, P31 magazine.) Maybe this will be a year that I publish a lot. Maybe I’ll find an agent. Maybe.
In this year, I will learn more about God and His nature. One of the ways He teaches us to trust Him is to stretch us beyond our own comfort. Think about it. If it were up to you alone, would you take risks? Would you make changes? Would you go new places or meet new people? God stretches us in order for us to grow. He also allows us to be stretched so we can trust Him more.
In 2006, I felt like the old Stretch Armstrong doll. You know the one? It had gooey arms and legs that could be stretched to four times their normal length. Once Stretch had been, well, mauled, many times, he would never quite conform back to his starting size. I can relate to this. I was stretched a lot last year. Now my skin doesn’t quite fit me like it used to. I need to grow some more, trust some more, love some more, and fit into my new skin.
God's going to have to help me with this. How about you? I pray we all enjoy God’s gracious gift of a new year. Only He knows what it holds. Oh, thank you, Lord! His mercies are new every morning!
*Lamentations 3:22-24
22 The unfailing love of the LORD never ends!
By his mercies we have been kept from complete destruction.
23 Great is his faithfulness; his mercies begin afresh each day.
24 I say to myself, "The LORD is my inheritance; therefore, I will hope in him!"
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