Wednesday, January 4, 2012

A New Year.....A New Beginning

This beautiful entry gate to this home in Weymouth, England is wide open.  What awaits you through the gate of the New Year 2012?  It will be exciting to see.....

~I snapped this photo in Weymouth, England...I loved the unknown path~

Happy New Year!  A new year....New, unused, fresh, novel!  Lets see...what will we do with it?  I love the new year because it is fresh, clean, unused, just waiting for everything we dream about to come true.  New Year's Day brings out the best in all of us or so it seems.  We can put behind us what we did not accomplish in the past year and begin again, fresh and new.  I like that thought!  I love new beginnings!  A new project is right down my alley this time of year!

There is a beauty in beginning again and seeing life in a fresh new way. The beautiful pictures above seem fresh, open, a new path to travel down.  The word opportunity comes to mind.  A favorite verse of mine is found in 2 Corinthians 5:17 which says, "Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new."  What this means is the quality of our lives can be made new, we can become a new creation in Christ.  You might ask, how does this happen?  The quality of our lives change when we open our heart wide to what God desires to do within us.  It's hard to let go of old things, old habits which are not good for us and look forward to what God has in His heart for us.  We often think of a new door opening but how about a new gate.....a whole new beginning wide enough to take out the old and bring in the new.   That is, it seems to me, what a new year is all about.  The gate has been opened to new opportunities to live, to share, to love, to be kind, to be helpful, to be sincere, to believe in others and in their hopes and their dreams and not always feel the need to express our own words and thoughts.  Personal ambition is good but it has to come at the good of everyone on the team or in the family.  A new year is full of promise for each one in the family and on the team.  What are your hopes for this new year? 

As I write this, I think of all the changes that are new for my family in this new year.  New jobs for some, a new home for one, a new baby for another, new educational opporunties for all and perhaps personal endeavors that I am not aware of.  New experiences often take courage and we have to look deep within ourselves to find the strength and willpower to move forward.  The Bible encourages us in Matthew 6:33 "Seek first the kindgom of God and His righteousness and all these things will be added unto you."  For me, beginning a new year, a new day, a new experience begins better when I begin with prayer.  There is a clarity when we humble ourselves before Almighty God and ask for Him to walk with us throughout our day, our week, our year.  I hope this new year 2012 is good, I hope that all your dreams come true and I pray, dear one, that you will turn to God and walk with Him.  His word promises it is possible for your dreams to come true.  It doesn't mean that everything you want will happen, but what it does mean is that He will work a newness in you where your hopes and dreams will line up with His hopes and His dreams for you.  "With men this is impossible but with God all things are possible."  Matthew 19:26  May His blessings be upon your new year and may He give you the power to act and to accomplish all that awaits you!!!  Yeah.....let's get started!