Date: 12/29/2009
<br>Author: Devin
<br>Title: Fresh Start
<br><br>       “I like the notion of “fresh starts” and “second chances.” How about you? Did your fall semester in<br> college or graduate school end on a low note? The spring semester that starts in a few days is a fresh<br> start for you.  Was last year a tough one at work? Did you lose a job? Have to move your family from <br>a place everybody really liked to a new location? One way to cope is to think of what you can gain<br> rather than what you’ve lost. Focus on what to learn from the experience to help you move forward. <br>Make some new friends ..... renew some old acquaintances ..... revisit some familiar places.<br><br>       Is an important relationship in trouble? Did someone you love die? Are you worried about the <br>“bad-attitude-friends” your child has made? Maybe you need to look at these things through fresh eyes<br> and with hope.  A sense of brokenness is often the mandatory first step to renewal and healing. So it<br> isn't a bad thing to lament our losses. But it is a bad thing to spend the rest of your life looking over <br>a shoulder to the past instead of lifting your eyes to the future. It can be fatal to the human spirit.<br><br>      As you might expect in light of all this, I see the turning of the calendar to a new year as a big deal.<br> Doesn't the idea of a clean slate appeal to you too? Doesn't the chance to start over sound great? But<br> I'm not necessarily suggesting that you make a long list of New Year's Resolutions. In fact, I would <br>advise against it.  Long lists are intimidating and frustrating. Most resolutions are too vague – reduce<br> stress, save more money, be more helpful at home. And the notion of pledging to do something for <br>365 days is tough on people who are honest about just how often failure visits them. Perhaps there <br>is a better way.<br><br>      Remember the advice Jesus gave about just taking care of today and not biting off tomorrow's <br>troubles? "Each day has challenges enough of its own!" he said. Think about it, and you will realize <br>that your own experience confirms it.  In the context of that statement, Jesus gave this counsel: "Strive<br> above all else for the reign of God in your life, and the things that have been worrying you will<br> resolve!" God's reign requires conscious surrender. Not of the entire year but of today's trouble, this<br> stress, or a particular loss. Not of the other person but of my attitude toward them. Not of yesterday's <br>failure so much as today's opportunity.  New Year 2010 is God's mercy to you.  What will you do with<br>it?  Or better yet, what will it do with you?”   (copied)<br><br><br>       This past Sunday we were blessed to have Crystal Fitts and her family visit with us.  The life story<br>of Crystal is one that bears repeating time and time again.  The encouragement and support that she <br>has received from her husband Danny and their children is the theme for many-a Hallmark card.  If<br> there were some way to bottle the determination and perseverance of this once-upon-a-time cancer<br> victim, we could solve many of the world's dilemmas.  Crystal's life mantra is one of just “taking one<br> day at a time”.  I think it would do us all well to subscribe to that same mental process in 2010.<br><br>           <br>                                                           Happy New Year!<br><br>                                                                                                             <br> Go the extra mile - Devin<br><br><br>