Pondering a NEW thing in the NEW year …
Many of you pick 'a word' as you enter the new year. This is a great way to focus! For me the word NEW continues to surface. In January we greet one another with "Happy NEW Year"! I am pondering what the word NEW means for me. Am I really open to something new? I tend to cling to my old ways.
The word NEW for 2023 brings feelings of excitement, freshness, clean slates, second chances, and new adventures! Yet it also brings a hint of apprehension about what changes, challenges, trials and losses are ahead. These are conflicted feelings for sure. We know the year will bring both joys & sorrows, victories & disappointments, green pastures & droughts, challenges & opportunities. All of these can be used for our growth.
So we wonder how the new year will unfold. I hope I am willing to change.
I offer up a prayer of invitation for God to fall afresh in our lives:
Come, God of love,
I invite you into each day.
Walk with me afresh in this NEW year.
Help me to not dwell in the past.
I trust You to move me forward in love.
I ask to be made NEW.
I desire to grow to be more like You.
Come, do a NEW thing in me!
AMEN
Isaiah 43:18
Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past…
See, I am doing a NEW thing! Do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland.
God's blessings to you,
Marva Sheriff, Artist, CREDO DESIGNS
