A FRESH START

I’m a sucker for a fresh start in life and anything related to it or that makes me think of it.  Reminders of new beginnings and fresh starts - opportunities for do-overs. 
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“Therefore if any person is [ingrafted] in Christ (the Messiah) he is a new creation (a new creature altogether); the old [previous moral and spiritual condition] has passed away.  Behold, the fresh and new has come!”  A new order has come.  This would include our old identity, our life of sin, the power of Satan, the religious works of trying to please God, our old relationship with the world, and our old mindsets.  We are not reformed or simply refurbished, we are made completely new by our union with Christ and the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.”
2 Cor 15:17 (AMPC)

I am a sunrise and sunset kind of person and I love being awake to experience sunrise and to see a new day breaking.  Hearing birds announcing the new day.  My favorite time of day, okay there are two favorites, yes you’ve guessed it, are daybreak and sunset and I love the unique colors that the sun makes during those few minutes.  Another thing I love is switching off the lights at the end of a long day in a pitch dark room.  Those few moments before your eyes adapt to the dark.  There is just something about knowing a day is done and a new one lies waiting on the other side of the darkness. My mother always said that when the night is at its darkest the breaking of day is at its closest. 

I also love everything related to Spring season, Spring blossoms and new life.  When a baby of any kind is born, human or non-human.  I get fascinated when I see a little seedling breaking through the soil or a flower opening up. The waves of the sea as one roles away and a new one comes in and breaks on the beach.

I absolutely love Mondays, the first day of a new month and celebrating a new year.  I’m just crazy about everything related to ‘out with the old and in with the new’!  Even opening up a new product.  Something basic that I use every day.  Emptying the previous tube of toothpaste, yes I do empty the previous one first at lease, and opening a new one.  Let’s not even mention the most amazing product to open, a brand new coffee!  Ooooh, when you open it and that very first whiff of air hits your nose.  My goodness!  Instant happiness right there!  I think you are starting to get an idea of how much I like fresh things and new starts.

Even though I am clearly crazy about everything new and fresh I do believe that there is also something to be said for giving something old the opportunity to change and start out new.  Seeing potential where no one else does.  My husband and I are currently busy with a ‘project’ where we are renovating an extremely old house.  One of those places that nobody would want to look at twice but we see so much potential in it.  It is not the property’s fault that it is old.  Nothing wrong with it.  Just old.  It is not fair to judge it on the fact that it has a past and a history.  I would much rather focus on what it could become. 

So many times people say that they wish that they could just make a new start. Move to another city or country and just get away from everything and everyone that reminds them of their past and their today.  Take it from someone who has had the opportunity more than once.  It doesn’t work that way.  There is one thing we take with us wherever we go.  Ourselves!  The good news however for someone like me, that loves a new and fresh start, is the truth that in Jesus we have the opportunity for a new beginning, a do over and fresh start at any moment in time.  At any moment we choose. God knows what His original design was for me and He created me with my purpose and end in mind no matter the situation or condition I find myself in now.  I truly belief He doesn’t look at my past but only at my now moment and  future and with my original design and purpose in mind.  His mercy is new and fresh with every new morning and His mercy is enough for each day.  He brings daybreak and light to my darkest darkness and in Him I’m brand new, fresh and whiter than snow.

Sometimes transformation and change happens in an instant or over night and sometimes it is a process.  Like with my ‘old house’ project or the transformation of a worm into a beautiful butterfly, but in the end it will be brand new and fresh.  The old house just needs a good cleaning and a bit of work and then it will have a brand new look and will be able to fulfill its purpose to the full again.  In Jesus it is even better than the old house project, because it is not just the old with a facelift, but a brand new creation, as if the old has passed away and a new one is born.  No more gross worm, only a beautiful butterfly!

Embrace the opportunity to start fresh and become a new creation often.  To become Christlike.  Not just an improvement on the old or a renovation but a complete brand new creation with a renewed and fresh perspective, way of thinking, doing and being.

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GUEST BLOGGER - MARLINDA RUDOLPH

​Marlinda is a pastoral care giver and Banting/Keto-coach situated in the UAE.  She is currently studying Animal Assisted Intervention and hopes to soon be combining her love for animals and people.  Her desire is to see people whole in spirit, soul and body.