It's a New Day

There’s always a lot of pressure on a new year. So many expectations that, with the turn of the calendar, everything will magically be better. We’ll no longer crave sugar. We’ll never be weak in the knees (and the wallet) at Target. We’ll live more adventures, laugh at more moments, love more people.

We’re 10 days into the new year now, friends. Some of us are going strong, owning our resolutions like a boss.

And some of us fell flat three days in.

Although I don’t do resolutions, I do enter the year with an anticipation that I’m going to get my stuff together. I love fresh starts and new beginnings. A new year feels the same as a new school year to me. I get new school supplies and lay out my clothes. I organize all the things and, armed with giddy enthusiasm, I march into January with all the hope that This. Is. My. Year.

It doesn’t matter how many years failed to measure up to my unrealistic expectations. I’m enamored with hope and possibilities.

And I’m sustained by grace. Because some days are as I hoped. And some are not. I imagine that is the same for you as well.

Maybe 2017 felt like more days of disappointment than of hope for you. Maybe you’re holding back on 2018 because hope seems risky and vulnerable.

The beautiful thing about fresh starts is that they’re not limited to January 1st. They are possible each day, each hour, even in a moment. With God, there is no shortage of new beginnings. The very word “repent” is about new beginnings. The Greek word for repent in the New Testament is “metanoeo” which means “to change one’s mind”. We often say it means to turn, to turn toward God rather than living outside God’s dream for us and for others. Repentance isn’t a one-time event. It is a repetitive act. We are in constant need of changing our mind, correcting our steps.

So, whether you need grace for the year, for the day, or for the hour, you will find God’s grace to be sufficient and abundant.

If yesterday you downed a Mocha Frappuccino while filling your cart with Magnolia’s spring line at Target, just know today is a new day. You may have some calories and some debt you didn’t have yesterday but that doesn’t mean today has to go down the same way. New beginnings, my friends. It is never too late to change one’s mind.