Tag: New Year

  • Whether we greet the morning with a grin or a groan, every dawn propels us into the unknown

    All we know for sure is what yesterday looked like. But this day? Who knows?

    Some of us consider our life to be good, others not so much. Perhaps our circumstances seemed right at the start and then our life took a turn we never imagined. Or wanted.

    Does that make us powerless? 

    I say No. Why would I/how could I say that?

    Because we still choose how we will handle what comes. Will we live with fear? Or with calm? Without fail, we get to decide. 

    I didn’t always understand that. Then I ran across a Dale Carnegie quote that made me think. After reading it once, I read it again, a couple of times. Aloud. Slowly.

    “Two men looked out from prison bars, One saw the mud, the other saw stars.”

    For whatever reason, those words made me squirm. I heard that voice in my mind asking, What about me? What did I choose to see when I looked at my life?

    How often did I cheat myself of seeing the stars?

    Do our attitudes color our perception?

    Always, we are individuals, not peas in a pod with identical lives. Some people live in the middle of a hard situation that offers little or no hope of getting better, yet they remain cheerful, even calm. How?

    Like the prisoner who chose to look up at the stars, where we fix our attention greatly affects how we see our lives. How we think affects the people around us, too. That old saying, “If Mama ain’t happy ain’t nobody happy” also applies to Papa. Our moods trickle down to our children and to everyone in our lives.

    In this age of information overload we can’t escape hearing news reports and warnings, morning, noon and night. Often we struggle to keep fear from getting the upper hand.

    Even when life is good. Even when we believe in God.

    Everyone’s life story includes ups and downs

    Times when nothing seemed to work out right. Times we felt alone and comfortless. Even strong Christians can feel weak and empty now and then.

    Yet through it all we believe God has not walked away from us and washed his hands of us.  

    Clearly, we are not the first to experience these emotions. Otherwise, why would the Bible include so much hope and reassurance? For example, check Isaiah 43:1-5; Psalm 139, especially verses 1-18; or John 14:27. 

    It helps to know where to find favorite Bible verses 

    Have you ever remembered part of a Bible verse, but not where to find it? Technology comes in handy here, even for us non-techies.

    Just enter the words you recall into any general search engine on your computer or smart phone. Almost instantly the complete verse and where to find it will appear on the screen. Sometimes the verse will pop up in several Bible translations. It’s easy to scroll through until you locate the one that matches what you’re trying to recall.

    Note: Even when one translation of the Bible varies from another, the core meaning of the text does not change. That traces back to the original texts, which all were written in Latin (Old Testament) or Greek (New Testament). 

    Feel free to mark up your printed Bible

    Long ago I started keeping track of verses by underlining them or marking them in some way. I started also keeping notes where to find them on the blank pages at the back of my Bible. My system was and is rather haphazard, but it works for me.

    Here are two verses I underlined years ago:   

    I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live and that you may love the LORD your God, listen to his voice and hold fast to him. For the LORD is your life …                                                                           –Deuteronomy 30:19-20

    The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.                                                                                                                           –Lamentations 3:22-23

    Never ceases. Never come to an end. New every morning. 

    Armed with reassurances like these you and I can prance into the unknown, unafraid. (And we will prance, won’t we?)

    Wishing you joy and peace,

    Lenore 

    Good news! Every Day Is A New Beginning

    Good news! Every Day Is A New Beginning

  • It's the season for talk of wiping slates clean and making new starts. 

    If you're like me, you remember too many new starts that fizzled out.

    Too often I drag yesterday's worries into the New Year. Still, putting up new calendars all over the house feels like walking into the unknown. My pulse quickens.

    New Year's always reminds me of a long-ago friend

    Blog. Couple. Blonde girl. 12.15We met "Haruki" at a gathering to welcome a visiting business group. This Japanese man spoke English fluently. That made it easy to talk and talk we did. 

    Our conversations continued after his visit in our area was over, although writing him felt a bit stilted. His letters were friendly, but more formal. I weighed each word, not wanting to offend by using an American term that didn't translate well.

    Just before New Year's we received a long letter from Haruki. Never before had he revealed his inner feelings. Now they poured out.

    His letter went something like this:

    My dear friends,

    I write this to you because I trust you. We have a custom to end the old year by facing our faults and leaving our troubles behind so we can start the new year with nothing weighing us down. This past year I failed grievously and I must confess to someone I know will not betray me.

    It is embarrassing, but I must tell you. When I was in your city last summer I met up again with an old friend. Mindy. She traveled many miles to come to the seminar, as did I. Neither of us knew the other would be there.

    I saw her blonde hair first, then I heard her soft drawl. My heart turned to water, just as the first time I saw her. She smiled at me, tears wetting her cheeks, too.

    You see, fifteen years ago I was an exchange student at her college. We fell very much in love. I longed to marry Mindy. She took me to meet her parents and I asked permission to marry their only daughter. Those kindly people could see our love and they said yes.

    Then I took courage to call my father and tell him I wanted to marry an American girl. His voice turned cold and stern. "No! I will not allow it! You must marry the young woman we chose for you. If you go ahead with this, you are no longer my son. You will be dead to me and your mother and your brother. Forever."

    What was I to do? I was a good son, an honorable son. I could not disgrace my family. So I went home and married my father's choice for me. She is a good woman and we have two boys. I would not dishonor her or my sons.

    But, oh, when I saw Mindy I felt weak with joy. I knew it was wrong, but we spent every moment together. Nights, too. I could not help myself. Mindy never forgot me, either, and has never married. We both suffered so much pain. Now we had another chance and it was as if I came alive again.

    In the end I could not shame my wife or my sons. So at last Mindy and I said goodbye again, both of us crying as we did before. I went home to my empty life. I am doing my duty, but I still think of Mindy constantly.

    I cannot speak of this to my wife, so I speak my guilt to you. Now that I have confessed, I will enter the New Year sadly, but with a clear conscience. 

    All we could do was pray for Haruki, then write to tell him about the Savior who paid for all our failures and sins once and for all on the cross. 

    Nice story, but what does that have to do with me? 

    Evaluating the past year is a good thing, no matter who we are or where we live. That alone can lighten our load of problems and relationship issues.

    Confessing our wrong thoughts and actions to God and to the person(s) involved may free us from the millstone of guilt. Resolving interpersonal conflict may be as simple as a telephone call, writing a letter, or meeting someone for coffee at Starbucks and talking it over.

    That might involve apologies and tamping down one's ego, letting the other person "win." This may taste bitter for awhile, but it seldom kills. Once we realize we're as flawed as the next person a lot of strain goes out of life.

    Whatever it takes it's worth it, whether it's healing a rift or shedding our guilt at the cross. It's the way to nurture inner peace, any day of the year. 

    May you have a good year, my friend. Here's my prayer for you:

    Now may the Lord of peace himself give you peace at all times in every way. The Lord be with you all.                                    –2 Thessalonians 3:16  ESV

    With love,

    Lenore

    Related articles

    Feed your marriage on "we" instead of "me" and watch it thrive
    How to survive being a mom
    What good are fathers in a child's life?

    Dealing with yesterday can make tomorrow brighter