I love fresh starts. Beginnings. They offer excitement, anticipation, and mystery, don't you think? I could hardly wait to start reading the Bible through on January 1st. I was so excited that I read portions of December's readings. Seriously! Biblegateway.com has an excellent program for internet nuts like me who want to read the Bible through in chronological order of events. I highly recommend it. You can pick whatever version you enjoy, or choose a new one to get another perspective. I am praying for God to give me new eyes to see things I've never seen before. I'm praying for any old ideas or interpretations I've clung to for clinging's sake to be stripped from my mind as His Holy Spirit removes them. Also, I'm praying for a freshness in my heart, soul, mind, and spirit.
How about you? What did you do yesterday, the first day of 2010? Some folks I know took Christmas of '09 and packed it back in boxes and bags and stored it in their attics. I didn't. I took the day off. I had my hubby sit back all day and watch the Rose Bowl and other games. We watched a silly movie. I perused some of the old blogs I use to read faithfully every day. Discovered some of the same old arguments being batted around in some. Found that some are restructuring and requesting discussion topics for the new year that readers would like to see posted. Some dear bloggers, whom I loved reading, abandoned their blogs altogether. Perhaps they've fallen prey and in love with Facebook, MySpace and Twitter. That's fine for them. Me? I'm an old dog. While I've learned the new tricks, I still enjoy typing over here. As far as needing new topics to discuss, life affords new stuff in my world every day. I wrote something on three of my personal blogs (so much for last week's writing quandary; is God not amazing?), and even managed to write one for SBC Voices. But I like fresh starts. And many times before we can start, we must pack up the old, or put it off altogether.
In some folk's lives, it is much more than that. It was inspiring to read Julie Todd's perspective on her "old" stuff. She took a bold, courageous step (as far as Christian writer's go). She sets a marvelous example for any of us who have a penchant for holding onto the past and lugging it into the future. She's got one up on Paul's idea to lay aside any encumbrances. Burn baby, burn! Ashes to beauty, indeed! Me thinks we can follow her example with a few of our prior blogposts. Hmmmn....? selahV
[kudos to believerschurch.org for the photo]