I found this short excerpt from our family devotions book tonight rather interesting:
"God doesn't say he is making all new things. He is making all things new--in other words, he's making things better, fresher, brighter and stronger." (from One Year of Dinner Table Devotions and Discussion Starters: 365 Opportunities to Grow Closer to God as a Family by Nancy Guthrie)
The holiday season of 2011 didn't come with the dread that accompanied those of 2009 and 2010. Oh, there were moments of sadness and tears, but nothing like I had experienced throughout the months of November and December the past couple of years. The emotional numbness this year was something of a gift of protection for a time, so I didn't realize the sadness that was welling up inside.
Maybe it's the attention placed on a new year...new beginnings, fresh starts. All that "out with the old and in with the new" stuff is especially hard for a momma who continues to struggle with feeling like her youngest daughter's been forgotten. I've found myself feeling very blue these last few days. I can't help but think of the new beginnings that were cut so short in our own lives. Having to learn to function again in a world that still feels a little foreign is a fresh start I'd just as soon not have to face.
My heart absolutely aches for the little girl who left my arms way too soon. I suspect it always will, but I know that God has a purpose for my aching heart. He wants to make it new, not in the sense of replacing something old, but rather in transforming it. He wants to make it better, fresher, brighter, stronger.
He's got my attention, and I'm actually beginning to look forward to what He has in store for the year ahead.
What does He want to make new in your life?
