Fresh Start to the New Year of 2023

Happy New Year! Here we are at the beginning of another year, 2023! There is always something special about a fresh start, a new page, a new day, or a new piece of clothing… anything fresh and new always sparks a bit of joy in my heart! As I was reflecting back on the past year, and looking at the new year ahead, memories of past "fresh starts" filled my mind, and so I will share those thoughts with you, along with some pictures I took of eagles on Lake Coeur d'Alene that my husband & I got to enjoy together on New Year's Day.  Each December and January hundreds of eagles come to catch kokanee and they are such a treat to watch. I am sharing my pictures of our eagle watching along with my New Year's thoughts... read on! 

 

  As I pondered the start of the New Year, I began to think about first days and new starts - my mind went back to the first day of school – in grade school, I remember the smell of fresh crayons and newly sharpened pencils that brought great joy to my heart.  A fresh clean notebook to write in, a blank page to color – oh the joys of carrying a new backpack with all the zippers and pockets to explore. Then all the new textbooks to read through – yes, I was that kid that would read ahead of the class. I just had to know what we would be studying throughout the year!

Yes, the fresh, new, and exciting adventures of reading, writing, and learning have always been a joy for me.  Perhaps that is why I am a blogger today... there is something so special about turning a new page and writing the first words on that page.  A favorite activity in grade school was when we got to journal. I loved writing my thoughts and ideas down, with little doodles and creative colors.  Did you remember doing that? So yes, exploring the fresh and new on paper has always been exciting for me. 

In recent years, my favorite time of day is when I walk early in the morning, right after drinking my hot black coffee. I dress for the weather, and the dogs and I set off, so we can enjoy a fresh start to the day. The sunrise, if we have one, thrills my heart, and the cool morning temperatures get my blood pumping. As the sun wakes up from its nighttime slumber, I rejoice to see its beautiful rays spreading across the skyline, and the joy it fills my heart with lasts with me all day. 

After a fresh arrival of snow, my heart’s greatest delight is to take the dogs and walk in the forest, and to see the sparkling diamonds glistening in a million brilliant patterns catching the light and spreading it into the world joyously. As our steps through the forest path are fresh, the road ahead is always a challenge, full of beauty and the excitement of walking that path first, even before the turkeys or deer! 

Always a lover of words, the sweetest delight of words ever written in the world are in the Bible, for those are the words of God, written for all mankind to read.  Those words never cease to fill my heart with boundless joy.  I look forward to learning more and more from the Word of God where treasures abound endlessly, multiplying, rewarding, and increasing without measure. 

Each new year, I seek to learn more about this precious God of mine who loves me so much. I long to enter into His presence more fully, more completely. I long to trust more and doubt less. I long to trust Him even when fog, dark clouds, trials, and sorrows persist. I long to grow into a deeper, more intense relationship with the One who shed His own life-giving blood for me. My heart yearns to walk step-in-step with Him, to abide in Him, and to grow in the virtues He offers – grace, mercy, peace, love, giving, and more! 

Each new year offers an opportunity to set aside the weights of life that can easily separate my heart from its relationship with Him.  The burdens and stress that life brings with it often serve as a dividing tool from Him, but instead, I want to find my rest, my peace, and my hope in Him in the midst of life’s greatest burdens. 

This new year has come like so many others that have come and gone – yet this year will be my 50th on earth – so in this 50th year, I long to KNOW Him more fully.  My prayer for this new year is this - I want to walk in His grace, peace, truth, and holiness, and be ever ready to share the gospel with others.  May His light shine brighter through my heart this year than ever before. May His grace cover me so that my imperfections and shortcomings would be overshadowed in the light of His righteousness within me. May His truth so fill my being so that I would radiate His love, His goodness, and His mercy to those around me.  May the light of the gospel be a radiance beaming from the deepest part of my being so that I may walk unashamed of the gospel of Christ.  

With this New Year’s comes a resolution to live more fully for Him, to walk more contentedly in the paths He has chosen for me, and for me to know Him as fully as He can be known in this earthly body He has placed me in, and that I may glorify Him, bring honor to His kingdom, and that His truth would be alive within me, pouring out of me, and into the community around me.  I long to see His gospel transform lives, minister healing to broken bodies and spirits, and bring light into the darkness where sin reigns. I long to see the gospel resounding from the hilltops, reaching into hearts and homes where sin’s bondage has ravaged lives. I long to see hearts transformed through the miraculous healing power of the blood of Jesus cleansing them from the misery of sin’s bondage. 

Yes, this is a New Year… yes, this is a fresh start, a blank page, a new pencil, an open Book – His Word that lies before me – and my heart is rejoicing at the opportunities ahead, the glories that await, perhaps even greater than my heart or mind can conceive.  For truly, what awaits us is as Paul wrote in 1 Cor. 2:9, “But as it is written, eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love Him.”  

My heart is open, just like a fresh journal with free space to write. May this New Year be a year that fills the fresh page with great and mighty works of the Lord like our eyes have not seen, and ears not heard.  My resolution this year is to seek Him early, walk with Him more closely and obediently, and look for the handiwork of the Lord in all that I do. May this be the year that His kingdom advances in ways that we could not have ever seen or known. And all the while, my heart will continue to daily cry out:  “Maranatha Lord Jesus, even so, come quickly!”

 

How about you?  What is your New Year’s Resolution? I would like to challenge you to spend a few moments prayerfully considering in this New Year how you plan to draw closer to the Lord.  Write down any scriptures that will confirm to your heart throughout the year how to draw closer to the Lord. 

What I have done this year is chosen a pretty piece of paper.  For each month of the year, I will write a scripture down that has spoken to my heart that month.  This will be a piece of paper that I can leave in my Bible, and return to in prayer time, to revisit these scriptures, and repeat them in my heart, pray out loud, and share with others.  This is a personalized way to have 12 scriptures memorized and stored deeply in your heart by the end of the year.  

My chosen scripture for January is 1 Corinthians 2:9 "But as it is written, eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him. " 

Another scripture that I dearly love is this one:  Isaiah 43:1-2 "But now thus saith the LORD that created thee, O Jacob, and he that formed thee, O Israel, Fear not: for I have redeemed thee, I have called thee by thy name; thou art mine. When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee: when thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burned; neither shall the flame kindle upon thee."

John 14:27 Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you; not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid. 

I hope you enjoyed the view of the eagles and seagulls on the beautiful New Year's Day where we got to enjoy their activity.  I pray that your New Year is very blessed and that your heart is encouraged to seek after the Lord's heart and draw ever closer to Him this year. 

In closing, I want to share with you a music video I created using the pictures from our recent eagle outing.  I hope you enjoy this beautiful song along with the eagle pictures! Many blessings to all :)