Wednesday, January 14, 2009

In the Beginning

In the Bible, the Book of Genesis talks about how, in the beginning, God created the world out of nothingness. So even before us, God was here. In fact, He is still here with us, making promises to never leave us, and to even make us new creations if we only ask Him to. I will provide more specifcs on that in posts to come...

This is a new year - a new beginning. I pray that for those of you inclined to do so, you ask Jesus into your heart to heal your hurt - to make you new. He will not force His way in and He will not make decisions for you, but He has the ultimate "open door policy" if you only have the courage to walk in.

I am not attempting to persuade anyone toward a particular denomination, though I openly proclaim that I am a born-again non-denominational Christian. I was not always of the Protestant faith; in fact, I grew up Catholic.

So if you have questions about Christ that your friends or the Internet cannot answer, I hope you seek counsel from your local churches, pastors,etc. You may not join the first church you walk into - you may not even agree with the first pastor you speak with - but the point is that you start a new path - a new beginning - and you start your journey to get to know Christ and what He can do in your life.

What Christ intends to do for me might be different than what He intends for you, so your first challenge for the new year will be to ask Him, "Lord, what do you have in store for me?"

Your second challenge will be waiting patiently, quietly, while you listen and look for His answer.

Happy 2009!

Hello to all of my fabulous sisters! It is a new year and we deserve to have a new start. I am not a counselor or psychologist or therapist, just a fellow sister on the planet who feels we need to support one another and not judge one another.

I pray that each of you start off the new year on a positive note. Perhaps instead of making resolutions for the new year, you will instead commit to seeing and realizing all of the good, all of the happiness, all of the joy in your lives.

It can be especially difficult for those of us going through hard times to do this, but maybe start by opening up a fresh notebook and writing your name in it. Seems silly, but it is a start. Then maybe the next time you open it, you can write in the first happy memory from your child hood...and each time, work your way up to the present with happy memories...you might find that there were more than what you thought.

Don't think I am just lecturing - this is a mission I am on this year as well...trying to replace the gloom with light...I hope you join me and share some thoughts on how you replace the gloom with light!

I will start the ball rolling by saying that I thank God every day for my best friend, who to this day is my best sounding board, and one of my memories I am most thankful for was a fun, crazy trip to Galveston, Texas...I knew if we could survive fighting in the car while getting lost, we would be friends for life! So despite the hardships I face now, God blessed me early on with a girlfriend who would help me through...even before I knew what was to come at me in my life...thank you for that.