Out With The Old, In With The New

It's a new year. A 'New' year; A year for fresh starts and change, a year of innovative ideas and renewed energy. A year to go for it and look ahead to what could be. A year full of the unknown, with huge potential.

Or... I'm a mum, so pretty much the same old stuff really. There's washing to be done and beds to be made. There's school shoes to buy and lunches to make. There's stories to read and hair to wash. There's bums to wipe and noses to blow. There's nits to search for and dog poo to clean off.  There's towers to make and laces to tie. There's questions to answer and tears to wipe. There's homework to do and discipline to give. It's the same, year in and year out.

Sometimes at the end of the year, it's easy to forget what has happened the year before. It can blur from yesterday's dried on Weetabix to today's dried on Shreddies, from last week's grocery shop to this week's identical one, (with maybe the added excitement of dishwasher tablets on offer).

So, on New Year's Eve, we sat and looked through a montage of the year's photos. We had a box of Celebrations, (another one) and we highlighted our best bits, chatted about the memories created from the photos, and we celebrated the year gone by. It is always good to celebrate what has been, and what God has done.
(Equally, what He hasn't done, but what He's taught us in the process). It does something good to the soul, when you stop and remember, and give thanks and eat chocolate. The Old Testament is full of moments where someone does this. They realize what God has done, they build an alter or a pile of stones and they name it 'whatever God has done here'.

So, for our family, there were many piles of stones to look back and be thankful for. (There was some rubble along the way too, you know the bits which trip you up, cause some pain or slow you down a bit. But they're not for today).
There were new arrivals to celebrate; our second beautiful daughter, a longed for nephew, and of course a shiny new motorbike. There were weddings to enjoy, and the life of a legendary Great Grandad to remember. There was the epic drive to Spain and the fun we had there. There was a motor bike tour of Europe and of course, the day he came home.
There were crazy birthday parties and wonderful baptisms. There was a 'GOOD' Ofsted report and the day we met Olaf. There were Lego days in and 'Out Out' nights out. And that's the things we could see and photograph, not to mention our Heavenly Father's provision, forgiveness and constant grace.

So, as I look to the year ahead, I am reminded to stir up my soul, to be expectant of the year ahead and what God will do.  I am reminded to indeed see it as a year for fresh starts and change. A year full of the unknown, with huge potential. Because even in the mundane, in the day to day 'sameness', He wonderfully remains the same. He is steady and unchanging, and I know that living for Him, saying Yes to all He asks of me, will be the best thing I can do on a day to day, year to year basis.

Thank you God, for the bountiful blessing of my children. Thank you that there's washing to be done and beds to be made, school shoes to buy and lunches to make, stories to read and hair to wash, bums to wipe and noses to blow, nits to search for and dog poo to clean off, towers to make and laces to tie, questions to answer and tears to wipe, homework to do and discipline to give.

Because that means I have a little tribe to teach and reveal more of God to. That means I get to prepare the next generation to be expectant of all God can do for them. I must never be lacking in zeal for that. I must keep my spiritual fervor, when serving the Lord, as their mum, in every new day! Gulp. God please help me. I cannot do this alone. I am indeed lacking in zeal. But you have yet to let me down, so here I go again. (Romans 12v11)