As much as I love Christmas, I realize each year that New Year’s might actually be my favorite time of year. You see, I’m a New Beginnings Girl. I love new beginnings. When I was little I remember loving the beginning of the school year, with clean sheets of lined paper, limitless potential. As I grew older I loved getting a new journal–beautiful cover and delicously blank pages brimming full of possibilities. And now, even though I can’t remember the last time I wrote something on a piece of paper, I still love starting something new, whether a blog post or a house project (better yet, a new house!) or a new semester of school (ok, actually I’m happy to be done with new semesters of school, at least for now). That’s why New Year’s is my favorite time of year.
Unfortunately this year a nasty cold has knocked me flat on my back. A simple cold seems to augment to monstrous proportions when I’m almost 8-months pregnant. Everything hurts, I can’t sleep, the house is a shambles, and changing Dutch’s diaper exhausts me of every ounce of energy that I have. So, needless to say I don’t have my usual New Beginning burst of energy, which kind of bums me out because I look forward to it each year. But I couldn’t let today pass without at least writing something…
I just finished the last few chapters of Revelation–a few hours “late” as I read through the Bible each year and this time I had to finish on Jan 1. But what stood out to me was that the reason we love New Beginnings is that Jesus is the New Beginning. And He ends His message to us, in His Word, with a New Beginning. Our hearts are filled with a heavenly vision of eternity, and we yearn for God to take this world and make it new. Jesus promises, “Behold, I make all things new” (Rev. 21:5), and in this new beginning there will be no more tears, no more death, no more sickness or mourning or crying or pain. Now that is a new beginning.
I don’t have my New Year’s Resolutions formed yet; but those will come soon, as soon as this cloud in my head clears. RIght now I’m content to dwell on the fact that every new year reminds us that Jesus is the new beginning, and that a day will come when all things will be made new. And it will be great indeed.