The old has gone, the new has come

Today's verse is II Corinthians 5:17, "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!" How fitting for the first day of a new year. Last night as my daughter and I watched the ball drop in New York, I wondered what the new year will bring. I wondered if the Lord will come back before next New Year's eve. I wondered what changes will occur in our country with the new president. I wonder what wars will be fought and which friends and family we will lose. I also wonder how many new friends we will make in this coming year. I think of the babies that will be born this year. No matter how many regrets we might have about the past year, we can rejoice in the fact that, "the old has gone and the new has come." There are a whole brand new bunch of possibilities and experiences ahead of us. The year that my husband had open heart surgery right before Christmas, I remember sitting in the ICU waiting area with a lady from Hawaii. She was telling me about the new year traditions there. She told me that before the new year comes, the whole house is cleaned. All dust is swept away. All leftovers are removed from the refrigerator and disposed of. All that is old is cleaned up so that when the new year arrives, the house is clean and they begin anew. I should do that to my house, but it didn't happen. There are still leftovers in my refrigerator and there are still cobwebs and dust bunnies left from 2008 (and some probably from before that if truth were known). But I thank God that He has made me a new creation. There were a lot of things about the old me that I didn't like at all. There are things about the new me that I don't like so much either, but I know I am a work in progress and He is growing me into what I should be. As I look ahead to 2009, I totally rejoice in the words of this verse, "the old has gone, the new has come!" Isn't it fun to start over with a clean slate, a blank page to write upon? There are new books to read, new friends to meet, new adventures to embark upon, new places to visit, and new things to learn.

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE!