Begin Again!!

Autumn signals new beginnings; changing of tree leaves from vivid green to beautiful orange, golden yellow, fiery red and majestic purple. Summer vacations and relaxation is over and children, teenagers and adults are on their way back to school. Fall is a great time to reflect on our New Year’s goals (How is my progress? Am I even making progress?). As you all know, my daughter Kaiya is entering high school this fall, and a large portion of my focus has been on preparing her and mostly myself (LOL!) for this transition. When I had a chance to reflect on a goal I had set for 2010, I realized I hadn’t made any progress on that goal at all! But instead of beating myself up or throwing a pity party about it, I just started working on my goal the next morning.

Goal #1 is weight loss. I decided the night before to set my alarm clock for 5 A.M. in order to get to the gym at 5:30 when it opened so I could get in a 30 minute workout before work. Surprisingly enough, I beat my alarm clock by waking up at 4:50 that morning! Either my body sensed a change in me mentally or I was awakened early by God so that I wouldn’t change my mind as I had done in the past. ~smile~

Goal #2 is to complete my Bachelor’s degree. I called the school I plan to attend and I discovered that I need to update my science courses because my classes are over 5 years old. A part of me wanted to become angry, “Science is science, a cell is still a cell whether I took it 50 years ago or yesterday, so, what’s the big deal?! Discouraged and feeling as though I will have great grandkids by the time I finish my degree, and then of course by now I’m tempted to have a pity party. “Why me?!” “Why didn’t I finish school 5 years ago?” But instead of sowing to my flesh, I took a deep breath and declared, “If what I have to do is take 1 or 2 classes at a time I will finish my degree with high grades!”

What about you? Do you have any New Year’s goals that were put on the back burner? Any plans, hopes, hobbies or dreams hidden under cobwebs of procrastination or dust bunnies of neglect? If so, it’s time to shake that dust off and begin again! It doesn’t matter if you have started and stopped before; begin again! Paul said this to the Church of Philippi: “I'm not saying that I have this all together, that I have it made. But I am well on my way, reaching out for Christ, who has so wondrously reached out for me. Friends, don't get me wrong: By no means do I count myself an expert in all of this, but I've got my eye on the goal, where God is beckoning us onward—to Jesus. I'm off and running and I'm not turning back.”

Let’s pray. Heavenly Father, I thank You that in Jesus there is always a chance to begin again. Please give my sisters a spirit of unwavering strength and courage to restart projects, goals and hobbies. For any sister that doesn’t know what she is called to do, please show her your plans for her life! Please help her to realize that when she takes care of herself, she can take better care of her family. Thank You for being the God of a second, third, forth and even infinite chances! In Jesus’ name I pray, AMEN.

Until next time, stay encouraged!


See you in 2 weeks,
Jennifer

I'll be back on Wednesday, September 22nd, hope to see you then!


Home School Thursday's Blog: Ponnie our "Homeschool Granny"