Happy New Year!! 

 

2017 Has Begun! Wahoo! A New Beginning! … There is something about beginning that makes my heart skip a beat whether it’s the 1st page of a book that you have been dying to read, those 1st few steps out the door for the walk that is to begin your path back to being physically fit or even the fact that daylight is beginning to come a bit earlier each morning. Beginning doesn’t mean easy, it means fresh, new, being done with what was, embracing what is and what will be.

There are several special people in my life who will be beginning 2017 with chemo treatments or trying to figure out how to continue living after having lost loved ones or friends who have walked away from unhealthy situations and have physically moved to a different city to gain new perspective and hope for a better life. Beginning is best done surrounded by those that love you and who are going to stand with you in the trenches.

What better way to start out the year than with these words,

“Be Strong and Courageous!”

These words came courteously out of by bible reading this morning in Joshua chapter 1. Why Strong and Courageous? Because…

“Wherever you set foot, you will be on land I have given you- (Joshua 1:3) … “I will not fail you or abandon you.” (Joshua 1:5) “For the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.” (Joshua 1:9)

How?

“Study this book (the bible) of instruction continually. Meditate on it day and night so you will be sure to obey everything written in it. Only then will you prosper and succeed in all you do.” (Joshua 1:8)

Joshua was about to lead the people of Israel into the land that God had promised to them generations ago. The leader (Moses) had passed away and now Joshua was in charge of leading over 2 million people into a land filled with hope and promise but not without treacherous challenges to face. It wasn’t going to be a peaceful transition. There were huge battles to be fought, precise instructions to be followed and hearts that needed to have the end goal in mind.

Beginning is exciting, hard, hope filled and scary all at the same time. The battles we fight for the most part aren’t on a true battlefield but rather in infusion rooms, in our homes or even within our own hearts. In order to navigate all that is before you, you need to stay close to the One who has already won the war. Our end goal? Heaven and to take as many people with us when we go. My 2017 is a true fresh start and I am filled with all those emotions in regards to what the days ahead will look like. Wherever you stand whether you are beginning this year excited or unsure the words remain the same

Be Strong and Courageous! … I Will Not Fail You or Abandon You. … The Lord Your God Is With You Wherever You Go.

If all this wasn’t enough of a promise for the new year, God decided to blanket the Southern Oregon Coast with a inch or two of snow this morning. A beautiful way to wake up and be given a visual reminder of how clean and white the slate is for the new year.

Happy 2017 My Friends!!

 

 

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