joyfullyblessed and made NEW!

There have been a lot of NEW things in my life lately.

The summer started by purchasing a NEW car (well actually it’s used, but new to me).

Then I headed off to many NEW experiences in a NEW country, Uganda, coming home with a completely NEW perspective on life. 

A week later I moved to a NEW city in NEW York into a NEW apartment in order to start a NEW job at a NEW church.

After about a week in this NEW place I headed off to NEW Orleans with the youth group for the National Youth Gathering building NEW relationships with the youth and adults (some of whom I hadn’t met before we even got to NEW Orleans). 

I’ve adapted to NEW schedules and NEW routines meeting more NEW people, daily it seems.  There are NEW grocery stores to get used to (or lost in) and while simple things like a NEW hair cut (which happened today) may not seem like a big deal, it’s still something NEW.

New isn’t necessarily good or bad… just new. And in the midst of the newness… it’s beautiful to see what has stayed the same.  Sure there are changes in relationships when moving across the country from my family and friends, but my new schedule has allowed me more time to keep in touch/reconnect with many of them.  The trip to New Orleans allowed me to see many family members and friends from all over the country, all over my past.  And most of all, God has remained the same!  Despite all the newness, the “old” doesn’t really go away… it seems just to be a part of an even bigger picture… a part of the process where God continues to make me new.  These “new” things combine with past things to make me who I am today.  

I can tell you all about the new experiences I’m having and post pictures of the new places I’ve been, but oh how I wish I could describe for you on here the way God is making ME new right now… from the inside, out. 

The whirlwind of all this newness has caused me to seek Jesus in beautiful NEW ways and it’s such a joy to be able to see him at work truly making my heart new… restoring me to Himself, again… and again…. and again.  I really do wish I could explain it to you, but it’s impossible.  Instead, I’ll just pray that you would experience the newness as well!  He proclaims in His World:

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation.  The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. (2 Cor 5:17) 

And check out his passage from Revelation 21

He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.  He who was seated on the throne said, "I am making everything new!" Then he said, "Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true."

Our God is making everything new and one day he will restore all of heaven and earth to it’s beautiful fullness, like he originally desired… no pain, no crying, no death… only JOY and abundant BLESSING!  Oh how I long for that day!

Whether everything seems NEW in your life right now or you feel like everything’s so old you need to get out the dust rags, I pray that you would be able to experience a newness found only in a Christ… a newness that one day, will NEVER fade!