I thought this year would be different. I thought I could jot a few thoughts for a blog on the first day of this new year. Obviously my intention failed miserably. I need a January jumpstart, a shot of creativity.
Some may not know about a ‘jumpstart.’ Years ago, when car batteries were not as reliant as they are today, we would have to carry ‘jumper cables’ in the car just in case we found our battery drained and we were far from home. This happened to me with my first car, a rickety old Valiant. I’d always find a way to connect my battery cable to someone else’s battery in order to ‘jump start’ the car and take it to the local garage to get a new battery. It was like a new beginning for my car.
Perhaps we no longer need that jump start for cars but I find that I need a jump start from God every now and then.
Each day speeds by like lightening in a summer storm.
My intentions are right up front in the race to shove all I can into each day.
I love learning so that I can teach others.
I love listening so that I can encourage, motivate and pray with those who might need a daily jumpstart.
Each day offers a new beginning. I get to start over, see my surroundings in new light, and celebrate a new day in all its simplicity.
Each day brings a new surprise which I add to my collection of treasures.
I was reminded that I now have a mighty fine collection of memories that are packed into three quarters of a century if life.
One of these days I’ll take an inventory of all my grand adventures.
Currently I choose to fill my soul with new insights rather than scurry too far from home.
My vast travel experience is now via my heart and soul.
God is showing me that life is magnificent right where I am.
I think of the grand adventure I am enjoying in the book of Nehemiah in the
Old Testament, where I love to linger.
Each adventure I read fills my soul with thanksgiving that I am where I am, doing what I love to do.
I study the story of another new beginning for the bold Israelites who were released from Babylonian captivity and chose to return to Zion, Jerusalem, the home of their ancestors, a place where they knew they could worship God as they had been taught for generations.
This brave remnant had a vision of a new Jerusalem, a new temple, a new life solely directed by the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
Nehemiah led the pack as they were ushered out of Babylon with an abundance of provision to begin again. Little did they know how harsh life would be when they returned to their homeland.
New Beginnings would gain new definition. God’s chosen people definitely needed a jumpstart. All fruitful land had been destroyed in such a way that new crops would be difficult to grow. The temple was demolished and even the wall of protection around the city had to be completely rebuilt by this small remnant of God’s faithful.
Nehemiah led God’s people as he encouraged each household to join in the building of the new wall around Jerusalem. He emboldened a motley crew of faith-filled people to begin each day with hope as they rebuilt their lives one stone at a time.
Ezra, a Rabbi and priest, arrived a little later but worked with Nehemiah to encourage God’s people. Ezra found scrolls, the most exquisite treasure one could hope to find in the rubble of the old temple mount. They contained the fist five books of the bible, the Pentateuch.
What a glorious affirmation of God’s presence, the Word of God, that told the story of the beginning of life on this earth, God’s Creation. Many of these Israelites had not heard the ‘Law’, God’s word, nor worshipped according to Jewish custom.
They took time to CELEBRATE!
They stopped their work.
They stopped their complaining.
They stopped everything in order to listen to the words of God from the scrolls. They lingered with God for SIX hours outside, where all were welcome, from early morning to the time of day when the sun is too hot to remain outside.
I cannot imagine anyone today taking a time-out to listen to the reading of scripture for any great length of time.
It only takes a moment of our life to listen to God in order to jumpstart a new day, a new life.
It only takes a few brave ones to press through adversity in order to glorify God and his creation and rejoice in the miracles of each day.
It only takes one person at a time to turn to God and say, “Give me a jumpstart to enter your kingdom.”
Each day I make the same choice as those who followed Nehemiah from Babylon to a New Beginning in Jerusalem.
Each day I choose to celebrate the treasure God has set before me.
Each day I wake with anticipation of a new adventure as I breathe deeply the life set before me.
Each day is a celebration, however small or large, of God’s grace that has brought me thus far in my life.
Each day I pray for a jumpstart from scripture to stimulate the gifts God provides within me to lead me through the day with renewed vigor.
Each day I think of some one or a group of people who might need a jumpstart and lift them in prayer.
Each day I praise God that I am able to meet any challenges head-on with the Lord as my guide.
Each day I give thanks that I am never alone in my joy and my struggles. The Lord is always with me as well as my dear husband who loves the Lord as much as I do.
God: Father, Son and Holy Spirit, leads us, guides us, embraces us, encourages us, chides us, strengthens us every single day as we “press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus,” [Philippians].
I am glad I do not have to rebuild a life with God from scratch.
I am blessed that the Lord has built within me a strong structure of his presence over several decades.
I thank God that I can wake each day to a new beginning according to his will even if I need a jumpstart.
Now that we are moving into another month, I pray we all can celebrate a January Jumpstart.
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