Fresh Starts

It’s October. As Anne of Green Gables so aptly says, “I’m so glad I live in a world where there are Octobers.”

The fall season must be my favorite. I hate to pick favorites. But according to my husband Brandon, it must be my favorite because of all the pumpkins that appear around our home this time of year. There are just so many wonderful things about the fall. Cool, crisp mornings. Frosty pumpkins and corn stalks. Cozy sweaters. Warm apple cider. Leaves that turn the color of copper. All these things make me happy.

School starts in the fall, and that is also one of my favorite things. “Bouquets of newly sharpened pencils” make me smile. Lists of books and school supplies find their way to the refrigerator door. Backpacks get filled with new crayons and glue. The buses start rumbling down the street outside my kitchen window. And for me, students move back to campus to begin another semester of their college lives. I know other people celebrate the start of the new year in January, but for me it has always been in the fall that the new beginnings take place.

New beginnings. Fresh starts. Clean slates. These are hopeful ideas that are so inspiring and encouraging to me. Each new day is like a present giving us the opportunity to begin again. To start something new. To be a better friend. To try again.

I need new beginnings. I need to start over at times in my attitudes and conversations. There are days that I am not the person I want to be because of my short temper and impatience. I get frustrated and rant at the people closest to me because -- well, just because. On those days, I feel like a failure. I’m so much less than I really want to be and feel even worse because the people that I love the most often see the worst version of me. I apologize, and they forgive. But even then, I replay the ugly things I have said and beat myself up. I need a fresh start.

Fortunately, the Lord provides that for me. Lamentations – you know that book in the Old Testament that is defined by grief and sorrow – provides me with inexpressible hope. “The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.” Lamentations 3:22-23. God’s mercy doesn’t give up on me. As my sweet Mom always reminded me, “You never use up all of God’s mercy. He has a new batch every day.” I’m so thankful for His new batch of love and mercy. He gives me fresh starts and clean slates. His faithfulness is great!