A New Week. A New Start.

 One of my favorite movies is the Anne of Green Gables miniseries. Anne Shirley had a knack of getting in and out of scrapes, and in the meantime, building a wealth of memories and experiences she could draw on later. I was always inspired by the plucky redhead's ambition, creativity, and independence. She was her own person, not moved by the latest fads or the popular crowd. Something we could all learn from!
 There was a quote in the very first movie that she latched on to, finding comfort and encouragement. I loved it as well, and adopted it as a motto of my own. The quote? "Tomorrow is always fresh, with no mistakes in it." And for a girl like Anne Shirley, that could be quite a comfort!
 But, I find that it works in the real world as well. How many times have we slipped and said or done something we shouldn't have? Sometimes simple mistakes can cast a cloud over the whole day. A misspoken word can cause hurt feelings, which can turn into an angry dispute, and cause a whole friendship to suddenly take a turn.
 Or maybe we did not finish that to-do list, making us feel that we've not accomplished enough in our allotted twenty-fours hours.
 Or maybe our day was interrupted by a phone call, and we ended up sitting in a hospital room with a loved one. Or, even worse, spent the day in a state of shock and grief over an unexpected loss.
 We can't change the events in our lives. We can't snap our fingers and relive the past 24 hours. How I wish we could at times! There are a few days for which I'd like to have a do-over. But life doesn't work that way. We can't erase what has already been done.
 But here's the good news! God's mercy is new every morning! Don't believe me? Check out Lamentation 3:23. And this is coming from a guy who wrote a whole book of his cries of despair and discouragement!
 We don't have to face a new day with dread. What's done is done. What's behind us in behind us. We have a new day, a clean slate, with no marks on it. Now, as Anne Shirley's wise teacher reminded her, it doesn't have any mistakes on it "yet," but we get a new chance every day.
 So, as we face this new week, (that's a whole seven days of fresh starts!) let us remember who our days belong to. "This is the day that the Lord has made!" He's given us a new day. So, let's put all of our mistakes, regrets, unfinished tasks, etc. behind us in yesterday. And let's look forward to our tomorrows! And remember, we are always...
                                                                                            In His Grip!
                                                                                            Crystal
 

"I have learned to live each day as it comes, and not to borrow trouble by dreading tomorrow. It is the dark menace of the future that makes cowards of us."
-Dorothea Dix