Fresh Start!

A few weeks ago (right after Labor Day), as I was out taking care some of errands during lunch, I had the unique experience of being served by three people in a row who were in the process of being trained for their jobs. My first stop was lunch, where a young lady at Chipotle seemed to be in her first shift, followed by a stop at the bank where the trainee told me she was in her second week of training, and then finally, I stopped by Starbucks, where the Barista was wrapping up her first week. Later that week, I had another Starbucks stop, at a different location, and also experienced someone in training. Thankfully, at each of these places, everyone around was being kind and patient, and giving the little bits of extra grace that are required in these situations.

I found it odd that so many new hires had just happened, but I assume that it had something to do with the cycle of school starting back, and businesses getting a fresh start for the Fall. While Spring is typically the season of the year that we associate with new life, I love that we have little opportunities throughout the year to receive a fresh start. Back-to-School season is normally a time we can have that fresh start, as is the new calendar year, Spring when things warm up and plants start growing, and some of us even use our Birthdays as chances for new goals for a new year of life.

I don’t know about you, but I find I need multiple fresh starts per year. I typically even get a planner around July (right when the new school year ones come out), and then get a second, newer planner in December, for the new calendar year. I love the clean slate—the fresh start—the chances for new opportunities in those blank pages.

I also make enough mistakes that I feel like the fresh start is welcomed. I look for those opportunities to reset my goals, my plans, and myself. I convince myself that this is going to be the restart that corrects everything, that this time I won’t fall off my diet, or step away from my daily Bible study, or will finally really, really stop being less than fully loving to my friends and family. But, every time, without fail, I get distracted. One mistake turns in to two, which turns in to five, and I look up and I’m being snappy regularly, or have totally forgotten my “healthy eating plan,” or can’t even find my journal. And I begin to look for that fresh start just around the corner.

However, thankfully, the Bible tells us in Lamentations 3:23 that God’s mercies are new every morning. I just acquired a large sign for my office that reminds me of that promise. It’s a promise that is a welcomed reminder each day as I sit down at my desk. Whatever I did yesterday, no matter how wrong something went, no matter how bad of a day it was, no matter how I feel like I let God, others, or even just myself down—that day is gone. Today is a new day, and God has plenty of mercy to give me for today. And while I hope that today will be better, and that I won’t mess it up, even if I do—God promises not to leave me, not to turn His back on me, but to give me enough mercy for that day. And tomorrow, when I sit down again, I get a whole new batch of mercies. Thank God that we don’t have to wait on September, or January, or April to start over. We can start over every day, counting on a God who loves to give His children second chances!