Fresh Start

They’re in bed, finally. Today’s tirades, tantrums and troubles have left me too tired to enjoy this favorite time of day. No evening clean up. Instead, tonight I sit with movie and popcorn escaping to another dimension. As popcorn pops, I remember shouting at the kids several times today. 'They’re so young. Of course they don’t know how to share. I can’t believe I shouted.' I drizzle butter over popcorn. 'Why did I put him in the corner for not obeying fast enough? He’s young and distracted, I’m impatient. Of course he won’t obey me fast enough.' A little patience and grace would go a long way.

Countless as the stars are the number of times I fail. At the close of most days, I’m disappointed by the way I behaved. But each time I look back at a failure, I’m also thankful. I’m thankful for the opportunity that was given, regardless of how I handled it. I’m also immensely thankful and amazed that I get to try again. My kids wake up each day and allow me a fresh start. They don’t hold grudges about yesterday. It’s truly a new day.

The grace of toddlers is much like God’s grace. Each day He extends to me new opportunity to learn, love, grow, and experience His presence. Every single day He lets me try again. He doesn’t hold yesterday against me. If I confess and repent of my sins, mistakes and failures, “he is faithful and just to forgive” and sees me as righteous because of Jesus’ payment for those sins. Every day I get a fresh start - every single day.
I may not get the same opportunity the second time around, life does move on after all. But God will not stop using life to train me, and He’ll allow me to learn the same lesson over and over until I get it. And, when I forget what I’ve learned, He’s patient enough to teach me again. I just need to be willing to learn.

Helpful verses:

“But if we confess our sins to him, he is faithful

and just to forgive us and cleanse us from every wrong”

1 John 1:9

‘So now there is no condemnation

for those who belong to Christ Jesus”

Romans 8:1

“He who covers his sins will not prosper,

but whoever confesses and forsakes them will have mercy”

Proverbs. 28:13

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