Tag: Anne of Green Gables

Daybreak

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“Tomorrow is a new day with no mistakes in it… Yet.” (Lucy Maude Montgomery, Anne of Green Gables)

Tomorrow always (for me) begins at daybreak. The sun rises and it is like the earth is covered in hope. The shadows of the night are erased and the world awakens.

Daybreak brings hope, promise and a renewed presence of God in our lives. He shines forth, allowing our eyes to focus on our surroundings. We are never promised tomorrow, but each day is like a gift that unwraps itself with the dawning of the sun.

The past week I have had a dear friend visiting. She is retired now and is about to venture into a new life. A new adventure. She is moving here. I am grateful to our Lord for this gift to me.

I often think of the Girl Scout song, “Make new friends, but keep the old. Some are silver, some are gold.” These words have followed me for a very long time. Golden friends take a while for their patina to become evident in your life. At first, they are the new friends. Soon they are the old friends. Eventually they show their shine in a silvery way and then that patina is gold. Such is this friend moving here.

Change happens throughout our lives. Each season of change is a challenge. This week I have been reminded that roads are now familiar to me. It wasn’t long ago that I looked out the car window like she has this week. Everything is strange. The difference from the metropolitan area of San Diego to the quiet of upstate South Carolina is vast. I have watched and remembered when I was where she is now. Excitement mixed with a longing. Knowing a change is needed but questioning if this drastic of a change is where the Lord is leading her.

How often in our lives does our Lord bring us to a cross road? We tend to go the direction we have gone for years. We know the ruts. We know the dips and bumps. We know what to avoid. There is comfort in the known.

Sometimes the Lord, at those crossroads puts up a road block. Un-passable. We can’t continue the way we have always gone. We look at the other side and think how strange it is. Sort of like those fairy tales where the heroine ventures down the path where we know the big, bad wolf is waiting.

But God… He knows that it may be strange, different, scary, but He also knows the other path is an adventure. A tomorrow with no mistakes.

When God is in charge of our plans, the daybreaks bring joy. Hope. Promise of fresh starts, new adventures, His plan for our lives.

“So be strong and courageous! Do not be afraid and do not panic before them. For the Lord your God will personally go ahead of you. He will neither fail you nor abandon you” Deuteronomy 31:6 (NLT)

Good bye 2022

Published on by marycatherinethomasLeave a comment

Today, New Year’s Eve, the internet is filled with quotes, blogs,posts,updates of the year ending. I often do not do a post about the year ending. As I have mentioned previously, New Year’s Eve is my least favorite holiday. It often produces an irritation deep within me.

This year has been an interesting year. We started with the flu. Not a great start. This year I have had a biopsy, a broken elbow, recovery from both of the above. We have helped our oldest with a new property, and helped her with some redecorating in her home. It has been a full year.

This year has been blessed and full of joy and wonderful memories. With the flu we saw friends step up and care for us, the same with the broken elbow. Dale and I started to really pray for each other this year, something we have tried and failed to continue to do. We have shared laughter with friends and tears also. I couldn’t ask for a better year.

I have learned much from our Lord this year. Recently He has begun to show me attitudes of the heart and mind. How our attitudes can affect so much around us. An wrong attitude can affect relationships, a negative thought can form life long battles with others.

I can be negative. I realize this. But, I also accept this fact and work hard at being joyful and prayerful. When something, or someone stirs up the negativity in me, I turn to the Lord. I have to, otherwise it will spill out from me and upset everything.

At the beginning of the week, I was going through our apple basket, the apples I use for sauce and pies. There was a bad apple in the bottom of the basket. The old adage came to mind, “One bad apple spoils the rest.” That was the beginning of my thought process this week. I knew it was not just the adage I heard, but, a word from the Lord. One negative thought, even in passing, can ruin a day. It is like a snowball rolling down a hill. A negative thought can grow and grow and gain speed, picking up momentum as it goes and grows.

I listened and have been acutely aware of my thoughts this week. Of course, I had a wonderful week with my grandson, who asked not to be called Little Man (who is not so little). So, as I ponder how to refer to him here, I am also pondering how my actions and attitudes are affecting others.

It’s a good lesson for the end of the year. A cause to reflect on the past, and to pray about the fresh new year that starts tonight.

Like the old year, internally I am feeling empty, drained and old. I look at all I wanted to accomplish this year, and I can honestly say, my plans did not come to pass. I question if I heard correctly. I wonder if I have heard at all.

These are all remnant feelings and emotions from a full holiday season. The let down after the buildup to celebrating, seeing others, shopping, decorating, enjoying cookies and candy readily. Tomorrow a new year starts. Tomorrow normal starts again. The house will look bare, the lights outside will start to dim. Tomorrow is a new calendar with nothing written on it.

I am reminded of a quote by L.M.Montgomery in Ann of Green Gables, “Isn’t it nice to think that tomorrow is a new day with no mistakes in it yet?”

So, welcome 2023! Give me your best, the good, the bad, the ugly. I am choosing to cling to Philippians 4:13, “ I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” (NKJV) I will try to watch my attitude also.