…All Things New…

I had my own week full of new beginnings and I wish I had time to write a real article about some of the things God has been doing in my life recently! Through some confusing setbacks and circumstances, I not only saw God’s grace revealed in an amazing way in my family’s life, but we were also drawn even closer together, which goes to show that God truly does bring forth beauty from ashes!

We were on an uncomfortable, unwanted trip – bad enough – but it went from being a three-day trip to a four-day one. Being snowed in at our old house in Maryland, seven hours from home without any real food, proved to be an interesting backdrop for a family evening together. Huddled in our sleeping bags, munching on an assortment of Grandma’s cookies, we spent at least six hours in uninterrupted conversation. So sure, we were stuck hundreds of miles from home, in a cold, empty house without any real food, but what quality time! What if we’d spent the night trying to drive home? I’m not trying to be dramatic, but we could’ve been killed. For the first time in the whole year we’ve been trying to sell that house, I thanked the Lord we still owned it!

Early the morning after our return, a young mom from church who’s expecting in March hurt her back, so I hung out with her and her three toddlers for a sixteen-hour day… then another family from church needed me to watch their two-year-old daughter. I found some new material to add to my, “Babysitting Horror Stories” book! Okay, one family I babysat for had a pet snake that got loose… this incident was worse… way worse! Emily is currently being potty-trained and her parents wanted me to continue training her while they were gone. Well, she’s a proud little girl who doesn’t like to ask for help… so, I’ll spare you the gruesome details, and, like Mark Twain said, “draw the curtain of charity over the rest of the scene”! One of the grossest experiences of my life, hands down!!

A box of wipes, a bottle of bubble bath, and a new outfit later, Emily also had a totally new beginning… J

Another Year is Dawning
Frances R. Havergal

Another year is dawning; dear Father let it be,
In working or in waiting, another year with Thee;
Another year of progress, another year of praise,
Another year of proving Thy presence all the days

Another year of mercies, of faithfulness and grace,
Another year of gladness, the glory of Thy face;
Another year of leaning upon Thy loving breast,
Another year of trusting, of quiet, happy rest

Another year of service, of witness for Thy love,
Another year of training for holier work above;
Another year is dawning, dear Father, let it be,

Or earth, or else in heaven, another year for Thee.

From Lydia Rule, RTF Staff Writer:

I belong to a website featuring articles on writing, devotionals, and fiction pieces written by the group’s members. Here’s the link if you’d like to check it out:

http://www.freewebs.com/aroundthebloc/index.htm

Also, my critique group (The Writer’s Bloc), is expanding their membership to all Christian teens and college students who want to write. The group even has a quarterly newsletter they publish called Around the Bloc (I’m one of the editors for it). So maybe some of your readers would like to join us. The Writer’s Bloc was started among a group of Summer Honor Students at Taylor University’s Professional Writing Program.

If this is something you are interested in, contact me at: lydia_rule@yahoo.com

It has been a wild and crazy adventure for people living in Oklahoma. I’m one of those. Last Friday an ice storm hit, paralzying thousands of homes, trees, cars under one to three inches of ice.

It looked like a computer-generated iceland that might be featured in the next sci-fi movie.

We didn’t have electricity or heat or light. I live outside the city so at night it was so dark that you couldn’t see anything for miles.

The first day it seemed fun. Perhaps an adventure. But soon our trees started breaking from the top down. Branches toppled, the sound huge, as they cracked under the weight of the ice and then toppled down through branches to hit the ground, or roof, or porch.

The house was warm the first day, cold the second, freezing the third. By day five, fun wasn’t a word that I wanted to use about our adventure. I wanted a hot bath. I wanted a meal cooked from the oven instead of the fireplace. I wanted skin that didn’t feel red and chapped and tight.

But I was in better shape than many. We had a fireplace, so there was a small area to find warmth. We had water. We are strong and able to cut firewood, beat off the ice, and carry it in.

This gave me a glimpse into the past. I hear people say all the time that we are so busy, that we have so much to do. I don’t think that’s true. I think we fill our time, but in the past men and women and teens and children had basic survival to fill their time. They needed warmth, so they cut wood. And they cut it again and again. They hauled water. They took baths with precious water carried in and heated. They prepared food over hot coals, and instead of reaching for a microwave meal or something good from the fridge, they had to find food or grow food.

This week has given me an appreciation for those who came before me, and you. It’s also helped me to be grateful for the small things that bring so much comfort.

Suzie

http://daretobelieve.org

Rachel Mok, RTF Staff Writer

He’s the beginning and the end.

It’s the beginning of a brand new year, it’s this time when everyone excitedly set their New Year resolution goals and strive for their best to achieve it. I have been causally asking friends around as to what this New Year has installed for them, and how they are using it to their advantage. Interestingly, one friend shared that he wants this New Year to be a fresh start, a new opportunity to live life again without hanging on to the past. The more he shared, I realized that he has gone through some tough times; sadly he doesn’t know God personally yet, and without God he’s still going to struggle.

It then came to my realization of how fortunate I am to have God by my side 24/7, because if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come (2 Cor 5:17).

He’s the reason we breathe, the One who set us free. He allows us to wake up to a brand new day, to have the strength to face what’s ahead. And this song describes everything God is to me, He’s the reason why I can wake up with a smile every morning without fearing what’s ahead.

I AM by Nichole Nordeman

Pencil marks on a wall
I wasn’t always this tall,
You scattered some monsters from beneath my bed,
You watched my team win, You watched my team lose,
You watched when my bicycle went down again,
And When I was weak unable to speak,
still I could call You by name, and I said
“Elbow healer, Superhero,come if You can,”
and You said “I am”
Only 16, life is so mean, what kind of curfew is at ten PM
You saw my mistakes,
You watched my heart break
Heard when I swore I’d never love again
When I was weak, unable to speak,
still I could call You by name, and I said
“Heart-ache Healer, Secret-keeper,be my Best Friend”
and You said “I am”
You saw me wear white, by pale candlelight,
I said forever to what lies ahead two kids and a dream,
with kids that can scream too much it might seem
when it’s two AM when I am weak, unable to speak,
still I will call You by name. “Oh Shepherd, Savior, Pasture-maker,hold on to my hand,”
and You say “I am.”
The winds of change,
And circumstance blow in and all around
us so we find a foothold that’s familiar,
And bless the moments that we feel You nearer
Life had begun, I was woven and spun,
You let the angels dance around the throne,
who can say when,
But they’ll dance again, when I am free
and finally headed home I will be weak, unable to speak,
still I will call You by name “Creator, Maker, Life-sustainer,
Comforter, Healer, My Redeemer,
Lord and King, Beginning andthe End,
I am, yes, I am.”

by Jade West