fresh start

Today I started a new journal... a new journal, for a new year (although a journal doesn't last me nearly a year, probably only a few months).  This particular journal happens to be my favorite one I've ever had, as the cover was handmade by my sis-in-law.  There's something exciting about starting new and fresh, with this journal... with this year.  There's a sense of excitement, and wonder at the unknown.  What will this year hold?  What will the Lord say to me?  How will He change me?  What is he going to do in my life, and the lives of those around me?  How will He answer the prayers that I've been praying for days, weeks, and years?  And if I don't like His answers, will I still hold strong to Him, still believe that He is good, just, and perfect love?

Jesus, I pray that this year will be a year that I grow in You... in my likeness of You, in my understanding of Your love for me and others, in the way that I serve and pour out that love to others, in my faith.  That I would be constantly full of the Spirit, characterized by His fruit.  That I would be full of Your power, and that Your gifts would manifest in me.  That everyone I encounter would experience Your presence and love through me, and that You would be glorified in all I do, say, and think.  That each day would be carried out in constant communication with You.

Lamentations 3:22-24  The faithful love of the Lord never ends! His mercies never cease. Great is his faithfulness; his mercies begin afresh each morning. I say to myself, “The Lord is my inheritance; therefore, I will hope in him!”