All Things New

     The other day, as I was surfing channels, I came across a televised, local church service. I decided to stop and watch it.

     The preacher was talking about how, just as the day is new, we are new every morning. He talked about redemption. The redemption of the spirit, which is when you receive Jesus. The redemption of the soul, which is a daily, (moment by moment), battle. Then the redemption of the body, which will happen on the Day of Redemption.

      As I chewed on the things he spoke of, the Holy Spirit began to stir in me a better understanding of life. The scriptures say not to worry about yesterday, because it is done,  or tomorrow, because it is not guaranteed. Science agrees that our bodies are made new over and over. The skin sheds as new skin forms and the same is true for all the cells of the body from our blood to our organs.

     Too often our yesterdays and tomorrows overshadow today. The problem is, we no longer have yesterday and we may never have tomorrow, but in fear many give away our todays because of who we were yesterday or what we did. We throw away our todays, afraid that, tomorrow, things won't be any different. I tell you, though, that we don't have to be what we were yesterday and tomorrow can be different, if it comes.

      I've often heard the sentiment that today is a new chapter in the book of your life and each moment a new page, so decide what will be written. I must say that I agree with this. I've seen it in my own life. Whether it is as little of a choice as choosing whether I'll take an apple or a bag of M&M's, or to stay in bed or get up and tell my daughters I love them and tuck them in even though they are already asleep. Sometimes my choices are much more difficult than these, but they are still choices that I am making. That's the thing. Our Choices. It is all about our choices in each moment. Not all our choices will be great, but if we focus on the fact that we have them, we will do better at making them.

      Everyday, every moment, we have the opportunity to be a better person, to live a better life, by making better choices. By knowing that, even though I was just angry about something ridiculous, doesn't mean I have to stay angry and feel stupid. I can choose, instead to forgive myself and move on, to turn my attention to something positive.

      I see this in my own life. My mother knows she wasn't the perfect mom and she still harbors bitterness over it. Granted, I've had my moments of not being a positive helper with that, but it truly is about her choices. Her choices to accept that I'm allowed to be upset as I work through things, but that doesn't mean she has to, because that was yesterday, (many yesterdays ago...), and that any mommy issues I have are just that, mine.  Also her choice to forgive herself or continue to be angry and disappointed with herself.

      Then there is my dad. He knows he wasn't the greatest father, yet he has accepted that he can't change anything he may feel he could've done better. All he can do is forgive himself, let go, and move on with better choices. He also says that, though he made mistakes, his children are old enough to make choices for their own lives. I'll admit, that has hurt, when dealing with my daddy issues, but again, those are my issues and he is absolutely right.

       This is how forgiveness can be made a little easier. Not only remembering that we are new everyday, and can make better choices, but that others are new everyday as well. We can not control the choices that other people make but we can have an influence on them, positive or negative. Let us choose to be positive influences. Let us choose to forgive, even if we have to cry out to God every moment for help in that. Let us choose to encourage people to be better. Let us choose to step away from what is unhealthy for us, whether it be food, relationships, or even just the way we've been thinking. Most importantly, let us choose to love. Not because others are being loved, but because it is better to love and because we are loved by love itself. God. We don't have to stay in the state we were in, even a moment ago. We can choose to be different. To be who we imagine we are, when we imagine ourselves at our best. We can be and live better, if we will choose to.