Begin Again

I ain't gonna lie: this teacher loves her some summer vacation. Time with my own kids, no bed times, trips to the beach. Days where the only thing on the To Do List is to breathe.

During summer I not only recover from the previous school year (Yes, I said, recover. Teaching is hard, y'all.), but I recharge my batteries for the upcoming school year. See, that's the greatest thing about being a teacher - there's always the chance to begin again. Because when I'm staying up late, beaching, and breathing I'm also planning. Planning ways I can make the next year even better. From bulletin boards to lesson plans to relationships, I reflect on ways I could be different.

What a blessing. Every year the clock is reset and I get to begin again.

There are places in all of our lives, teachers or not, where a reset button would be nice. Relationships, finances, attitudes, decisions. And in some ways these new beginnings are much easier to make. I begin again in August.

You can begin again today.

So what is it, friend? What part of your life do you need to reset? Return to start? Find the largest eraser possible and rub out?

Let today be the day you begin again.

2 Corinthians 5:17 says, "This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun!"

God is faithful to make us into something entirely new and fresh when we come to Him in Jesus' Name. He is faithful to not only supply salvation, but to help you repair those areas of your life that haven't been working.

That's the beautiful thing about living life in Jesus' Name: it's never too late. As long as you have breath in your lungs and a beat in your chest, it's not too late to wipe the slate clean and start anew. Even if what you need to begin again is your relationship with Him. 

This time of year I think of my teacher friends who are retiring. I'm sure there's uncertainty in what their classroom-free lives will look like; a bittersweet goodbye to a long career. But, oh, the excitement in their fresh start, their renewal.

New beginnings are scary, but they carry with them the hope of something good, something different. Something better.

August is my restart date. My new, different, even better school year. But let today be yours.

Beloved, begin again.

Lord, may it be so.