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43 Reasons Why Life Has Been Good

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March 16 marked my 43rd birthday! So blessed to see this milestone, and it was one for me!image

It’s not Grateful Friday here on New Day, but I want to share 43 things for which I’m thankful, that have brought me from there to here, and that have made the journey worth it:

42

Melchee

Family

The gift of words and writing

March 15 – the day my Tony and I were married

Ratchford Road

School days

Friends

All the days that taught me hard life lessons

The realization of God’s presence in my life

Work

Turning 30, because it marked the point when I truly began to focus on being me

The pages in my journals

Church

The Golden Girls

Summer Fridays

IHOP

The privilege to vote for the nation’s first black president – #BOPOTUS

Sunsets

Sweet potato pie

Genesis 1:1

John 3:16

Jeremiah 29:11

iNation

Tar Heel Nation

Christmas

Sisters in Christ who’ve blessed my spirit in so many ways

PRAISE!Magazine, which I founded and published from 1996-2003

Simplicity

Peace

Help

Max Lucado books

Mornings

The touch of my grandmother’s hand as she was transitioning to Heaven

What was

What is

What is to come

The Word of God.

The Son of God.

The Spirit of God.

The Love of God.

Larry and Brenda who birthed me physically.

God the Founder, the Father, who birthed me spiritually, who called me to be His.

To Everything There Is a Season

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imageWinter seems to have left its cold, gray days behind. While it was often harsh, I learned to appreciate the quietness of the season, and certainly the beauty. Hot chocolate, warm cookies, and favorite blankets also made the season special.

Our hope now is for spring! Colorful blooms and sunny days await our beholding. Some see spring as a time for newness and starting over, a time of refreshing. A time for life again. The brightness of the season, I would argue, is best captured on Easter Sunday. Dresses, hats, and fun baskets filled with crazy eggs seem to make spring official.

Before the eggs and the hallelujahs of Easter, we face the season of death. Not just reading about Christ’s crucifixion, but looking at the destructiveness of our own sin – the reason Jesus went to the cross to begin with. It is dark and horrible, a place I don’t think one would normally visit voluntarily. But as faith followers, that is what we must do. We have to face the monstrous, distorted look of sin, the look that was put on our Christ as he bore it all for us, before the entire world.

We must face what we were, what He did, before we can face who we are. With Christ’s resurrection, we are raised to life also. We are resurrected. We can face who we now are:

Redeemed.
Saved.
Freed.
Forgiven.

Our hope might now well be for spring, but I’m aiming for something higher in this season. I’m aiming for Jesus and the hope of my salvation. My soul longs to be saved by my Savior, to be raised to new life in Him.

To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven… (‭Ecclesiastes‬ ‭3‬:‭1‬ KJV)

What is New Day?

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What is New Day

Welcome March!

For new followers, I thought I’d take time to reintroduce New Day…

New Day is an expression of God’s faith, grace, and love as I have experienced and know them, and it is meant to celebrate the gift of life and of each new day we’re blessed to see. It is based on the scripture found in Lamentations 3:22-23:

His compassions fail not. They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness. (KJV)

New Day was born out of a gift for words and writing. So far, I’ve captured thoughts on life’s toolboxes, my nieces and nephews, why I started blogging, love and Valentine’s Day, gratefulness, even Dean Smith. Through it all, my hope is to honor the Lord and to share His goodness through these posted words.

Since the blog was launched on January 1, I’m learning to embrace life more. I begin each day in Him, I choose Him for the day, and I live in the day and path He’s set for me.

Let’s face it: life is hard sometimes. There are good days and bad days. But great IS the Lord’s faithfulness. Trust the One who holds the day, and make the most out of each moment. It’s worth it!

New Day is currently published weekly on Friday mornings. I hope you’ll keep following and engaging as we make this journey together!