Each New Day, Each New Moment...

Knowing we are loved can bring an unexpected smile to our faces. Sometimes my little boy will walk past me and say, 'love you mum' for no reason and with no prompt...just because!
It fills me up and I don't smile, I beam! So much is gained from those 3 little words.

Yet sometimes it doesn't take long to forget that I am loved and instead I listen to the more critical voice in my head telling me that I am not good enough or that no-one would say 'love you' if they really knew what I was like.
Why do I let these thoughts enter my head? Why do I listen? Because I am human and because I think I am not good enough.

Each day, each moment I have a choice to make...I let these thoughts win and even though these thoughts are not a reality, I will believe them and they will shape who I am.

OR, each day, each moment, I make a better choice...I choose to know and believe that I am loved. I choose to believe that I am surrounded by a love that will never stop...a love that delights in me...a love that never forsakes...a love that heals...a love that gives without measure.

"You are precious and honoured in my sight...I love you."

Isaiah 43:4 (New International Version)

Each new day, each new moment I choose to stand strong knowing that I am loved by a God who knows me inside and out AND He still loves me inside and out.

What Have You Got To Do Today?

A new day dawns, the to-do list is long and I don't know about you but when considering all that needs to be done, I often feel that I am the only person that can do it and do it properly...and by properly I mean that I have set my standards too high!

In doing this I have either set myself unachievable tasks or felt like a failure because I have expected too much of myself. 

Why do I do this? Why do I try to do everything my way and all by myself? Is it because I want to be seen as a Supermum? A Domestic Goddess? Is it because I want someone to notice what I do and say, 'Well done, you are doing a great job'?

So when the new day dawns, what about looking at the to-do list with different standards? 

"Yet this I call to mind and therefore I have hope:

Because of the Lord's great love we are not consumed, for His compassions never fail.

They are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness.

I say to myself, "The Lord is my portion; therefore I will wait for Him."

Lamentations 3:21-24(New International Version)

If we begin the day covered in hope, love, compassion, faithfulness and opportunity we begin the day with promise. We can choose to stand on the solid foundations of God's great love and believe that God wants good for us. Then we can measure our day knowing we will achieve and accomplish rather than measuring our failings. 

As the new day dawns, the to-do list is long and I don't know about you but this new day I am going to try something different and I am not going to do it alone...I am going to do it surrounded by God's great love and this love doesn't expect me to fail...it tells me I am doing a great job!

With Every Sun Comes A New Day

"With every sun comes a new day. A new beginning. A hope that things will be better today than they were yesterday." 

The above is the opening quote from the film 'The Croods'. Eep is the daughter of the last family of Caveman...she is not very happy with her life and dreams of 'new beginnings' that never seem to come, but her story is of how her world changed in an instant to something she never expected or imagined.

"Forget about what's happened; don't keep going over old history, 

Be alert, be present. I'm about to do something brand-new.

It's bursting out! Don't you see it?

There it is! I'm making a road through the desert, rivers in the badlands."

Isaiah 43:18-19 (The Message)

A few months ago somebody asked me what my dream was and I said I would like to write a book. What have I done since then to realise my dream...nothing? Until today! If I listen to myself then I will limit what I can achieve but if I listen to God, who by the way wants to dream big with each of us, my dream can be bigger than I can possibly imagine.

If we keep looking back again we will only measure what we can achieve on our past successes. However if we look to each new day as a brand new beginning, a path that has not yet been trod then we do not dampen that day with preconceived expectations...who know's what we can expect?!?

God knows and the verses from Isaiah tell us that He is excited about it too! 

As you step into a new day will you do it on your own or will you step with a God who has gone before you, with a God who will never leave you to do it on your own and "who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think" (Ephesians 3:20 New King James Version).