The Day I Realized I Deleted My Entire Blog Site! Letting Go of the Old and Embracing Newness!

So today I sat down to write a blog post. It has been a couple of crazy days and I needed an outlet for everything spinning around in my head! I typed in my site address and got ready to let it all out and there was nothing! No site, no blog posts, NOTHING! What on earth! Where did it all go?!?!?!? Then I remembered! A few months back I had cancelled a blog hosting service I was using. I had no idea that by canceling that service I would loose all my past blog posts and data. Rookie mistake! UGH!!!!!

Owning a business has its challenges and on this day I had experienced a few. Still reeling from a shoplifting incident the day before, a customer yelling at me on the phone a few hours earlier, mounting expenses due, and now a deleted blog! I felt as though I was at my limit! I could just pull my hair out! My blood pressure had risen, my face felt warm, and I was having trouble calming down and breathing through these moments.

After a couple quick searches I decided not to waste another second searching for the old, but to embrace the new! I started thinking about the fun and joy of newness. There is something exhilarating about newness. A new day, a new start, new school supplies, new clothes, new car, new friend, the list goes on and on! Most of us love new things! We are addicted to new things! They are bright, shiny, and undamaged by our consumption.

Everyday in the boutique we usually get a shipment of new items. Our team is giddy with excitement, myself included, as each box is opened and the beautiful new items are placed on display for sale. But as I start to write about newness, the thought occurs to me, where is God in this equation? What about the newness He provides? After all, am I not a NEW creation in Him? "Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new." 2 Cor. 5:17.

And what about God's NEW mercies, EVERY morning?  How does this apply to me in this moment? I realize that those shiny new things in the store eventually lack luster, but God's mercies are always new, His love is never ending, and His faithfulness will carry me through days like today. I should be feeling giddy with excitement over God's new mercies every morning! Each day God's mercies are new and poured out for me! And YOU! 

With a desire to gain more insight and context I land in the book of Lamentations where the Israelites were being overtaken by Babylon. Now I realize the events of my day do not resemble the forces of Babylon, nothing close. But, just like the author of Lamentations, I had to remind myself of God's truth. That even in the midst of this stressful compilation of circumstances in which I see no hope, there is Hope. As I study these verses, I feel my face cooling down and my breaths getting deeper. This is the power of the living Word. I contemplate. "But this I call to mind and therefore I have hope Lam. 3:21".

"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.” Lam. 3:22-24.

These scriptures are for those in a valley. If you are low and perhaps feeling God is absent, this is for you. It is the reminder that we can literally open a box of God's new mercies every morning! We can soak in the newness of His never ending love, and allow His faithfulness to carry us through the day. Rest assured that His new doesn't rub off, it will never lack luster.

And to the blog I deleted, that's old news! Let's just soak in the NEW!

Thanks to Ryan Higginbottom and his article Context Matters:God's Mercies are New Every Morning for adding insight into the context of these scriptures as I studied them. You can find the article here.