embracing the new creation

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!

2 Corinthians 5:17

Being stuck in my apartment alone for 3 days over the New Years is not my first choice of how to spend the holiday. The first day I reveled in the time alone, resting. I am an introvert by nature, so the first day was much needed. I needed my own little slice of the universe to regain a sense of who I am.

The second day was the tough one. I ventured out in the snow and cold in the morning. I thought it would help to get out the apartment. I thought I could avoid what would inevitably come - the reflection, the self-pity, the dissatisfaction. However, it came anyway. I called home to find the rest of my family celebrating together. I pitied myself for living in South Dakota, a place where weather ruins plans. I pitied myself for living alone. I pitied myself for having a year with no big accomplishments, nothing I could brag about. I went to bed before midnight, not really caring to watch the ball drop.

Then something happened. I woke up this morning and things were different. I remembered who I was in Christ. I remembered his promise that I am a new creation. I remembered why I love what I do and that the sacrifices are worth it. Who I am now is not all of who I will be. I have been so worried that God was done with me, but he is just beginning with me. I am still new. I need to trust in Him and even though things won't always go the way I think they should go and I will face challenges - God's got this under control.

Yesterday I contemplated what I would do if I the chance to move somewhere else - where no one knew me or who I was up to this point. What would I do? Who would I be? I contemplated what it would be like to not be a Christian - and you know what? I couldn't do it. Even in my imagination I cannot fathom a world without God. As the lyrics of one of my favorite Skillet songs tell me, "there's something deep inside that keeps my faith alive." Even through the rough times, which I've had, something keeps my faith alive. Something always brings me back. Something makes me new.

So today, as we all embrace the new year, let's also embrace the promise that you are a new creation in Christ and that God's mercy is new every morning.