Happy New Year! 
I looked up some verses on being “new” and thought I would share some. As Christians, we have the glorious privilege of becoming NEW when God saves us. It’s a great day to remember that, don’t you think? (If you don’t know if you are a Christian, please message me and I will help you the best I can, but reading the gospel of John, particularly the 3rd chapter, would be a good place to start).
This is just a small sampling of the many verses I copied down in my journal this morning.
Revelation 21:5 (this one brought tears to my eyes)
“And He (Jesus) who sat upon the throne said,
Behold, I make all things new.
And He said unto me,
Write, for these words are true and faithful.”
New~ Different from one of the same
which existed before; made fresh.
11 Corinthians 5:17
“Therefore if any man be in Christ,
he is a new creature:
old things are passed away;
behold all things are become new.”
Galatians 6:15
“For in Christ neither circumcision
availeth anything; nor uncircumcision,
but a new creature.”
(“It is easy to get caught up in the externals. Beware of those who emphasize actions we should or should not do, with no concern for the inward condition of the heart. Living a “good” life without an inward change leads to a spiritual life that is shallow and empty, What matters to God is that we be completely changed from the inside out.” ~Life Application Study Bible)
********
We had such a fun time last night. Amanda and Jason came over with the girls and stayed until about 9. We had dinner and then Rich and Jason took the kids out to go sledding in the dark (using the headlights of the 4-wheeler to see). They had to walk on a trail through the woods to get to the hill, and I stood on the porch, smiling as I listened to them laugh and talk as they walked along with a flashlight. When they came back the kids watched part of a movie (The Incredible Journey) while the adults sat at the table and talked. Then, we had cake and ice cream to celebrate Jacob’s birthday. After Jason and Amanda left, Rich stayed up with Jacob and Ethan to “watch the ball drop.” I had absolutely no desire to join them, so I went to bed to curl up in the covers and read a book. Rich told me this morning that Ethan gave up at 11 and went to bed but that Jacob would have stayed up all night if he let him.
It’s become a tradition for Rich to take Jacob, Ethan, and Grace to his office on New Year’s Day. So, that is where they are now. The kids love to go, no one else will be there, and Rich likes to rearrange his office, clean, and organize for the New Year.
Caleb is napping and David is impatiently waiting for his turn at the computer. And I am in the midst of doing a mountain of laundry. . but, going to go eat lunch now before I continue with that project.
And, by the way, it’s snowing! I look out the windows and feel like I’m in a giant snow globe!
Have a great day, friends, and a very Blessed and Happy New Year. . . .
Good to be Home 
Thanks for the Scripture encouragement! What a fun tradition — going to dad’s office and helping him get ready for the new year 🙂 We enjoyed an evening of playing Katan — my oldest son said that all he wanted for Christmas was for us to do something as a whole family every more often (he’s very aware that he’s almost of “moving out” age), so my husband gave him a “certificate” for weekly game nights, among other things. This morning we are all still in pj’s watching the Rose Parade 🙂
Some great thoughts to start the New Year with….Blessings to you and your family this New Year….
Like your new profile pic….=)
Yet again another great post from you. I loved reading this one! I would love to be where the snow is. We have 45 degree weather here. That sounds so beautiful! That’s nice that Rich takes the kids to work with him, I’m sure they loved it. Matthew & I were the only 2 still up at 12 last night, until he woke up his oldest sister & my husband to join us watch the ball drop. They all slept in this morning, which was so nice!:) God Bless you!
What a great post! Yes, a new life in HIM.It sounds like you had fun celebrating- I have an all night kind of kid too, LOL.Being in a snowglobe- what a great vision to carry away with me. Living in Florida, that just isn’t something I get to envision often- thanks for sharing.Happy new Year!
I just caught up on your life. It looks like you guys had a wonderful Christmas and birthday celebration. Your kids are just so cute! I loved all the pictures. The ones in the library were wonderful!
Your new profile pic is so great! I love it!!!!!
I hope that God blesses you and your family in 2008! Thank you so much for sharing these encouraging verses.
i would pinch myself it were snowing here and i could feel like i was in a great big snowglobe! you lucky girl. i pray so hard for snow every year to no avail in georgia but i will keep on because i love it so much! 🙂
Thank you for sharing those wonderful verses. It sounds like you had a wonderful New Year’s Eve. My dh had to work so the kids and I just watched movies until midnight. (although, I dozed off a few times,LOL)
Praying for your family to have a happy and healthy 2008!!
Blessings.
Wonderful thoughts to start the New Year out right. 🙂 Sounds like a fun tradition. Have a wonderful day and many blessings in 2008
Great verses, thanks for sharing them. The New Year/Jacob’s birthday sounds like such an awesome time. I bet the sleding in the dark was a blast. I love you new profile pic, so pretty. Have you lost a ton of weight? Cut your hair? You look refreshed. Send some of that my way please.
Happy New Year and many blessing to you and your beautiful family!!!
Thanks for sharing your study with us…..I am putting together something like that to use with the youth this week. So good to think on being “new creatures” when we are in Christ. We had a fun New Years eating snacks and playing games with friends from our home group. We came home about 10PM because Bob and David got up early this AM to drive up to the Rose Parade. It is something of a family tradition….to go see the floats lined up to go and watch as they leave….right up close so you can smell all the flowers. They met my middle son Nick and his wife. I wasn’t up to the miles of walking this year…so slept in and finally started posting some Christmas memories. Happy New Year! Jenny
We had a great time last night as well….I am still laughing about Jacobs prediction on Wes. I too love the new profile picture of yourself that was the first thing I noticed the blue shirt against the white of the snow is stunning.
Amen! what a fabulously refreshing post to read on the first day of a new year. Thank you for the reminder of how sweet our Lord is to us. You are a great encouragement.
p.s. I love your new profile picture!!! Pretty Momma!
great meditation! I love the snow globe comment! 🙂
another great thought is that 8 represents new beginnings… so 2008 is a year of new beginnings! I love how God works!
ryc: hehehe, I PROMISE it is me….
I’m glad you guys had a good time last night. I’m looking forward to having a new year with a clean slate, and seeing how God can use me in the coming year. I’ll talk to you soon. Love, Trish
Happy New Year! I’m glad you had a good time with Jason and Amanda last night. We had a quiet night at home, relaxing after all the family left.Happy belated birthday to Jacob! I didn’t get a chance to comment yesterday.
Those verses are truely beautiful… especially the one from Revelation. It made me tear up, too. I don’t remeber reading it before… or rather, I have read it and not really paid much attention to it.
By the way… The music on your site it so lovely! After I read your post I just sat and listened to the rest of the song.
Your blog teaches me so many things. I usually always feel so lost when trying to understand the Bible, but not when you put it in a way that makes sense.
Happy New Year to you, too, Shanda, and thank you for taking time to share those verses. It is wonderful to know that God can make all things new! Along those same lines, He is also a Redeemer, and I have frequently been meditating on this aspect of His character this past year; He redeemed ME from a long, drawn-out relationship with the WRONG one and sent Terry into my life a year and a half ago. I have so enjoyed my first 8 months of being married and so thanful for God’s mercy on my life!
Wow, I’m really impressed that your husband actually takes time to organize himself every year! I can not IMAGINE my husband doing that – that is something for which he really depends on me!
I love your new profile picture! That blue against the snow really pops.
The reminder to stay focused on being a new creation in Christ is so important. I think most of us have an appreciation for newness – it’s why there is so much excitement around a new year (calendar or school) or the start of new lives, relationships, homes, all that. It just feels fresh and clean and unmarred. I love that we can have that feeling any time we need with Christ.
Here’s to wonderful new things in 2008!