Renewal...

This morning, I awoke to a warm, almost spring like day.  The air is moist, and despite the snow covering the ground, you can tell winter is waning and won't be here forever.  The arctic temperatures of a few days ago have receded, and the wind is no longer biting through my heavy coat when I am outside.

Spring offers hope, a new beginning, a fresh start.  The dirty snow melts, the puddles soak the ground, and soon grass will appear.  It is the promise of renewal I am feeling today, and I am grateful to experience it again.

Life is filled with moments of renewal.  Every day is a new opportunity to get things right, no matter what happened yesterday or in the past.  People are constantly making changes and forging new paths with hope and excitement and the promise of something better or different on the horizon.  Whether relationships, work or leisure, there are a multitude of ways that we experience renewal on a daily basis.

We are not stuck in the past.  We are not rooted to what has always been.  Overhauling ourselves, although sometimes difficult, is also an opportunity to right wrongs, do things differently, experience something new, learn, change, grow.  Renewal is not necessarily painless, like a caterpillar becoming a butterfly, it can turn you inside out, but the freedom you find at the end is energizing.

Today I am grateful for the renewal in faith that Jesus gave me when he took my place and paid the price for my wrongs.  Living my life as best I can is the reflection of his grace, freely given, and the offer of new life in him he has gifted me.