Hello there! I don’t know about you, but I really like the sound of something new: new clothes, new shoes, even the new shoe smell, new accessories, new house, new job. I get so excited when I hear the announcer on the hit daytime television show, The Price is Right, say, “You’ve won a brand NEW car!” The curtain is pulled back, the prize is revealed, and the winner leaps for joy right before claiming or taking hold of their winning. I mean I absolutely love it. The “newness” of things stretches far beyond materialistic items. After reading this post, my hope is that you will gain a new perspective on where you are right now in your life and begin celebrating where you are heading.

For starters, let’s look at the terms “new” and “beginning”. The term “new” is defined as something recent, fresh, modernized, restored, having but lately come to a place, position, status, etc. The term “beginning” means to come into existence, arise, originate, activate, or establish…the list goes on.

We all have reached a place of “new beginning” at some point in our life. To the 2020 high school and college graduates, you’re at a point of “new beginning”. To the individual that was laid-off for one reason or another, you’re at a place of “new beginning”. To the woman or man going through the divorce, you’re in a position of “new beginning”. Some of us are changing career paths or leaving one position for a higher position; nonetheless, it’s a “new beginning”. Somebody’s transitioning from living at home with parents with little to no responsibility to having their own place and all the responsibilities that come along with it. Somebody’s a new parent with a new baby and they’re adjusting to parenthood. A new beginning!

If we can be real, as exciting as receiving and/or obtaining that “new” thing can be, it can also seem daunting. Can you remember a time when you should have been leaping for joy over something; instead your bones rattled with fear because of the uncertainty of that thing; a fear of the unknown?

Well, when I graduated from college, I can remember being greeted with the old “Welcome to the Real World” phrase. Omg! The “Real World”, to me, sounded so BIG, so intimidating. I mean, I had mix emotions about that thing because it seemed as though I had more thinking to do in regards to where and how I was going to fit into this “Real World”. Will I fit? Will I get the career I want? Will I be good at it? While I should have been celebrating, I sometimes found myself fretting.

While some circumstances can be more strenuous than others, do not fear your “New Beginning”. Isaiah 43:19 states, “Behold, I will do a new thing, Now it shall spring forth; Shall you not know it?” (NKJV). The Lord, our God, want to do a new thing for us, but too many of us are afraid to leave our place of familiarity. When we leave our place of familiarity it takes us outside of our comfort zone, making us uncomfortable and even vulnerable. Too many of us are hung up on hindrances that won’t allow us to accept and embrace the blessings God have for us.

God is waiting to pull back the curtain. He’s waiting to take us to the next level. He’s ready to restore that which has been broken. He is calling us out of our wilderness. He’s ready to renew our strength. He wants to give us the desires of our heart but He says, “Do not remember the former things, Nor consider the things of old” (Isaiah 43:18). The word “consider” is important here because to “consider” something is to think carefully about it before making a decision.

Each day, we are given a fresh start. Before our feet hit the floor, we have a choice to make. We must choose to do something new!

Choose to walk in the renewal of your mind.

Choose to be different.

Choose to make a difference.

Choose to activate your faith.

Philippians 3:12-14 reads:

Not that I have already attained, or am perfected; but I press on that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me. Brethren, I do no count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus (NKJV).

No matter where you are right now in life, I encourage you to press. I encourage you to reach. I encourage you to lay hold of what God has for you. Get ready for your overflow. Go ahead and dance like David danced!

It is a new day! It is a new season!

Your “New Beginning” starts now!!! 🙂

From my heart to yours,

Takelia Hammett