New Beginnings…

Tulips are my favorite flower. When I see those sturdy green sprouts shoot forth from the hard cold winter soil, my heart skips a beat. I then anticipate the amazing colorful tulips that will grace my yard for a couple of weeks. When I see the first colorful petals of the brilliant cup-shaped flower, I am filled with joy. It reminds me of the resurrection. The bulbs spend the cold dark night of winter in a tomb and when their appointed time is at hand, they gloriously rise up out of the darkness! Their appearance is breathtaking and their color is vibrant. But without the cold dark winter they spent preparing for their splendor, there would be no new beginning.

What a parallel to our own lives! There are times of pain and growth and then there are times of glory and splendor. We can’t have one without the other. New beginnings are possible due to things ending and preparing us for the next leg of our journey. What phase of life are you in? Are you at a new beginning or are you in a season of preparation for a new beginning?

In my life, I am at a new beginning. My precious daughter starts Kindergarten in two weeks. I am ambivalent about the thought of her leaping into this new phase of her life. And when I say leap, it is exactly what I picture her doing. She has absolutely no fear of most anything. This is a child that calls the frogs and earthworms her friends. When she sees the tulips spring forth, she exuberantly exclaims that the earthworms created good dirt so the tulips could bloom. What a precious blessing she is in my life.

So, what am I ambivalent about? Many things…have I done my job as a mother, to love and protect her, yet prepare her for the next leg of her journey? How is she going to handle being at school for 8 hours…how am I going to handle her being at school for 8 hours? Will her teacher understand her quirks and give her room to grow, instead of putting her in a box that is way too small for her temperament? How will her 2-year-old sidekick handle his big sister and biggest playmate being gone most of the day?

Callie probably summed up my ambivalence best when I asked her last week if she was ready for school. She said, “Mom, I am excited and a little bit nervous.” Well said, Callie….my thoughts exactly! I am so excited for her and this new beginning, but I am also nervous about the unknown.

New beginnings in life are to be expected. Every day offers us a new beginning, a chance to start over, to do things different than we did them yesterday. I am so thankful for God’s word that reminds me of His great and unfailing mercy that is renewed every morning in my life (Lamentations 3:22-23). 

Whether you are at a place of new beginnings in your life, like the glorious spring tulips or in hibernation like the tulip bulbs of winter as God prepares you for the next leg of your journey, take heart, dear friends. God’s mercy in your life will be more than enough to give you all that you need to overcome and be victorious. It may not turn out the way you intended, but it will be what is best for you.

Stay tuned to my blog to see how August 26th turns out…Callie’s first day of Kindergarten! I know I will be excited and sad and may feel a little lost without her at home with Sean and me, but I trust the unknown of that day to my God who knows all.