A New Year of Restoration

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Happy New Year! 

2017 is here whether we like it or not, we are destined to move forwards. We can't go back but only be present in the moment and look towards the future with hope. I have to laugh at all the times in my life where the turn of the year has pushed me to want me to be the best I can be, but truly- what are we measuring that ideal against?  

If you are like me, we often beat ourselves up that we didn't lose those extra pounds gained during the holidays, or read the books or passages that we'd like to or reestablished relationships like we ought to and we end up feeling like a failure.  We often set the bar unrealistically high when it comes to New Year's Resolutions! 

All Things Eventually Break Down

I want to declare  2017 as a new year of Restoration! One where we aren't afraid of being authentic with our stories and that being broken is not the end - but can be the beginning of something beautiful. When we realize our humanity cannot be 'fixed' by the latest fad diet, devouring the most recent self-help book nor willing ourselves to be better...we can have hope. It isn't a surprise or a disappointment to God when we come to the end of ourselves, as our Creator is waiting for us to reach out and up to the only One who knows us inside and out.    

To read more on my passion for restoration, click here and stay tuned as I blog about my own journey to restoration along with those areas in our world that break down in our hearts, our families and our world. A verse I am meditating on this month is from Isaiah 61 veres 1-3 from the NIV on the "Year of the Lord's favour". May 2017 be one such year.

“The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me, because the Lord has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor, He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor and the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all who mourn, and provide for those who grieve in Zion- to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of joy instead of mourning and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair. They will be called oaks of righteousness, a planting of the Lord for the display of his splendor.”