I always have some apprehension and anxiety at the beginning of a new school year. It’s a brand new start, and what is ahead is unknown. As a student, I would make resolutions to be organized, to read the assigned chapters, and to actually study. As a teacher, I plan activities, get lessons together, and search Pinterest for a new way to teach an old idea. I stock up on new school supplies, vowing to be prepared for each day and enjoying every moment writing with that new pen in that new notebook or planner.
I think what I love the most about the start of a new school year is the potential that accompanies a new beginning. New students are arriving, old students return refreshed, and there are always new colleagues who may or may not become a good friend. What happened last year is long forgotten, and what this year holds is yet to be seen.
It’s a fresh start. It’s a new beginning. It’s a clean slate.
But, what if we saw every day like that?
What if each day we woke up and resolved to love more, laugh more, and be brave? What if each morning held the potential to be a clean slate?
Amazing things could happen if we embraced the newness of the day.
Because the truth is that each day is new. Today is not yesterday. We woke up this morning and God’s mercies were new for us. It says that in the Bible. We woke up today with a new chance, and new start, and a God who gives us the courage to do things differently today. The things that happened yesterday, they don’t have to happen today. We can forgive, we can make changes, we can move on. We don’t have to do the things we did yesterday, we don’t have to carry the shame of yesterday’s sin, and we get to try again today.
And, in the same way that God sees us, let’s see each other with new eyes each morning. Let us forgive the wrongdoings of others from the day before and give them the same grace and mercy Christ has given us. Let us give others the chance to do it differently, while being gracious and caring when mistakes happen.
I want to see each morning as a new start, a new moment to resolve to try again, and a clean slate where I decide who I want to be. Let’s remember that God’s mercies are new every morning, so we can be free to try again. And again. And again.
Kacy Davis lives in Fort Worth, Texas with her husband, Collin. She is a special education teacher and advocate of those with special needs and loves her job. She spends her time riding bikes with her husband, running, reading, and enjoying those she loves. Kacy believes in reinventing what it means to be a woman and wife who loves the Lord and longs to help others learn to love the Lord with abandon, freedom, and a greater understanding of grace. She writes here.
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A great reminder to be thankful for the newness of each day and the mercy given.
Wouldn’t be wonderful if we could see each student with new mercies each morning and not let the “rumors” and notes of last year’s teacher follow him/her into a new year?