Out With the Old

My grandmother believed the Christmas tree and all the decorations had to be down and put away before New Year's Day. It was bad luck to take the "old" into the new year, she said. 

I don't believe in luck, but I do believe in dealing with the old year before the new year begins. I want clean sheets and an empty dirty clothes hamper when midnight of New Year's Eve rolls around. 

I want to be finished with the last year before I start the next.

It took me all day yesterday, but, when I stopped, I had clean clothes, fresh sheets, and a clean refrigerator. I had boxes filled for a local charity, straightened cabinets, and clean floors. All the decorations were put away and a section of the storage house had been straightened.

There were a few heart issues that needed attention, as well. An attitude needed to be corrected, a hurt that I needed to let go. As I worked, I gave those to God, too. "I don't want to deal with this next year," I told the Lord.

Today is a new day, the start of a new year. If you haven't already, now is a perfect time to let go of the old to make way for the new.

I don't want to carry critical, judgmental attitudes, wrong choices, poor priorities, animosity, or repeated sin into the new year. This year, I won't. 

One of things that differentiates humans from the lower animals is free choice, and I've decided to make better choices, starting today.

Let's take a few minutes today to evaluate the sin that's plagued us, the priorities that have been misplaced, the hurts we've held to and make a better choice. 

Mark the old year, with its failures, "finished", and start the new year with a clean, fresh heart. 
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Here's another post you might like: The New Zealand Badge
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Need a quick holiday read? Humor mixed with faith? 

Consider my e-book. The Clay Papers (lessons in being moldable in God's hands, based on a series of pottery lessons) is now available as a 99 cent ebook on Amazon. Click the link to see more. (There's a link to give it as a gift as well.)
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photo courtesy of freeimages.com
#newyear #choice #makeachange