New Beginnings

Our topic for Wordful Wednesday this week is...
NEW BEGINNINGS!

It's of course the perfect time of year to think about this. That's one thing that's nice about January, you feel all fresh and ready to go, Christmas decorations are put away, the kids are back to school, and the husband is back to work. Schedules are once again a refreshing change of pace. The year is a clean slate, the ideas are allowed to come rushing in, and hope stays in the air from the holidays. And then the weeks fill up faster than they did the year before, the days fly by as if they had only 2 and 4 hours, instead of 24. But, this is not what I intended to write, nothing so negative as, gasp, broken resolutions!

Instead, I have been thinking about some of my new beginnings through my life and how I handled them. I remember going to college as a freshman and being nervous. But, lo and behold, there in my history class (in which I got a C! and I'm proud of it, because if you are not a memorizing type of person then history is not the class for you...) anyway, I made a great friend the first day, and taught me all about having fun and enjoying life and not taking school for granted. She made that new beginning for me so wonderful.

The next new beginning that came to mind was leaving on my mission. When I actually got out in the field I was so tired I just wanted to cry. I did, at the mission home, when I was alone. But when I got to my first area, I didn't want my trainer to think I was a big wimp and so I held the tears back and felt stronger for it. After that I didn't feel like crying much and, thanks to an inspiring trainer, was better for it. I was able to get carried away in the work, instead of my emotions. Don't get me wrong, there were still times, but having a good start made a huge difference.

Another new beginning was being married. I thought when I got married I'd be bestowed with all the gifts necessary to be a wonderful wife and homemaker. Well. I didn't really know how to cook and cried (hmm, carried away with my emotions this time...) every time John put salt and pepper on his food. One day he got home before me and made chili, or something like that, and it was AWFUL!!! I mean, you couldn't have paid me to eat it. It's the nicest thing he could've done, because then I knew we were in this together. Weird, I know.

Moving several times offered me lots of chances to have new beginnings. I decided when we got to San Diego that I'd die if I didn't find a friend, and quick. So, that first Sunday I struck up a conversation with the gal next to me in RS and we quickly became the best of friends, along with another gal we met later. I don't know what I would have done with out them, and we still can get together and it's like it was yesterday.

Most of my new beginnings have been hard, but worth it. Having each of my children is an absolute testament to that statement! I couldn't believe they'd just let me take Jack home, when I suddenly realized I had really no idea how to raise a baby. But I did, and he's still alive and a good kid at that. Moving here this fall has been hard, and still is a little, but I know from past experience that it is worth it too.

I think it's a great opportunity to start out the new year with a fresh perspective, but maybe we need to do that the beginning of every month, every week, every day, and even sometimes more often than that. I'm glad that we are given lots of opportunites as mortals to have lots of new beginnings. The sacrament reminds me every week that I can repent and do better. Jack got a transformer robot once that had said something like this in the description: This robot has special powers, because it has the ability to change. I have always liked that, we too have special powers, because we have the ability to change! So, here's to NEW BEGINNINGS!