A fresh start

            As a child, I got really excited about buying new school supplies.  The aisles of the old Ben Franklin held endless fascination as I carefully examined their offerings:  Blue Horse loose leaf notebook paper, yellow number 2 pencils, notebooks, pencil boxes, crayons, paste, report covers… the possibilities were endless to my childish eyes.  I even remember buying such improbable supplies as receipt books.  (Really? Was I planning to conduct a sideline business in third grade?)  

            The supplies themselves were symbolic of a new beginning, a fresh start.  A brand new school year with myriad possibilities.

            As an adult, my paper fetish continues.  I love a new calendar!  At the start of a new year, I enjoy going through the calendar to fill in family birthdays and anniversaries.  As the year progresses, appointments, meetings, deadlines, and other events fill the pages of my calendar, making a sort of diary of our lives when the year has ended.

            I still love a brand new notebook or binder with crisp, unmarked pages to fill.  It may hold a list of books I’ve read, study notes, to do lists, or other things.  But the promise of blank pages still fills me with anticipation and excitement.

            My younger brother and I used to compete to see who got to open the new jar of peanut butter, who got to stick in the first knife or spoon and disturb that perfect, creamy smooth top.

            School supplies, calendars, even a jar of peanut butter - all remind me of the human desire for a fresh start, a new beginning.

            There are days when I’d like to tear off the page and start again on a clean, unmarked sheet.  There are times when I’d like nothing more than a do-over, another opportunity to get it right, a gigantic eraser to remove my errors.  I long for that spotless, white sheet of potential, not the one I have filled with futile scribbling and mistakes.

            A fresh start is what I pray for you and me today.  The reminder that all things are possible with Christ.  It doesn’t take a new notebook or calendar, or even a fresh jar of peanut butter.  It only requires a bent knee and a seeking heart.