Fresh Start

It is that time of year again, time for shopping for pens, pencils, rulers, backpacks and lunchboxes. It’s that time of year we line our kids up and take a new school year photo.

It is a new school year, or as I like to think of it, a time for a fresh start and new beginnings.

Each year my parents bought us new clothes and school gear to start the year, and also a new lease on life. The world was my oyster and I could be anything I wanted: studious, prankster, jock or invisible.

However, as much as I began a new life each year, I was not the oldest, which meant my teachers would inevitably say, “Aren’t you Billy Naylor’s brother?”

It seemed that no matter what, I was unable to shake off who I was completely.

Thankfully, my brother was well liked but some of my friends were not so lucky. “You’re so and so’s brother? Oh, this should be a fun year,” some of them would hear. It was difficult to get a completely new start.

It is things like this that make me so grateful for my God Jesus Christ. With Him I get those new beginnings and fresh starts. When I mess up, which is often, He forgives and the slate is wiped clean, and does not hold our past sins against us. Now that is truly a fresh start.

Published in Delta Optimist September 7 2012

Photo courtesy of Flickr: mytudt