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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

Ahhh, summer is finally here! The sun is shining bright, the weather is warm, and the air smells of barbecue and summer vacations.

I love summer; I enjoy the sun and the weather, and just everything about it. It’s as if life is easier to handle when you are sitting on your patio cooking on the barbecue and enjoying a nice cold beverage.

If you are like most people, during the winter, when the sun seems to stop shining and it’s dreary and cold, you might become worn out and start dragging your feet. But when we do get that moment of sunshine, we feel invigorated and refreshed. I know that is how I am.

Life can be like that, where so much stuff is going on we begin to feel like we are caught in winter or a storm. I know it is times like these that I may not want to get out of bed in the morning. We seem to lose sight of any hope.

It is times like these that I realize just how much my saviour Jesus Christ gives me hope. He is like the sun on a dreary day. He renews and refreshes me and picks me up, just as the sun does after bad weather.

How truly blessed are we to have someone who gives us the hope to keep moving forward despite all the “bad weather” of life!

Published in Delta Optimist July 13 2012