Renew

 Renew.  For the years I worked as an elementary librarian, it was a choice I heard multiple times a day.  Students, usually in the middle of a chapter book, who asked to renew for one more week so they could finish reading.  It was an option I was happy to honor as long as no one else had the book on hold or they hadn’t been hoarding it for the past 6 weeks.  However, it wasn’t exactly a word I expected to hear when I began to pray about what 2022 was going to bring.

 

The more I have thought and prayed about it though, the more fitting it seems to be.  I can’t lie, for the past few years I can’t exactly say I have been thriving, I have been stuck in much more of a survival mode.  Four years ago this month, (A) came out to a town in rural, southern Illinois for an interview at a church he was pretty excited about.  That began a year of moving and massive changes.  The next year we were barely settled and had a baby (b) and started adjusting to life as a family of 4.  That was followed by the (never-ending) pandemic where life as we knew it changed, our careers became more challenging, and we then decided to add one more sweet little (lk) to our tribe.  While I know I am incredibly blessed, I will often admit that sometimes our blessings overwhelm us.  I am mostly exhausted, burnt out, and frazzled.  And I find that after feeling that way for so long, it starts to take a toll on me.

Two of the three who wear me out and fill me up all at the same time!

 I realize there are many things I need to renew.  I have some dear relationships in my life that could use a renewal.  Passions I once thrived on have become “past memories” over the last few years, and my heart is telling me it is time for some of them to return.  I had former eating habits and exercise habits that I would love to renew.  My physical body could use some rest and renewal.  And the more I dug into my Bible the more I realized there are other ways I could renew as well…

              -renewing of your mind (Romans 12:2)

              -renew a steadfast spirit (Psalms 51:10)

              -renew my strength (Isaiah 40:31)

              -renew my life (Ruth 4:15)

And so, as 2022 begins, I’m constantly asking God to show me how He is going to renew me this year.  I will be honest, the first month of the year has already proven it’s share of challenges… making that promise of renewal even more sweet.