Out with the old, in with the new!

I thought of this great idea for a blog entry, about 2 weeks ago, and just haven't gotten around to it until now. But, I figured better late, than never, right?

As many of you know, we experienced basement flooding on September 13th of last year. It was quite awful. We had 3 feet of water in our basement. We were sick about it, but counted our blessings, realizing that in the grand scheme of things, this wasn't a big deal. God was faithful to us in so many ways during this whole process, and each day Marc and I got to see all the ways He was providing for us(from people coming to help out to us having an endorsement in our insurance that helped cover the damage!) and we were blessed by that. It was about a 3 month process of getting the basement back together Starting with ripping everything out, drying it all out, and then starting from scratch!

In the midst of it all (flood cleanup, and basement repair), I was also having MANY dental issues. We're talking a trip to the dentist a week! I was on painkillers off and on, had a few root canals, and finally in December had a tooth extracted, due to a cracked root (for those of you not familiar with dental stuff, a cracked root is REALLY bad, and the tooth has to get taken out, otherwise the pain won't go away). To put it simply, it was a crazy fall.

So how do these things tie together, teeth and basement??? Well...out with the old(basement and bad tooth - both not by choice!) and in with the new (our basement was finished on Jan. 1 - thanks to my parents for coming to help!, AND Lydia got her first teeth on Dec. 30.! Let's pray her teeth are better than mommy's!) Not to mention this all happened as 2008 turned to 2009. Out with the old year, in with the new one!

So anyway, we are happy to be in 2009, for it means the dental insurance has rebooted, the basement is done, and we once again get a chance to start over. And as I ponder all of this, I can not help but think about God, and how He gives us a chance to start afresh, in Christ. Here are some verses that came to my mind.

2 Corinthians 5:17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!

And also that his mercies are new each day.

Lamentations 3:22-23 The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.

God bless you in 2009!