You've seen them! Every morning along the Padden Parkway there are dogs taking a stroll with their owners. If Jesus was physically present with us today, He could have easily used these morning strolls as a parable to demonstrate how we personally walk with God, our Master. I am not going to presume to make the applications for these individual walking styles. But I would be interested in hearing your perspective and whether or not you can identify with any of them.

In October, our automatic garage door began to stick when opening. By November it would not go up without the help of a gentle nudge. It is now February and the only way to get it up is with brute strength. With the remote control at my fingertips, I find this extremely frustrating. When something does not work properly my solution is fix it or dump it. My dear husband did everything he knew to get it in working order but still, it stubbornly refused to rise. Finally, I decided we would need to replace it. When looking for the warranty, I found the manual to the garage door opener instead. Therein was a solution to the problem. Apparently, during extreme temperature changes, the motor needs an adjustment. When I showed this to Gary he immediately went to the garage, climbed up the ladder, turned a dial on the housing, and the garage door went up! It just wasn’t getting enough power! One click changed that door opener from useless to functional.

This week I have had opportunity to “be quiet”, “be still” and just “be.” In fact, I have enjoyed an entire week of silence in my home. You may be wondering how that is possible in this cacophonous world. Occasionally, as a result of weekly contacts with hundreds of people, I do end up in bed fighting my own version of germ warfare. This time though, I temporarily lost my voice. Consequently it has been extremely quiet at my house. This had an extraordinary effect on me. Instead of filling the void with music, TV, radio, etc., I not only wanted, but also needed, complete stillness.

"What's new?", an acquaintance recently asked. It was difficult to know where to begin because so much has transpired in my life since I saw her six months ago. My husband retired. My youngest daughter got married. Our church has a new pastor. These events seemed important enough to share but our time was limited so I answered with, "What's new with you?" Starting a new blog holds the same challenge for me. Where do I begin?

New beginnings can be challenging but there is always something to learn from them. A new challenge that I took on this year was guiding the women of Crossroads through the book of Revelation chapter by chapter. We have learned more about God's plan for His people through the ages. This study exposed gaps in our learning that we are now tackling by comparing the rest of the Bible to the events in Revelation. Every week we see something "new" though it has been written there for centuries. To the seeking heart there is always something new to learn from Scripture.

A new beginning for you may be just a prayer away or a Bible verse away. Are you taking on the challenge of a new year with a deliberate focus on the things of God? If not, why not? Take the challenge. Start a Bible reading plan. Commit to conversing with God. Attend a Bible study. Go to church. Join a support group. Just do something...anything that will breathe life into your relationship with the Creator of all things. Perhaps next time someone asks you,"What's up?", you will know exactly what to say.

What's new with me? You're looking at it. My new challenge is to faithfully write a blog that honors the name of Jesus Christ and encourage others to live in a way that shows the love of Christ. "What's new with you?"