Behold, I will do a new thing;

Hello, 2017! The promise of all things new is once again upon us. I can't believe we're on the last day of the first month of the new year! Wow, that went by fast!

As is common with the start of a every new year, many of us have gone gung ho this years' New Year resolutions...losing weight, eating right, exercising more, praying more, going to church more, whatever the case may be.

One of my new year resolutions is that I've been trying to get Full Circle Womens Ministries first blog together...it's been in my mind, on paper, on the website...everywhere, since before the new year began. But look, here I am at day 31 (I just started typing it yesterday!) and trying to get in before February is upon me. So here it goes.

Getting back to the new year...how's everyone doing with their resolutions? Has anyone fallen off yet? I, for one, started out pretty good, despite having to take my son to the ER on New Year night because he was out of control. He has been diagnosed with mood disorder and ADHD.

That aside, I started two online classes. I was excited to find out that my church organization is now offering free classes called "Launch Your Ministry" and then I found a Groupon class for $19 to be certified as an event planner.

Anyway, back to this new year. Shortly after starting these classes, I had a major problem with my car which left me without transportation for a whole week and almost -$800 in my pocket afterwards! Two days later, my son went really out of control, forcing me to take action and have him admitted to the Children's Psychiatric Ward. Add to that the circumstances that were already in existence...living in a house that's in foreclosure with a well that went dry 4 months ago! And, not to mention my kids are 13 & 14 years old! That's a LOT to deal with!

So, yeah, 2017 has not started off at all how I had hoped or planned, but despite all that continues to be plummeted at me, I still have hope that God is going to eventually turn things around. Why? Because I read His Word every day and I listen to praise music about His Word and all of it encourages me to believe that if He said it, He's going to do it. All I have to do is have hope.

This past Sunday's sermon was taken from Psalm 42:1-11. It says in verse 5 that David encouraged himself saying, "hope thou in God...yet will I praise Him." Even though David was anxious about the things that were going on his life, He still recognized that God was still with Him and God was still in control.

The preacher reminded us that while we are in the midst of our trial, we have to maintain the right attitude. Though your world may be falling apart all around us, we have to remain confident that there's a purpose in the pain and God IS going to bring us out. We can't spend our time complaining about our circumstances. Remember...our end result is determined by our attitude in the middle of our test. If we stay faithful to God and keep our eyes on Him, we'll be able to say as Job did in Job 23:10, "when he hath tried me, I will come forth as gold." It doesn't matter what state you were in when you went into the trial, if you handle the trial the way God intends for you to, you will come out greater than when you went in. And what an awesome testimony that will be!

My final thought for you to take with you into the next month is this. Even though you maybe going through a period of darkness and despair, turn to the light which is Jesus Christ. Keep praying, keep fasting, keep worshiping. You may not see anything change. In fact, it may seem as if things are getting worse, spinning out of control, and that there is no way to escape! But stand on these two promises of God.

Isaiah 43:18, "Remember ye not the former things, neither consider the things of old. Behold, I will do a new thing;"

Revelation 21:5 - "I am making everything new."

I am praying and believing that God is going to give us a fresh start and a new beginning. Be encouraged and be blessed!

Rose