Doing A New Thing

A Devotional by Margot Cioccio

Packing

Isaiah 43:18-19 (NIV)

18 “Forget the former things do not dwell on the past.

19 See, I am doing a new thing!

Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?

I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland.

As soon as there is enough light to take a decent photo and other who are sleeping start to wake up, I will take a photo of the stacks of boxes and furniture filling my moms house. 

My ride from St. Johns to Spangle

Yesterday when I finally got here at about 7pm I started packing my aunts house. I say finally because the first car we drove over heated 11 miles from my moms.  My mom picked up my husband and son and I waited for a tow truck to tow it back 25 miles towards spokane. Thankfully it had cooled down and drove the last 10 miles with out a problem. Then I got our other car and drove back. I enjoyed the quiet of the drive back. It had been a busy Sunday with a lot to process. 

My aunt lives in a one bedroom apartment above my mom. She has a lot of nick-naks. My husband and youngest son disassembled things and carried furniture and boxes from my aunts home down to my moms. The goal is to have them both packed up and ready for the truck on September 20th. 

The New Big House 

If you are just joining me, you have probably gathered that we are moving. We are moving my mom, my aunt and my family into one larger home. All this moving and packing is going on in the midst of my kids and myself starting school this week. As a result my daily posting is unlikely to happen. I will do my best to check in with a little faith nugget of some sort and to share a progress up-date when I can. In the mean time there are 547 published posts for you to enjoy. I'm pretty sure you have not read them all. 

Today is filled with more packing and moving before we head back with everyone to my little house. Due to our school and work schedules moving is pretty much having to happen on weekends. 

So on to our verse for today. Lets break it down. 

"Forget the former things do not dwell on the past."

More Packing

Where God wants us to live is in the present. Often we have regrets that pull us back to dwelling on the past. Sometimes in the present God takes us back to look at those things so that we can put those memories away clean. It is a process that requires forgiving those who have hurt or disappointed you. Often forgiving yourself for your failures and the hurt you may have caused others. It requires repenting for your part in things, like your own moral failures or even your bad attitude. Forgiving does not mean what happened to you was right. It is saying you are no longer holding it against those who hurt or harmed you. You are giving it to the Lord, releasing people from the mental prisons that you have kept them in. Its easy to spend your whole time blaming others for what happened but generally there is more to the story and even if we were the victim there are things we could have handled better. Maybe we took matters into our own hands and did not look to or trust God to help us. Maybe you were mad at God. Maybe there was doubt and unbelief or complacency. The Lord knows all the ins and outs of your story. Ask him to show you if there is any clean up of the past that needs dealt with at this time. 

In general our heads need to be in the present. We can be so lost in the past or dreaming of the future that we miss out on the present. Which generally leads to more regrets somewhere down the road. Today is the day that is before you. Do your best to live it well. Sometimes life comes at us so fast that we don't get much of a chance to process things. Try not to let things stack up to much. Forgive and repent as you go along each day because none of us live perfectly. 

See, I am doing a new thing!

Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?

I think sometimes we miss that God is doing a new thing because we are leaving claw marks from the past. We are trying to hold on to the old stuff. Transitions are often messy. Even the most organized and anticipated transitions shift us out of our familiar patterns and our comfort zone. 

In this move, I am finding it hard to find those quite spaces to write each day. My mother is an early morning person who's feet hit the ground running. I am more of a wake up and sit for a while before I shift into high gear for the day. Transitions are unsettling, and uncomfortable but we eventually find the new normal and learn its daily rhythms. I think the thing to remember is to walk with Jesus. Be talking to him along the way. He says in Matthew 11:29-30

29 Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” If we walk closely he will help you to sort through the messy transition stuff to see the new thing that he is doing. My mom has been at my house for most of August. We had talked about the possibility of moving them to Spokane but at that time I could not really see the new thing that God was about to do. In my mind it was off in the future.  

I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland.

I like to picture Jesus walking ahead of me through the dense brush with a machete. At times when life feels like a desert wasteland I trust him to lead me to the streams for refreshing. When we look at the unknown ahead of us it often appears to us as a wilderness or a wasteland. Heres the secret take it one day at a time, sometimes one hour at a time is all we can manage. Put aside the worry and fear and do what needs or can be done be done now. 

Well I have finished what I needed and could do at 6:30 am and now it is time to get on to other things. Have a wonderful day. I will be back with more when I can. Here's a few post that did not get seen by many people in case I miss some days this week. 

P.R.A.Y  http://devotionals-margot.blogspot.com/2012/10/pray.html

God Command The Blessing http://devotionals-margot.blogspot.com/2012/11/there-god-commands-his-blessing.html

A Photo Challenge from my friend Debbie. http://devotionals-margot.blogspot.com/2012/10/photo-challenge-8.html

Protecting Your Quiet Time http://devotionals-margot.blogspot.com/2012/08/protecting-your-quiet-time.html