By Wendie Carnagie
My sweet daughter asked me if I would write this article on “In the beginning”, she said it could be about anything, anything to my relationship with my husband, Larry, to becoming a first time mommy. Then I started thinking about it and truly couldn’t make up my mind on what to write about, it kind of frustrated me a bit, made me feel weird because I wasn’t sure what or how to begin or write.
I was sitting there on the couch trying to put this together and I realized something…”in the beginning” are some very interesting words. The beginning involves a whole lot of things. It is the start of every single day, of every experience we have, of everything we do, say, think. Everything!
In Genesis God gave us all the beginning and from there the beginnings just keep coming. My beginning started with my parents, which started with their parents and so forth and so on. Every beginning is the start of new things, of adventures. Without the beginning there would be nothing.
Being a new Christian, a new wife, a new mommy – these were certainly wonderful beginnings and I am so blessed to have had them. I thank God everyday for the blessings of my family and friends, for each and every day given to us.
No matter what happens in a day or in an situation or even with your children…tomorrow, is, and will be a new beginning with more new things to happen and more new experiences. You know something…sometimes new beginnings are very scary, not knowing what to expect, where we will end up, will we be safe, will we get hurt, yada, yada, yada. But, if we don’t start…we will never know.
Beginnings are blessings. I am so grateful to all of my beginnings, my husband, my three wonderful girls, my friends, family, more beginnings than I could ever list.
“In the Beginning”… much more that the words at the start of a book, but the words at the start of everything.
We all get discouraged at times. In fact, there are several verses on it. In Joshua 1:9 it says, "Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for The Lord your God is with you wherever you go." Isn't that a pretty encouraging thought? I know that it doesn't always feel like this, but as long as you're doing the right thing, God is always with you. Even if we aren't in the best situation, He's there. Paul knew this when he was in prison, and was content with what he had, even though he was in prison. He coontinued singing praises and praying to God, and writing the epistles. Paul is the epitome of optimism. I mean, I might not be singing praises to God if I was imprisoned for being a Christian. I hope I would, and hopefully I will never have to find out. But when we are discouraged, it's good to look at Paul, and see the example that he set, and try not to be discourages under the circumstances.
If you look in 1 Samuel 12:22 it says, "For the Lord will not forsake His people, for His name's sake, for it has pleased the Lord to make you a people for himself." Okay, there is a difference between God being with us, and us not going through hard times. Just because we go through a rough time, doesn't always mean that it's our fault. Sometimes we go through hard times because we need to learn something, and that may be the only way we can learn, (I feel like this happens to me a lot, as I am a very stubborn person, and learn things the hard way a LOT.) or maybe it's setting up for something even better in the end. Blessings in disguise are often the best kind, because you appreciate it more than if you hadn't had to go through the bad in order to get to the good. Or maybe you're going through a hard time for some other reason. But no matter what, as long as we follow God's commandments, it'll always turn out okay. Even if we die first, we'll still end up in a place that's worth even the worst possible thing that can happen on earth. So remember, no matter what happens, remember that God is always with you, as long as you follow His commandments. Remember that in Matthew 28:20 we are told that God is with us always. By Jayla Sparks
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