Goodbye Old Friend!


Greetings of "Happy New Year!" are being shared everywhere I go these days after Christmas. And you will also hear this expression, "Out with the old and in with the new!"as we transition from 2018 into 2019. Just a few weeks ago, I had some dental surgery and I was sharing that phrase with family and friends, but I meant something quite different. I had my "Old #19" tooth extracted and now, I'm healing as I wait for a new bridge in the new year!

"Old #19" had served me well over the many years. I have had it worked on a few times: root canal, post implanted, silver cap applied, and then a filling drilled into it as well. There wasn't much else to do with it when it recently was diagnosed with a fracture that resulted in an infection. Three specialists and my general dentists appraised it and said, "It's got to go!" I pushed back initially, "You guys are supposed to save teeth!" And they replied, "This one is beyond saving! Let go of it! We can strengthen your other two teeth with that bridge." So... on January 10th at approximately, 10AM, I bid "#19" a sweet goodbye!

As you enter this New Year, to what are you bidding a goodbye? Every year there are unpleasant experiences that require us to let go of some things before we can embrace the new that is before us. We speak of "getting closure" and "living lighter" about this time of the year. We are sorting through all those highs and lows, ups and downs, and the joyous as well as the painful encounters that comprised 2018. As we take inventory, we are hopeful that this next year is "better," whatever that means.

Are you giving thanks as you reflect? It's human nature to remember the unpleasant things rather than recall the pleasant ones. Let's work on the opposite. The Psalmist reminds us, "Praise... Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his love endures forever" (Ps. 106:1). 

Embracing the new often requires turning loose of those things that can spiritually handicap us. Too often, this negative baggage has been a part of our lives a lot longer than just the previous year. Paul advises, "Forgetting (and I might add, "forgiving" as well) what is behind... I press on" (Philippians 3:13). Release the power that the past has to hold you back. Let go of guilt, hard feelings, disappointments, and the sins that control you. Allow God's grace to wash over everything negative!

Let's intentionally and prayerfully, "Let go of 2018." It's time to say, "Goodbye Old Friend!" (and maybe "good riddance" to all that wasn't too friendly!) Our hope is in the One who proclaims, "Behold, I am making everything new!" (Revelation 21:5). Walk in confident faith with God into the newness of this new year!

Mike Keppler, retired pastor,
active churchman and
doting grandparent.
Contact: drmjkeppler@gmail.com

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

"Pray and Move Your Feet!"

Image
There is an old West African proverb: “When you pray, move your feet.” I have said something similar in a little different way: “Be careful in your praying. You may be (and often are!) the answer to your own prayer.” Others see this almost as a command to “Put feet to your prayers!” What do we mean by these various sayings? Prayer is not just an important spiritual discipline for the Christian, it often leads to an “in the flesh” response and connection between the pray-er and the prayer request. Prayer and Action! pngimg.com While prayer is one of the spiritual disciplines, this doesn't mean it is just an academic, theoretical or forensic exercise! I have heard it said, "God inhabits the praises of His people." This suggests that it blesses God to hear the praise of His people in prayer. I believe that the Lord gets an even greater blessing when our praying is “incarnated” in devotion, commitment and service for Him. Our best efforts at praying involve action plans to ...
Read more

Sayings That Shape Us!

Image
Joseph D. Keppler December 9, 1929 - February 14, 2024 (I shared the following eulogy at my Dad's funeral, February 19, 2024).  I have so many wonderful memories from growing up with my parents. I say “growing up” because it became clear when I started grade school and heard one of my peers exclaim, “Your parents are so young!” And they were! Mom and Dad eloped on June 10, 1950, and had to go all the way to Corinth, Mississippi to get a justice of the peace who would marry a 16-year-old girl to a 20-year-old sailor, who after four years of active duty, was now in the Naval reserves! That sailor and his gal would become dad and mom, grandpa and grandma, to this great family. Mike, Grandpa, and Matt "A quick pic between oil changes!" I learned so much from dad who had married young, took on a family of four kiddos, and started his own business in those first fourteen years of marriage. Growing up in a family business taught me many lessons for sure! Watching dad and mom in ...
Read more

What's Your Best Gift?

Image
This past week, we just concluded the season on the Christian calendar referred to as Twelfthtide or the 12 Days of Christmas. One of our pastors reminded us on Sunday, New Years Eve, that technically, Christmas was not yet over! I suspect that he had his tongue firmly in his cheek when he addressed primarily the youth and children and suggested that they could still take advantage of this in the remaining days leading up to Epiphany on January 6th!😉  "This was marked down and I couldn't pass it up!" Marc texted. What was your favorite gift of the Christmas season? What gift did you give to another that received a special response? I doubt that it was a fruitcake! Am I right? Just a few days ago, I received a picture and text from our good-humored son, Marc. He was weighing in after Christmas as to why he was able to just now purchase a discounted fruitcake at the local Texas HEB grocery store. I teased him by responding, “You do know why it was discounted, don’t you?!...
Read more