It’s January 8, and routines are falling back in place. The dreaming and planning of a mere week ago are already slipping through the cracks. High hopes are sliding down the mountain to familiar, mundane valleys.

The dry well of creativity hasn’t sprung forth any new waters.

Broken relationships haven’t magically been mended.

Laundry and dishes still pile dirty on a daily basis, demanding to be washed.

Children still bicker over who misplaced the brush.

The often anxious tightening of my chest hasn’t released to the easy breathing of relaxation.

Yes, it’s a new year…but it sure feels like the old one.

Over the past week, I’ve seen this verse posted on social media at least a hundred times:

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. (Is. 43:19 The Message)

A new year calls for new things springing up. And I wait in anticipation…for about a week. That’s when the demands of life resume, and change becomes difficult. I forget I was even waiting or anticipating. And old habits die hard, so I just do what I’ve always done.

However, when one of my friends posted the above verse last week, she posted verse 18 with it:

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

I’m quick to overlook that verse. I want to hurry to the new thing, the new way.

But maybe verse 18 is the key to verse 19. Maybe letting go and forgetting the past is the only way to be able to perceive the new. 

I’m spending this month trying to make peace with the past, so I can let it go without looking back. I’m doing the work it takes to pry my fingers loose from holding on to roots that hinder new growth. I want to be ready when the new thing springs forth and the way is revealed.