Blessing for Something New
New beginnings–whether starting a new grade or moving to a different city or taking on a new sport or hobby–can be kind of scary. Here is a blessing that you can say for yourself when you’re feeling worried about taking on something new:
Walking through this open door
I carry with me blessings four:
The love that surrounds me,
The knowledge that grounds me,
The courage that lifts me,
The chance this door gifts me.
credit:Christian Kaden
Bonus: A pep talk for teachers and students from Kid President
An Unexpected Second Chance
John Murray was a Universalist who certainly took starting fresh to heart. Tragedy struck for Murray when his wife and young son died, and then he was put in jail because he was unable to pay his bills.
“A Dutch Ship Running on to a Rocky Coast” Matthieu van Plattenberg
In 1770 he felt able to make a totally fresh start, so he got on a ship and headed for the New World, North America. Unfortunately, the ship got stuck just off the shore of New Jersey, when they were trying to get to New York.
But Murray agreed to go on shore and try to find directions and supplies. He ended up on the doorstep of a man named Thomas Potter, who greeted him as the Universalist preacher that Potter had been waiting for!
Well, Murray didn’t have plans to be a Universalist preacher—that wasn’t the fresh start he had in mind. He wanted to go on to New York. But he agreed that if they didn’t get the wind the boat needed to sail on, that he would preach on Sunday about Universalism’s message of an absolutely loving God.
Well the wind didn’t pick up, and Murray did preach, and he ended up making a fresh start by marrying Potter’s daughter and becoming a traveling preacher, spreading the good news of God’s love all over New England.