all things new

my first birthday, my mom in the back, my cousin John on the left, my brother on the right.

Naturally I thought a lot about my mom yesterday.

Sometimes I look back in regret at my teenage years because of how horribly I treated her at times.  I was so selfish and caught up in my own little world, and like most teenagers, I thought my mom knew nothing.  While I'm regretful about it, I know that I don't have to sit around feeling terrible because she forgave me a long time ago.

We were talking about restoration and redemption yesterday in small group at church, and I brought up my relationship with my mom.  After we had those years of my stupidity, our relationship was restored and grew stronger than ever.  She never brings up the times that I hurt her.  She probably rarely thinks about it.  It almost seems like another lifetime.

And that's just one of many ways my mom emulates Christ.  We can pull away from him for some time and get to a point where we wonder if things will ever be restored.  We can make mistakes that are so big in our eyes that we wonder how we'll ever be redeemed.  How could he still love me, we ask?  Not only does he redeem us, he gives us a chance at an even closer, stronger relationship with him.  Instead of living in guilt and shame, we can live and walk with him in the light and beauty of newness, hope, love, and redemption.