Making it new!

Because of the LORD's great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.
—Lamentations 3:22-23

It was a wonderful gift — a crescent moon on a ceramic base that when wound up played "When You Wish Upon a Star" — the delight and treasure of Martha, then two years old. Every night she’d wind it up and go to sleep listening to the familiar and comforting tune.

Then the horrible happened: the ceramic moon hit the hardwood floor and we had star dust.

Crying as she gathered the pieces, she ran to find me sobbing, "Daddy can you make it new again…can you fix Mr. Moon?"


One of the unspoken but critically important roles for a parent to fill is that of fixing things, making them new again. Dolls, bikes, jump ropes, furniture…and fix them we do!

Happily we take the broken and making it useable again, drying tears of desperation with a little glue here, some wire there, and a hug always. I began to think I could fix anything.

But then the day came when our older daughter Sarah, then 7, was really sick and in pain. Her ears were troubling her. In the middle of the night (always happens then doesn’t it?), she looked at me her eyes pleading and cried, "Daddy make it stop, make it better!"

And I couldn’t.

I couldn’t stop the hurt. Glue and wire, screwdrivers and hammers were all I could offer. I couldn’t fix an ear. So I did what I could and held her till we got through the treatments at the hospital.

Then the day years later when I came home and it was quiet. Not the kind of quiet you have when everyone is reading but the quiet that comes when people are sad. Through tear stained eyes I was asked if I could fix a broken heart and once again the best I could do was to give a hug.

Ceramic moons, hurting ears, broken hearts: "Can you fix it, can you make it new?"

Isn’t that the cry of each of our hearts…to our earthly parents, leaders and our heavenly Father?

Can you make it new again; Health, hope, family, marriage, compassion, joy of service, energy for caring, peace and trust?

Making it new is an inside job, which needs outside help: "Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing! I am making a way in the desert bringing streams of water to the wasteland." Isaiah 43:18-19. "I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you" Ezekiel 36:26-29.

You have the unique opportunity to make it new again for yourself, for those you love and those in your care.

Spring is here, let’s make it new again!