Scaffolding for Our Souls: Our Longing for Renewal
And the nitty and gritty path to restoration
Growing up as a missionary kid in France, I got to travel to a lot of places. A road trip could take us to Spain or Switzerland, but much of this privilege was lost on me since I was a kid—either I didn’t properly appreciate it or I don’t exactly remember it. By the time I reached high school, with many road trips under my belt, I’d developed a theory about popular destinations around Europe: something was always going to be under scaffolding.
It made sense. It’s no mystery that centuries-old buildings need regular maintenance, and it’s common practice to spruce up historical landmarks in big cities ahead of tourist seasons.
When my boarding school sent our senior class on a week-long trip to Rome, we discovered that the famous Trevi Fountain was undergoing repairs ahead of the Christmas crowds. And so was Raphael’s “School of Athens” at the Vatican, pictured above. There was scaffolding all over it!
Every time the calendar turns to January 1st, we turn to our homes, our bodies, our jobs, our relationships, and we wonder: What needs sprucing up around here? Our pursuit of new habits, new goals, and new paths is the outward scaffolding that reveals our inward longing for renewal and restoration.
We look around at our world, too, at all that is broken, dysfunctional, lacking, and wrong. But saving the world is beyond the scope of any one person’s individual goals. We have just celebrated Jesus’ arrival into this world, and January forcefully reminds us that we still await his return—to banish the darkness, to restore what is lost, to repair what is broken, to renew our hearts.
When Paul talks about renewal (see 2 Cor. 4:16 and Col. 3:10), he uses the same Greek word to mean God transforming a believer in Christ. The action is not coming from us, the action originates with God. God is the one who is making this new life within us, and not because it’s January and we are filled with goals and good intentions, but because we follow Jesus and we are filled with the Holy Spirit.
And this renewal happens as we come to know God more and more. I love how the New Living Translation puts it:
“Put on your new nature, and be renewed as you learn to know your Creator and become like him” (Col. 3:10)
When we recognize that our longing for Jesus and our longing for renewal and restoration are one and the same, we can recenter knowing God as our ultimate priority, and becoming like Jesus as our greatest calling.
So this year, may we celebrate our progress on our goals without sinking our hope and trust in them. May we keep Jesus the central focus of our hearts and lives as we seek to know him more deeply and to follow in his footsteps. May we not only pray for the restoration and renewal of all things, may we be willing participants in the work God is already doing.
Something I wrote: Navigating the New Year with the Assurance of God’s Love. My two-year-old neighbor inspired me to think about how much better it would be to start the new year confident of our inherent belovedness in Christ.
Something I read and loved: Instead of More Resolutions, Try Unforced Rhythms by Kayla Craig for (in)courage. It’s never too late to reflect, and I found her questions meaningful as I consider my own daily rhythms!
Something I listened to: Relating with God with Skye Jethani on the Happy Hour podcast. I read Jethani’s book With a number of years ago and it had a deep impact on my life of faith. Here, he summarizes the four postures we take when we relate to God. (I can see myself in each one!) This one is absolutely worth your time!
Something I’m cooking: I can’t wait to try these Spinach White Bean Enchiladas (the sauce looks especially delicious!)
Something I’m celebrating: My book turned THREE this month! A random reader emailed me on the actual birthday, and said: "It was such a breath of fresh air and relatable. It’s not often I read a book (especially one involving being a mom) and come away with inspiration and change without twinges of guilt for not doing it “right” or not doing enough." (Cue the tears!)
I put a few copies in Little Free Libraries to celebrate, and if you haven’t already snagged a copy for yourself, you can get it on Amazon.
No more going to bed kicking yourself for all you didn’t get done. Use this FREE printable “Win the Day” calendar to whittle down your to-do list to the ONE most important thing. Once you do it, color in the picture for that day and congratulate yourself for winning!
I developed this calendar for moms of little ones but I find myself returning to it all the time! It’s one of my most downloaded freebies, and I just updated it for the new year. Click here to get yours (password was in your welcome email, or hit reply and I’ll remind you!)
Until next time,
Your reflection felt like a warm hug, showing me that I’m not the only one who puts “relationship with Jesus” as a new years goal. Honestly, it’s the one goal I’ve made any progress on during the last few years, and sometimes it doesn’t feel like “enough.” Thanks for the reminder that Jesus is always more than enough.
I read your newsletter this morning and I liked the scaffolding analogy you suggested for our way of approaching a new year. It’s a bit like spring cleaning we engage in after winter is over. I’m so thankful for new beginnings: new days, weeks, years, seasons: they all give us a chance to reevaluate and recalibrate.
I lived in France for a couple of years and really loved it. It was a growing up season for me, right out of college and almost completely on my own. I lived in Toulouse. Do you share about where you lived? I’m also a missionary kid, but my experience was in Brazil.
Thanks for sharing your thoughts with us. I always find them interesting and mentally stimulating.