Probably you’ve already heard the story I’m about to recount, but I can’t stop thinking about it. On Sunday, Andy Murray reversed a trend of non-Brits winning Wimbledon. After a 77-year drought, “Our Andy” (as the Wimbledon announcers referred to him) defeated Djokoviç for the victory. 

But that’s not all he reversed. Murray grew up in Dunblane, Scotland. He was only eight years old when a horrific precursor of Newtown, Connecticut occurred. On March 13, 1996, a man stormed into his primary school and killed 17 people, mostly children. Murray survived by sheltering under a desk in the headmaster’s office.

The quiet town of 8,000 was forever changed, marked by unthinkable tragedy. Seventeen years later, people still mourn the lives taken that day. Time has passed, but Murray’s stiff upper lip crumbled when he spoke publicly – for the first time – about the Dunblane massacre in a BBC documentary aired before Wimbledon.

Dunblaners went wild when Murray won. He responded with his trademark humility, saying, “It’s just nice that I’ve been able to do something that the town is proud of.”

Dunblane is no longer a town known only for its loss. It is now the town of a champion. It’s Andy Murray’s hometown.

Just as a town’s reputation can change, so can ours. Is there something in your past you’re not proud of? Have your mistakes, or your families’, colored the way you see yourself?

You have the power to redirect the course of your life, to change the legacy inherited from your family or inflicted upon you by someone else. We all do. Each morning, we’re greeted with a chance for a fresh start. What will you make of yours today?

Our God can make all things new!

“His compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.”  Lam. 3:22-23

“Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come.” II Cor. 5:17