Happy New Year everyone!

This past year seems like it went so fast, when I first thought about it I couldn’t think of anything notable I’d done or achieved! But when I kept thinking back to the events of last year, I realized that 2024 was full of incredible milestones for me — I got my first job, learned to drive and got my learner’s permit, started writing a novel, got my first article published, started this blog. I’ve also made new friends, read more books, and both learned and grew more.

Yet with all of its high points, every year has its ups and downs.

I don’t know how your 2024 went — how many tears you cried or how many parties you attended, how many awards you received or how many people abandoned you. For some of you this past year seemed like the best year of your life; others of you wish you could bury AD 2024 under a pile of bricks.

Life is wonderful sometimes — there’s chocolate, blue skies, wonderful friends, good movies, fluffy puppies, coffee, great books, family. Life is also incredibly painful sometimes, whether that pain comes through heartbreak, poverty, emotional distress, bitter family members, or a stressful job. But through all of life’s events, there’s one thing that never changes, fades, or runs away.

And that’s God.

I’ve never had a specific “verse of the year”, but my favorite verse could be a fitting one — or really a “verse of life”.

“Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the LORD delivers him out of them all.” — Psalm 34:19

God never promised us a pain free life — He tells us over and over again that “in this world you will have trouble” (John 16:33). But He promises to be with us through everything that we go through, no matter how lonely, confusing, or insurmountable it may seem.

As you start your 2025, remember Psalm 34:19. Maybe write it on a sticky note, a notecard, or make it your lockscreen. No matter how last year went for you, or how 2025 is going to go, remember that Jesus will never abandon you, and He’ll rescue you from all of the pain and heartache you go through. He’s already brought you this far — He won’t leave you to fend for yourself now < 3

“Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on… For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things… Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things.” — Matthew 6:25, 34