2023 in Review

First and foremost, I hope you all had an incredible Christmas season.  I hope you were able to take some time and meditate on the reason for the season.  There were multiple points over the last week that I was overcome with gratitude.  That our God would send his Son, literally in the flesh, to this world, to live a life in servitude to the Father.  Then, to pay the ultimate sacrifice, His life, for the forgiveness of our sins.  The times that I have been overcome this season have been in reflection that Jesus suffered in a very real and literal way.  The pain was real.  The slashes across his back were real.  The pain of carrying the cross was real.  The nails being driven into his hands and feet were real.  And for what?  For each of us individually and for the entire world at the same time.  Just remarkable to think about.  It has entered me into a real season of thankfulness that we receive grace through simply having faith in him.  How incredible.  

Well I wanted to get a jump start on my year in review.  It has been a year that I will never forget.  A year of ups and downs.  A year of growth.  A year of pain.  A year of blessings.  A year of learning more about myself than I ever have.  A year of learning more about Him than I ever have.  A year of intense study in the Word.  A year of loss, but also a year watching my daughter grow and my son inch closer to manhood.  

I want to take some time breaking things down with each section headed with scripture because the Word is what truly sets me free today.  The bible is our connection point to our God.  It is the way in which our relationship with Him grows, and the way he so fluently communicates with us.  

Gratitude and Thanksgiving

“In everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.” 1 Thessalonians 5:18 (NKJV)

I want to start this review in the only way I know how, just like in my prayer life, by giving thanks to Him who made it possible.  2023 for me has truly been a year of Thanksgiving.  I’m thankful for the health of my daughter.  At one point this year Oakley was fighting for her life at Children’s Mercy Hospital for several days.  It was a mixed bag of emotions for us.  We didn’t know how serious it was until she had already begun recovering, but we trusted God through it all.  I remember praying with my wife intently but feeling confident that Oakley was a gift from God to us.  We knew she was a miracle child and that she would pull through, but we continually try to find time to thank God for his continued promises.  We also realized that if we hadn’t experienced loss previously, we wouldn’t even have Oakley to love on.  We truly became thankful for this as well.

I’m thankful for his continued Grace.  There were multiple times this year where I questioned what even I was doing.  For those that don’t know, the Ministry is HARD.  It’s taxing.  It’s exhausting.  The enemy attacks us through trying to cause us to question if it’s worth it continuously.  Unfortunately at different times this year I found myself thinking more negatively than I wanted to.  However, time and time again God had a clear path for pulling me out of it.  I’m incredibly thankful for that.  

I’m thankful for His Kingship in my life.  I’m thankful that God has made it clear to me who he is and I pray that discovery becomes larger and larger continuously.  Beginning to understand more and more of who he is, allows me to place him where he should be in my life.  First in everything.  I’m also thankful that I am beginning to understand more and more, through the Word of who I am in him as well.  This has allowed me to be more confident, and build up an even deeper trust in his promises for me.  This has been one of the largest shifts in my thinking this year.  I can’t encourage people enough, take a few months, and just study who He tells us He is in scripture.  And then, follow that by studying who He tells us we are through him.  I can promise you your life will never be the same.

I’m thankful for my wife.  Tanja has been a secondary rock to God in my life.  She has reeled me back in from time to time.  She has been a constant.  Her pursuit of the Word this year has encouraged my own.  Going through the bible in its entirety together has been rewarding for us both.  Truly realizing that even though Oakley is incredible, that we are each other’s number one at all times has allowed us to grow even closer in our marriage.  I have learned that no matter what, my wife and daughter come before even ministry at all times.  I have been intentional about that.  I’m thankful for the times when I do fall short that I have a wife that isn’t afraid to let me know, and is gracious with me through it all.  

Just this thankfulness section could be endless.  My family.  Moving my parents here.  My New Life family.  Those who mentor and disciple me locally and from afar.  We literally have so much to be thankful for.  But there’s more to discuss.  

Endurance and Perseverance

“And let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart.” Galatians 6:9 (NKJV)

An area of weakness where an opportunity for growth exists for me has been the few times mentioned above where I have allowed doubt in ministry, or negativity to seep in.  I have begun reminding myself regularly that the time we live here on earth is truly so very short in comparison to eternity.  That there is nothing not worth doing here to advance his kingdom.  Equally important is the attitude in which I do those things.  Recently I have just begun growing in this area.  Trying to face more and more things with a truly positive attitude.  

This verse in Galatians reminds us not to grow weary.  If we do not lose heart we shall reap.  Paul is writing to the churches of Galatia knowing how difficult this is for those spreading the good news.  So this is nothing new.  It’s something those in ministry have been facing for two thousand years.  So now I pray constantly for continued endurance and perseverance, and I have gained a new found respect for those that have been in ministry far far longer than I.  I’m thankful, in every way, for the leaders who have come before me and whom I serve under currently.

New Beginnings

“Do not remember the former things, nor consider the things of old.  Behold I will do a new thing.” Isaiah 43:18-19

There have been so many new beginnings for us.  Oakley was born just before 2023 started, so just the list of new things we have been able to watch and be a part of with her have been incredible.  But for this year in review, I want to focus on the transition to our new building at New Life Community Church.  What a blessing.  Having now moved in and held a couple weeks worth of services in our new space.  I couldn’t be more thankful for what God has blessed us with.  

It is so incredibly easy to pick apart the things we wish were better, or the things we wish were bigger.  Or what could have been if this was here or that was there.  But I have quickly learned this was a product of the enemy and I’m incredibly thankful that God worked on my heart before we made the move.  As the building came close to finishing I felt like God literally opened my eyes to what I had not been seeing.  How truly amazing this gift was.  How His work could be done so much more effectively with this new space.  And now having moved in, I have found myself mid-service with wet eyes, overcome with thankfulness that His plan is always better than our plan.  It’s always BIGGER than our plan.  If we would just move aside and let Him work.  Today I am so thankful for this building and the lives that will be saved in it.  Glory to Him who is so much bigger than we even understand.

Guidance and Trust In God

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; In all your ways acknowledge Him and He shall direct your paths.” Proverbs 3:5-6 (NKJV)

The area that I think I am growing the most in currently is just this.  The way my brain is wired I am constantly trying to figure out the future. I am trying to make sure my path is clear and that I understand what is to come.  I want to know what I’m working towards, and focus on development and strategy to accomplish just that.  What I have found this year is that true trust in Him forces me to turn away form this line of thinking.  I’m almost working on rewiring my brain to think differently.  And trust me, this is a constant and continual work in progress and I still have a long way to go. 

This verse in Proverbs reminds us that if we simply put our entire trust in the Lord, if we stop leaning on our own understanding, and if we submit to Him in ALL our ways, He will make our path straight.  We don’t need to have it figured out.  We just need to trust in Him.  I have been shown so many times in 2023 that his plan is far greater than any plan I can come up with, so I need to trust in His plan, in His timing, in His guidance.  The more we trust in Him, the far greater the outcome will be.  His plan for our lives is perfect, and the more we let Him take control, the far better it will be.  Again, something our brains don’t naturally want to do.  We want to be in control of our future.  We want to know the path.  But this is truly limiting compared to what He has planned for us.

Community and Fellowship

“And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching.”  Hebrews 10:24-25 (NKJV)

I am so incredibly thankful for the community and the fellowship that we have found at New Life.  The New Life family has become our family in every way.  It’s not just because I’m the Connections guru at New Life that I’ve come to love this part of Ministry the most.  But it’s also the times when I’m sitting with a guy on the tailgate of my truck and they have the “aha moment”, where they get it.  Or when someone calls to ask me questions about “this whole Jesus thing”.  Or the times when I’m sitting at coffee just growing in brotherly love with another.  I am so incredibly thankful for this part of my heart that the Lord has awakened.  2023 has been a year of helping others to find community and fellowship, and in turn finding an incredibly deeper version of both myself.  

I’ve talked about it before, but this year I discovered just how much I truly love others.  When asked this year why I do what I do?  What is the thing that really gets me going in ministry?  It was just that, seeing people discover Christ in a new way, and really get what it all means.  It clicking for someone just who they are in Christ and how true his promises for us are.  Through this, combined with growing with brothers in Christ immensely over the past year, I have found myself with so many people that I would truly lay my life down for in a second without hesitation.  When all this processed inside my small brain a few months back, it began to change things immensely for me.  When we say “Love God, and Love People” or when we talk about the greatest commandments of them all, to love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength, and love your neighbor as yourself, those all sound good.  But when I sat back and began to realize that this selfish sinner had truly begun loving others more than I even love myself, I began to see just how powerful that is.  

So many claim to know God, but choose not to live in community.  They choose not to attend church.  I don’t envy that feeling or justification at all.  I am so thankful for the community that God has built up around me.  I am thankful for the culture of connection at New Life.  I’m thankful for the brothers that I have grown so close to over the last year.  They are valued more than they will ever know.  

In Summary, Reflecting on God’s Plans and Renewed Strength

“For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.”  Jeremiah 29:11 (NIV)

“But those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength.  They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.” Isaiah 40:31 (NIV)

I’ve discussed this a little bit, but heading into 2024, I want to focus on God’s plan for my life being far superior to my own.  This past year he has shown me time and time again that his plan is just that, far greater than any plan I could dream up.  His plan will always reign supreme if I step out of the way.  

I also want to remember that as long as I continue to hope in the Lord, that he will continue to renew my strength.  As long as I continue to hope in the Lord, I will soar on wings like eagles, I will not grow weary and I will walk and not be faint.  

2023 has been a year to say the least.  We lost a pregnancy at 17 weeks.  But we also got to watch Oakley grow so much, from an infant to a toddler that explores on her own and we can now communicate with to some degree.  We have experienced loss, but we have gained so much.  God has been there for us in so many ways.  Through Tanja getting laid off, we trusted that his plan would prevail, and heading into the new year it looks like Tanja will be accepting an incredible position with a company where she will be back to doing what she loves in her field.  He blessed us through the loss of Luca.  He blessed us through the lay off.  He blessed us through it all.  Our first prayer for 2023 was to bless us more than enough so that we could bless others, and our second was to show us just how much he loved us continuously.  He answered both those prayers constantly.  Even through loss.  Even in the most painful points of the year, he was there blessing us.  I am so incredibly thankful to serve a God who loves me so much more than I deserve.   I’m thankful for grace through faith, because I can admit, I still fall short of the Glory of God all the time.  I’m thankful that the aim is not perfection, instead it is a deeper and deeper relationship with Him.

May 2024 bring us just as much joy as 2023 has!