We are almost to the end of 2025. It has been a year of stretching, growing, losing dreams and finding them again, and ever seeing that no matter the darkness, God’s light never dims.

2025 felt like a fever dream. Sometimes I can’t believe we only have a few weeks left. Was January just yesterday? Was it an eternity ago? Somehow it feels like both. It’s not been an easy year, and yet as we reach its end and I look back at all that has taken place, in my heart I can say it’s been a good year. It’s been good because God is good, and He is teaching me to praise Him in the storms. To see the value in every hardship. To know He wastes nothing. No, this year hasn’t been full of grand things and delights. More like chaos, unknowns, and some big and hard realities.

But God.

But God, but God, but God.

But God is bigger than it all and has carried me through it. And as I look back at the person I was in January, I am grateful for the storms as they’ve shaped me into who I am here in December. A little battered, very weary, and yet stronger, knowing that God is my anchor and will never let me drown as long as I hold on to Him.

As we reach the end of the year, I always like to take time to look back and reflect. So I hope you’ll grab your favorite beverage of choice, settle in, and come with me as we look at the year that was 2025.

2025 RECAP

HIGHLIGHTS

• MY FIRST FORAY IN DUNGEONS & DRAGONS // Though I’ve done a lot of roleplaying these past few years, it’s been homebrew systems. I’ve never actually done official D&D. But this year I got to be part of not one but two campaigns and a one-shot, and it’s been SUCH a blast. I’ve long wanted to be part of a long-running D&D game, so this has been a dream. come. true. In one, I play Seph, a 23-year-old ESTP rogue woman who may or may not have pyromaniac tendencies. In another, I play Lucien, a 27-year-old ENTP bard man with a magic violin, far too much charm for his own good, and is chaos walking. I love my chaos children.

• HAD TWO OF MY DEAREST INTERNET FRIENDS VISIT // We spent a week together at my house celebrating my 33rd birthday. We played D&D every day. We ate too much candy. We stayed up far too late. We giggled over Frank James’ 16 personalities videos. We laughed a lot. It was a magical time that I will never forget.

• HOSTED 4 FICFRENZY EVENTS // Starting with our first-ever winter mini event in January, then our month-long spring, summer, and fall sessions, it’s been a hopping time over on FicFrenzy, and I couldn’t be more grateful. I love this writing community in all our whackiness and pure, recklessly passionate love for stories. (And the Discord group is open year-round, with more seasonal events coming in 2026, so if you want to hop aboard, you can do so HERE.)

• WROTE A (SHORT) NOVEL DURING THE SUMMER // After some creative struggles and physical health issues, I tentatively started a new story for Summer FicFrenzy with the goal of writing up to 500 words a day. 2 months later, I had 53k words and a full, completed story that I loved. It was just the restart I needed and a lesson for me: I don’t have to push myself past the breaking point to reach goals. Small but consistent steps bear fruit just as much or more.

• CO-WROTE A NOVEL DURING THE FALL // For Fall FicFrenzy, a dear friend and I co-wrote a story together and managed to draft the 119k novel in a month. It was a story that has been trying to pour out of me for a long time, and I’m so grateful to have had a chance to get it out in words.

• VISIT MY CHILDHOOD BESTIE FOR A WEEK // This is actually happening this week. I am here as this post is going out. My bestie and I, most unfortunately, live a few hours away, and I haven’t had a chance to come visit her and her family (practically my second family) in FAR too long, so I am immensely grateful for this opportunity. The best way to wrap up this year. 💛

FAVORITE ENTERTAINMENT

BOOKS

• RECIPROCITY by Natalie Benz // Zombies, sarcasm, some of the best action sequences I’ve ever read, and heart subtly and expertly threaded throughout—I adored this novella.

• STOLEN MAYFLY BRIDE by Sarah K.L. Wilson // A dark, enchanting fairy tale with lyrical writing, an aching romance, a tortured fae man, and a woman cursed to live her days in a cage. I only read this one a few months ago and have already been considering a reread.

• THE BROKEN WAY by Ann Voskamp // A non-fiction book? I know! But my word. Every chapter, every page was soul-stirring and life-shaking. For everyone who is hurting out there, for everyone who has dealt with or is dealing with hardship, for everyone who wants to face this broken life with courage and abundance and not be afraid to let all the bad brokenness be broken with good brokenness, I cannot recommend this one enough.

TV SERIES

• FRIEREN: BEYOND JOURNEY’S END // The premise of this one is just fascinating. It basically asks what happens to an elf after the D&D-style adventure is over, and she keeps living on while her adventuring party is dying off from old age. The questions this show brings up, all wrapped in a gorgeous presentation and engaging characters, kept me absolutely hooked. I cannot wait for season 2.

• SHERLOCK & DAUGHTER // I am always up for Sherlock Holmes stories. And though, yes, this is basically Sherlock fanfiction, it was shockingly good. The dynamics between Sherlock (brilliantly played by David Thewlis) and his plucky if not reckless assistant were such fun, the mystery intriguing, and the overall execution of the show keeps me sucked in.

• YOUR LIE IN APRIL // This anime, about a boy learning to find joy in the piano again after traumatic circumstances, was slow and quiet and seemingly simple, and yet it absolutely thundered with a beating heart that ricocheted through me. It tells a story of overcoming abuse and facing grief in such a slowburn, thoughtful way. In some ways, it’s a slice-of-life story. But the story it tells beneath the day-to-day lives of these young characters shakes one to the core.

MOVIES

I ended up watching a ton of great movies this year and could not narrow it down to 3, so here is a rapid-fire list of some of my top, top favorites.

• IMAGINE THAT // Eddie Murphy, the most adorable little girl, wholesome and hilarious family film about imagination and family and priorities.

• ODD THOMAS // Quirky, small town mystery, a couple I will ship to the end of my days, heart-wrenching ending and yet so good still, very gory so be warned but man I loved this movie. Probably far more than I should have.

• I AM MOTHER // Post-apocalyptic thriller, lots of twists, brilliantly conveys emotions, kept me intrigued from start to finish.

• ESIO TROT // Based on Roald Dahl’s book, an elderly man works up a scheme involving turtles to make his neighbor happy and, hopefully, cause her to fall in love with him, whimsical, humorous, and fun, just the most wholesome, adorable story.

• FALL GUY // One of THE best modern films I’ve seen in far too long, is not afraid to be multiple genres at once, hilarious and action-packed and stellar performances.

• COWBOYS & ALIENS // I cannot believe I had missed this one back in the day, one would think a movie about cowboys going toe-to-toe against aliens would be ridiculous and cheesy, it was not cheesy, it was epic, takes its time to make the best emotional impact while still being action-packed, 10/10 no notes.

• THUNDERBOLTS // AT LAST we get another good Marvel film, thoughtfully deals with grief, made me laugh, made me cry, man I’ve missed good Marvel movies.

• SUPERMAN 2025 // A good DC film too how have we been blessed??, actually…wholesome and heartfelt?, high stakes, just the right amount of humor, just an all around good superhero film.

• CROOKED HOUSE 2017 // An adaptation of Agatha Christie’s novel, a couple of months later and I’m still obsessively thinking about this film, stunning cinematography, a quirky house, performances that better have won some awards because just wow, not a feel-good film in the least but oh-so hooking.

Content Cautions: Imagine That and Esio Trot are the most family-friendly ones here. Viewer discretion advised for the others as they all have their share of language/violence/intense action/etc.

REFLECTIONS OF 2025

In July 2024, I had heart surgery. I’ve dealt with a malformed mitral valve my whole life, and it eventually got to severe levels where I had to have it replaced completely. I thought I would be healthier than I’ve ever been this year. That was not the case. It’s been one of the worst health years I’ve experienced.

Due to some complications, I am dealing with AFib and extreme fatigue. Energy levels are at the lowest of the low. In February of this year, I had some extreme bleeding that landed me in the emergency room via an ambulance and needing blood transfusions (first time riding in an ambulance; not exactly a bucket list item but, ya know, I can mark it off as a new experience, yeah?). I had lost so much blood, my life was at severe risk.

It’s been a time.

Every year, I choose a word to focus on for the next 12 months. For 2025, I chose REFRESHMENT.

Now, refreshment is not exactly a word that comes to mind for a year when I’m struggling to function physically and had a near-death experience and have been facing a lot of emotional hardships as well because of it all.

But God always knows what we need.

It was not a refreshing year, no. But refreshment is what I needed, a refreshment of spirit. This was not the year to tackle big projects and undertake a dozen new things. It was not the year to push myself past the breaking point. It was not the year to add needless stress on top of the stress that can’t be helped. It was a year of healing. Of learning to be still. Of taking things gradually and being okay with that. This year, I needed to learn an attitude of refreshment in the stress and chaos and unknowns. To not put more pressure on myself or let the exhaustion discourage me.

It was a year of healing and drinking from the refreshing, never-ending well of God. It was a year to be a refreshing spirit to loved ones and give myself grace and let myself heal in many areas.

I’m still learning that. I’m still stepping into it all. I have a long ways to go, and I’m grateful that God’s love and mercy and patience never run dry.

To let in God’s refreshing spirit through me and be a refreshing spirit in return, this year has taught me to be broken open. Closed hearts can’t be filled. They have to be cracked open to let all the love in and pour it back out.

It is terrifying and vulnerable and painful. Oh, it is painful. But the rewards and fulfillment are worth all the pain. Iron hearts cannot be shaped to be Christlike. If we are not willing to be broken and cracked open, to be soft and malleable, we will only ever live half lives and not know the true wonders and delights of God’s well of goodness being poured into our hearts. We will not experience His full, awe-inspiring love. We will be cold and hard and limited.

This year, I had to face being broken open many times over, and I know there is more to come. But as we nearly reach the end of 2025, I am learning to be grateful for it all.

Thankful in brokenness.

It is the broken earth that produces the most fruit. It is the storms that bring the clearest, most beautiful skies. It is in the darkness that we most appreciate the light. It is those who have faced hardships who know how to stay strong and be at peace in them, to be a refreshment on this earth, because they have experienced the refreshing wellspring of God that never runs dry.

Life, a life worth living, cannot be had without being broken open.

This year was fraught with hardships and stress, disappointments and unknowns, but God’s goodness ever pouring out. If I’ve learned anything, it’s this: To not be afraid to be broken. There is purpose in it all and beauty and abundance for those daring enough to choose gratitude in the brokenness.

And as I step toward 2026, I want to be braver. I want to have more peace. I want to ever seek out the light. I want to know that God’s path is not easy, but it is good, the best, and He is worth pursuing with every breath, He is worth following with every single step.

2025. It was a tough year, but God. His mercies are new every day. His loving hands forever hold us up. His feet guide us down a perfect path. And I am choosing to be thankful for every difficult step.

I am also filled with gratitude for each of you. The love that has been poured into me during some of the hardest couple of years of my life brings me to tears. Thank you for the prayers, the support, the love. Thank you for being here with me on the journey.

I’ll be taking the rest of December and probably some of January off to rest, take a breath, and start preparing for the coming year. Prayers would mean so much as I seek God’s guidance in some big decisions and continue to heal. Love you all! 💛

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year, friends!

What were your highlights from 2025? Do we share any favorite books or media? Is there anything I could lift you up in prayer over as we jump into the Christmas season and ready for a new year?