Well would you look at that…another year has come and gone. And I can’t say that I will miss it. From the start, 2015 became somewhat of a “problem child” of years.

Each year I ask the Lord for a theme. Some years it’s been the direction He would be guiding my growth, or the target I was to aim for, and in other’s it was the way I was to direct my time and attention. This year’s was different. Upon hearing from Him, I immediately asked for a re-do. All I heard from Him was the story of Jesus asleep on the boat during the storm {You can read it here}. I tried to take “supernatural ability to nap” as my takeaway but alas, I knew that was not what He was saying.

I would be in for quite a ride. Yet, I would not be moved.

Almost immediately I hit a few bumps in the road. Some of which I was able to find humor in…

Like my car dying in the middle of the car pick up line while nannying.

And then others just felt way too personal…

Like losing my Grandfather.

This year has brought me the most intense challenges I’ve faced in ministry to date, intense enough where honestly I deeply considered calling it quits. Multiple moves (that were not planned or wanted), family conflict, personal sacrifices, and plenty of instability and shift to go around.

But the Lord was clear, no matter the storm, I would keep my peace.

It has been a year of discomfort, self-evaluation, lots of tears. It has been a year of stretching, taking captive thoughts, being brutally honest with myself and those in community around me. It has been a year where I was forced to be more vulnerable then I would ever be willing to be outside of all the storms I was determined to “sleep” through.

And now here a stand. In 2016. A new year. A new theme. And I hope this one’s sweet.

“If it’s not good, it’s not the end.”