What 2025 Taught Me and What I’m Carrying Into 2026

2025 has been one of the hardest years I’ve ever walked through. Not just hard in a busy or stressful way, but hard in a deep, soul-level way. The kind of hard that leaves you questioning everything. The kind that strips you down to the point where you don’t recognize yourself anymore.

This was a year where I gave up a lot for God. I followed. I obeyed. I stepped out in faith. And if I’m being honest, there were many moments where I felt abandoned instead of affirmed. Confused instead of reassured. I cried out to God more times than I can count, asking for clarity, direction, and comfort, and it often felt like I was met with silence.

I felt lost. I felt stuck. I felt broken. I lost more than I ever expected to lose. There were moments where the pain felt so heavy that I truly wanted to give up. I wanted to quit everything. The blog. The podcast. Social media. The business. All of it. I told God plainly that I followed Him, that I obeyed Him, and that I felt like He left me anyway. I told Him I was done. I couldn’t take the hurt anymore.

But what I’ve come to see, slowly and quietly, is that God never stopped working. He just wasn’t working in the way I wanted Him to.

God has been moving slowly this year. Painfully slowly at times. Not fixing my circumstances. Not removing the struggle. Not giving me the clarity I kept asking for. Instead, He’s been refining me. And as uncomfortable as it is to admit, I needed that refining.

Because it was in the middle of this year that my prayer life deepened in ways it never had before. Not rushed prayers. Not surface-level prayers. Honest ones. Desperate ones. The kind where you don’t have pretty words left. My time in Scripture grew, not because I was disciplined, but because I was hungry, because I didn’t know where else to go. And my relationship with Mass began to change too. I didn’t just show up on Sundays anymore. I started going during the week, not consistently at first, just here and there, as I felt the pull to be there. It wasn’t routine or obligation. It was need. I went because I needed to be in His presence, because I needed something steady when everything else felt like it was falling apart.

My circumstances didn’t change, but my posture did.

When everything around me felt uncertain, my trust in God had no choice but to grow. I couldn’t rely on answers. I couldn’t rely on feelings. I couldn’t rely on outcomes. All I had left was Him. And somehow, in that place, my relationship with God became more real, more honest, and more grounded than it’s ever been.

2025 taught me that faith isn’t proven when things work out. It’s proven when they don’t. It taught me that obedience doesn’t always come with immediate reward. Sometimes it comes with pruning. Sometimes it comes with silence. Sometimes it comes with deep pain that makes no sense until much later.

And as I look toward 2026, I don’t have everything figured out. I don’t have a neat ending to this story yet. My circumstances haven’t magically changed. The waiting is still here. The uncertainty is still present. But my faith is stronger. My trust is deeper. And my hope, while quieter, is steadier.

I truly believe God is still working everything out. Not just around me, but in me. I believe He’s not finished with this season yet, and that on the other side of it there is something waiting that I never could have imagined or planned for myself. Something greater than what I thought I wanted. Something only God could have prepared.

As I move into 2026, my heart isn’t focused on rushing ahead or forcing answers. It’s focused on continuing to draw closer to Him. One of my deepest desires is to keep growing in the rhythms He began building in me this year. To deepen my prayer life even more. To stay rooted in Scripture. And to continue showing up at Mass, not just on Sundays, but more intentionally during the week, with the hope of making daily Mass a regular part of my life. Not out of pressure or obligation, but out of love and trust.

And if you’re reading this and you’re in a season that feels similar, I want you to know this. Your waiting is not pointless. Your pain is not ignored. And your faith is not weak because you feel tired, discouraged, or unsure. God does some of His deepest work in the seasons that feel the hardest. Even when you can’t see it yet, He is shaping you, strengthening you, and drawing you closer to Him. You don’t have to have it all figured out. You just have to keep showing up, even if all you can bring is honesty.

Until the day everything makes sense, I’ll keep praying. I’ll keep showing up. I’ll keep trusting, even when it’s hard. I’ll keep walking forward, even when I can’t see the full picture yet.

That’s what 2025 taught me. And that’s what I’m carrying into 2026.

Lord, thank You for meeting us in the hard seasons, even when we don’t understand what You’re doing. Strengthen our faith when the waiting feels long. Teach us to trust You more deeply, to show up honestly, and to rest in the work You are doing within us. As we step into a new year, help us walk forward with hope, patience, and surrender.

In Jesus’ name, Amen.