Finishing Strong: Reflecting, Resetting, and Rising Into Who God Created Me to Be

There’s something about reaching the final month of the year that makes you pause. Not out of regret, but out of reflection.
2025 brought some incredible highs and some unexpected lows — moments that stretched me, moments that shaped me, and moments that reminded me just how faithful God truly is.

But through it all… I made it.
And if you’re reading this, you made it too.

As the year winds down, I find myself asking questions that many of us ask:
Did I accomplish everything I set out to do?
Did I move in excellence?
Was I a good friend?
A strong leader?
An amazing father?
Did I show up well for the people God has trusted me with?

I don’t have perfect answers to all of those questions.
But I do know this — I did the very best I could with what I had, where I was, and who I was becoming.

At 41, I am still learning myself.
Still healing.
Still unlearning old patterns and rediscovering who God has called me to be.
Flawed? Yes.
Imperfect? Absolutely.
But motivated, grounded, and hungry for growth? Without question.

This last month of the year isn’t just a countdown.
It’s an invitation — to breathe, to reflect, to recalibrate, and to celebrate the now.

Celebrate life.
Celebrate health and strength.
Celebrate family and friends.
Celebrate that God didn’t let you fold under the pressure.
Celebrate the doors He opened, the storms He carried you through, and the version of you that survived what was trying to break you.

And most of all, celebrate the truth that the story is still being written.

As we move toward a new year, my prayer is that we step into it with clarity, with vision, and with a deeper confidence in who God has created us to be. The goal is not perfection — the goal is becoming.

So let’s finish this year strong.
Not by hustling harder, but by seeing clearly… honoring where we are… and trusting where God is taking us next.

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Affirmations for Ending the Year Strong

Speak these over yourself as you close out this year and prepare for the next:

• I honor my growth, my journey, and the strength it took to get here.
• I am proud of the version of myself that survived every high and every low.
• I give myself grace for what I didn’t know, didn’t see, or didn’t finish.
• God is healing me, restoring me, and revealing who I am becoming.
• I release the weight of perfection and embrace the beauty of progress.
• I am allowed to start over, reset, and rise again — stronger and wiser.
• I celebrate the blessings in my life: my health, my family, my community, my purpose.
• I am becoming the leader, friend, father, and servant God has called me to be.
• The best version of me is not behind me — it’s ahead of me.
• I walk into the new year with faith, expectation, and a renewed sense of purpose.