Goodbye To 2021: Time To Reflect, Grow, And Celebrate

Merry Christmas! Yes, I’m still offering Christmas wishes since Christmas was just three days ago. I hope you had a wonderful holiday, and that you were able to keep Christmas simple. We discussed that here all month long. And I pray you were able to celebrate the birth of our Savior in special and meaningful ways. Now, here we are in the last week of the year. Before we say bid farewell and goodbye to 2021, I say it’s a good time to reflect, grow, and celebrate. I invite us to do that in this week’s episode.

A lot has happened in the last week around here. We celebrated Jesus’ birth, we relaxed and appreciated a slower pace, and I celebrated another birthday. That alone is a big day! And now this week we are getting ready to turn the calendar to a new year in a matter of days. Along with all of this, I have spent some dedicated time looking back at 2021. Do you do this too?

Do you look back over the year before moving into the new year?

For many years I never gave it much thought. I just zoomed through the last week of December right on into the first week of January. Sometimes I set resolutions for the new year, but that’s about it. I didn’t really take time to reflect on and celebrate the ending year before jumping into the next. So, if this isn’t something you typically do, I understand. But I invite you to consider joining me in this activity this year. I invite you to pause and take some time to reflect on the year before we say goodbye to 2021.

Goodbye to 2021: Time to Reflect, Grow, and Celebrate

Say goodbye to 2021 because it’s a year worthy of reflection.

Because this year has been unlike any other year we’ve experienced. 2021 was full of challenges and difficulties and trying moments, wasn’t it? You might remember specific discouragements, disappointments, and distractions. I know I do. You might even recall moments heartbreak, heaviness, or hopelessness. I do too.

I sometimes find it’s in the trying times I grow the most. Sometimes it’s in the difficult seasons that God gets my attention and changes my attitude and perspective. I think it’s safe to say He has changed us all through this past year, don’t you think? We are different people than we were at the start of 2021. Pausing to reflect helps us learn from where we’ve been so we can grow into where we’re going.

But as I look back through the year, what I see the most is God’s faithfulness.

God was so faithful in 2021, wasn’t He?

And I share why I believe so in this episode. Where did you see God in your life this year?

As I reflect, in this episode I also share what my goals were for 2021 and my progress in completing them. They might surprise you a bit. It’s interesting how saying goodbye to 2021 healthily, will help us begin 2022 with a fresh, renewed perspective.

I invite you to join me in this important end of year/beginning of the next practice.

Click on the above player to listen to the full episode.

I am praying for us this week as we say goodbye to 2021 and begin 2022. I pray God encourages your heart, brings healing and wholeness in Jesus’ name, and blesses you with His peace, His provision, and His presence. May you draw near to Him this week and in the year ahead and be reminded of just how much He loves you.

Come back next week and I’ll share my #oneword for 2022 and some of the goals I’m focusing on in the new year.

Links in this episode: