“2025 was the best year ever!” one friend exclaimed.

“Not for me. I’m so glad it’s over—it was the worst,” another quickly replied.

Maybe you can relate to one of those voices. Or maybe your year landed somewhere in between—marked by both joy and heartache, gratitude and grief.

Wherever you find yourself as one year closes and another begins, one truth remains steady and sure: you are not alone.You never have been—and you never will be.

Our God is a with-us God.

On the heels of celebrating the birth of our King, we’re reminded again that God chose nearness. He is Emmanuel—God with us. Not distant. Not detached. Present. Faithful. Steady. And that truth has a way of carrying us gently into a fresh start.

Life changes. Seasons shift. People come and go. But God does not change. God’s presence is not dependent on the kind of year we’ve had or the kind of year we’re hoping for. God is with us in the mountaintops and the valleys—and that is incredibly good news.

As you step into a new season, I invite you to slow down and let these words from Scripture settle your heart. Read them. Pray them. Let them remind you of who God is and how deeply God is for you.

“The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases;
his mercies never come to an end;
they are new every morning;
great is your faithfulness.” - Lamentations 3:22–23

*“Forget the former things;
do not dwell on the past.
See, I am doing a new thing!
Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?
I am making a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert” - Isaiah 43:18-19

*”For I know the plans I have for you., declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a further and a hope.” - Jeremiah 29:11

*”Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.” - Proverbs 3:4-5