I normally start this with, All too soon the year has come to an end. I can’t do that this year. 2024 has been the longest year of my life. I normally write this on the 30th or 31st of December; however, I am penning this down on 26th December. I am exhausted with 2024, and I can’t wait for the calendar to turn from 2024 to 2025. 

I started this year full of zest and excitement. I had so much hope for change because I believed that it was in this year that things would turn around for me and my family. I wasn’t wrong, but the journey was grueling. It cost me a lot of tears and prayers to get to this point in my life. I broke down on Good Friday, and I couldn’t put myself together. Days after, I cried myself to sleep every night because nothing seemed to be going well. Most importantly, I was panicking that I would never leave a toxic work environment.

I finally started another master’s program, and I was anxious about whether I would leave it halfway like the other one because of lack of funds or if I would see it to the end. I was deeply burdened by a lot of financial obligations, and I didn’t see a way out. Months later, I would get a text to apply to a job I had been desiring for a while. I had applied to a couple of jobs and even had interviews that went well, but I still didn’t make the cut.

Basically, I was at my wits end, and I would not have applied because I was deeply downcast. But one evening, as I mindlessly scrolled TikTok, I saw a video that said in 2 weeks you would get a well-paying job, and that motivated me to turn in my application the following day. Weeks later, I got called for an interview, and then in less than a month, I had a new job. This happened in July. I received another word in June during ICGC’s 40 Days of Power Saturday prayer retreats.

So, I knew this was it. I was miserable for the first 6 months of the year. But I began to smile when I got the job. The benefits were okay, but with the kind of obligations I had, I knew I would still not be comfortable. At least I wasn’t where I used to be, and that was fine by me. I was getting closer to where I needed to be, and that’s all that mattered. I wanted to live on my own for a while, and because my job took me out of the region my family lived in, I got the opportunity. I’m bored out of my mind with where I am, and I have been steadily praying to be transferred to the home side.

I realized that so much of my life revolved around church and its activities that the distance was hindering, and that bothers me, but, well, I don’t want to sound ungrateful, so I am ok. I make weekly trips home, and frankly, I am sick of it. I can’t spend a weekend there as well, so I need a miracle in 2025. Honestly, I know it can only get better for me. I made my first real estate sale this year in August. It wasn’t a huge commission, but it gave me hope to keep at it.

On the spiritual front, I prayed more, and I trusted God more. When faced with issues, my first reaction was always the word of God and prayer, and that helped me grow, and I am so proud of it. My youth group had its biggest program on 22nd December, and it was such a huge hit that I am so grateful to God for it. My mind was literally blown.

Love life: non-existent, or there’s really nothing to report on that front except the same cycle and same bad decisions, and I just needed to hunker down and focus on me. Regardless of age, I am not ready to settle down because I still have trauma to heal and money to make. 2025, I hope to get a dog to take care of my emotional needs.

A lot more can happen in my life. But right now, I am thankful for God, family, business, job & church work. These bring me fulfillment. I used to be a train wreck. That is not who I am anymore. Keep me within your sights. I am about to wow you. I am the one whom the Lord has shown mercy.

Cheers to 2025. May the Lord perfect all that concerns us, and may we enjoy the good of the land in the land of the living. My church theme for 2024 was God, and that is what I used all through the year. And honestly, you needed to give Him a try. Not Christians or churchgoers but God himself. You won’t be disappointed.

Love you, and Happy New Year in advance.