So if I’m honest, 2025 didn’t tip its hat and politely say goodbye. It kind of leaned in and said, “Let me tell you what you learned.” For starters, I survived retirement. And I don’t mean that lightly. Leaving a job of nearly thirty years felt like stepping into thin air with a pen in one hand and faith in the other. I’d written for years, but now I could do it full-time. And joy showed up there. Real joy.
Writing more books, saying yes to street ministry, living the calling instead of circling it. Thirty-five books now carry my name. And more coming. When I look back at the early ones, I still love them, but I can see the growth. The skill was sharpened. The voice steadied. There’s a funny thing about obedience: it makes you fall in love with your latest work because you’re closer to who you were meant to be.
Then there was that one Burger King gift card. (I’d passed out hundreds this past year on the street to the homeless.) But that one lived in my console for weeks, like it was waiting for an appointment I didn’t know how to schedule.
