Wednesday, December 31, 2014

End Of The Line

It's the last day in the year. Wave goodbye to 2014, and welcome 2015. I thought I would take this time to reflect on the year, and share what I've learned and how I've grown.

January:
January is always a cool month. I did Bible Quizzing, and quizzed out for the first and last time ever. We came really far that year and I was really encouraged by it all. Better still, I got to memorize a good portion of Romans, which became my favorite book of the Bible after that. Plus, my mom and I have birthdays.

February:
I got to push a car out of a snowbank on Valentine's day. You know, the usual, romantic stuff that you'd normally do that day. And my brother Garrison has his birthday in this month too.

March:
I attended WinterJam in Pittsburgh PA. It was a spur-of-the-moment thing from what I remember, but 4.5 hours later we were hanging around listening to bands. The best part of this trip by far is when Mike from Tenth Avenue North was singing "You Are More", he was going around, grabbing the hands of the people who had them outstretched to the stage. I walked over there too, and reached my hand up, not really expecting anything. But as he walked by me, he grabbed my hand, looked me in the eyes, and sung "You've been remade!" That alone might have been the coolest part of my year, because it made me realize that I had in fact, been remade.

April:
Saw God's Not Dead, and attended Flower City Work Camp, so it was a great month for me spiritually. Both of these events were extremely impactful on my faith.

May:
Was the Groomsman in a wedding, and graduated High School... on the same day.

June:
Earned my drivers license, went to prom with a date, and went to URIMON. (Church's annual youth retreat.) This was probably my happiest month of the year. So much happened to me in those 30 days.

July:
Well I bought my WiiU, but that's not significant for anyone but me.... Although my Dad's birthday is always pretty fun.

August:
Kingdom Bound. Always awesome. Except this year I got to lead all 3 days of morning Bible Study. That was awesome for me, and hopefully for a lot of other people.

September:
Started MCC. Horray.... But I also started this blog up. And started an internship at my church. To top this, I attended Uprise Fest, In PA. Another 4.5 hours later, we were listening to Uncle Si from Duck Dynasty, Kickin it with Family Force 5, Rocking out to TFK, Shreddin' it with Red, Bumpin' it with Lecrae, and Killin' it with Skillet. Best lineup ever.

October:
Went to my first-ever Midnight release with my buddy Matthew to grab Super Smash Bros. for 3DS. Then there was also Halloween, but I skipped out on Trick or Treating to instead have an outreach, which had an amazing turnout.

November:
Video Games Live. Not describable by any means. But I did tear-up once or twice during the show. My brother Will also had a birthday.

December:
Finished my first semester of College. But more importantly, I gave my first ever sermon in front of my entire church. I was incredibly blessed by the number of my friends who came out to see me. You can watch my sermon here.


So there you have it. My year summarized in a couple paragraphs. Notice how I went out of my way to find things that I did each month. I wanted to make the point that every day is a blessing. Our lives are a lot more exciting than we think they are sometimes. If you think your life is boring or dull, start by thinking about your blessings, because the reality is your life should never be boring. What keeps you going every morning? So no matter if this year was good or bad for you, we start next year with a clean slate. If it was good, awesome. Make next year count even more. If it was bad, then know that it doesn't have to be the same way next year. Look for those small blessings in life, and hold onto them.

This year was amazing. But hopefully 2015 will be even better.

"Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!"
2 Corinthians 5:17

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