Here we are at the end of another year. I think for all of us the last day of the year leads us to reflect back on what has transpired throughout the past year. Usually we are looking back with a “good riddance” attitude that we can’t wait for a new year to start. As I was pondering this past year this morning, one overall theme kept returning to my thoughts. The theme was the incredible, amazing faithfulness of God.

Don’t get me wrong, this year has been tough, honestly, probably one of the toughest years I have experienced. Never in memory can I remember more times that I just felt like I could not go on or take a step forward than I did this past year. I can’t tell you the number of times I called a close friend or family member crying, “I just can’t live like this any more!” I know, not very encouraging is it. Have you felt that way? I’m sure you have. We all have times where we long for an end to hurt and pain and suffering.

Yet, in the midst of the difficulties, in the midst of struggles, in the midst of more tears than I would have imagined possible, God was there! This past year I saw the hand of God in ways I never thought I would! I mean truly incredible amazing things. For those of you who know me personally and/or attend my church, you have had a front row seat of watching what only God could do. I don’t even know that I can put into words what God has done, but I really felt like I must try.

As most of us as Christian parents do, we pray that our kids will follow the Lord. We raise them in church, we teach them about God and we hope that one day they will have their own relationship with God. This is much easier when they are young. This had been the case in my family. But as happens with many kids, as they got older one by one my kids walked away from the Lord. They stopped coming to church, the wanted nothing to do with God. They went their own way, living their lives the way they thought was best. This happens far too often these day. It is probably one of the hardest things to watch as a parent. So what do we do? We might beg and plead with them, we may try to have just the right thing to say that will finally help them to see the truth. There are many things we might do, and believe me I am sure I tried them all, but the best thing we can do is pray! God is the only one who can change the human heart. Only He can transform and save. Only he knows exactly what is needed to bring our kids back to himself.

So I prayed. When our pastor started a Wednesday morning prayer group on zoom with the specific intention of praying for kids who are far from God, I joined. We listed kids by name and called out the names before God each week. the list grew, and grew and grew. I don’t know how many names we are up to at this point but I can tell you the list is long. And for a long time, it didn’t really seem like much was happening. Of course we know this isn’t true, God is always at work, whether we see it or not. Then back in May of 2023, as I was reading my Bible, I was reading in 2 Chronicles 20, the story of King Jehoshaphat. A few verse really stuck out to me,

¹⁵ He said: “Listen, King Jehoshaphat and all who live in Judah and Jerusalem! This is what the Lord says to you: ‘Do not be afraid or discouraged because of this vast army. For the battle is not yours, but God’s.”

 17 “You will not have to fight this battle. Take up your positions; stand firm and see the deliverance the Lord will give you, “

As I read those verses I felt God say, this isn’t your battle its mine. I am the one who will bring your kids back. Your job is to trust me! Place them in my hands and watch what I will do. So that’s what I did, I wrote the date in my Bible next to the verses, May 7, 2023. I kept my Bible open to that passage. Every time I read my bible, I would leave it open to that passage. Many times I would feel stressed, worried, like I wasn’t doing enough, I would go back to those verse and remind myself. The battle is yours Lord! I would write the date each time and say Lord you will do it. Lord I will trust you. Whether that was what I was feeling or not, I would say it and write it.

For a long time, still nothing seemed to change but as 2023 came to end I began to see that God was moving. It was just glimpses but I saw them. I thanked God and kept praying. As 2024 started, I said Lord, this is the year we are going to take some names off this list! I prayed for God to remove 5 names from the list by the end of the year. Then February came and something amazing started to happen. My oldest son started saying he was “bored” didn’t know what to do during the week when he wasn’t at work. I jokingly said, there is always stuff to do at the church. You can come and I will give you projects to do. I said it jokingly never thinking anything would happen, yet he said ok I will. I thought yeah sure, none of my kids had much desire to set foot back. in our church let alone actually spend time there doing stuff, but Monday rolled around and he came. He worked hard on projects for me in our kids wing, I wrote the date in my bible next to those verses and said small beginnings I am seeing, 2/4/2024, By the end of the month it was one miracle after the other. He started attending Saturday night service, even changed his work schedule to be able to attend service. He started helping me on Sundays in the kids ministry, he was reading his Bible, praying. I can’t even begin to explain the change. Words can’t even express it.

This was just the beginning. By summer, my youngest son began coming back to church after seeing the change in his brother and talking to him. He started reading his Bible, I mean reading, He couldn’t get enough of reading his Bible, sometimes reading whole books in a day. I think he read the entire New Testament in a couple of weeks. By September, I had written next to that same passage Lord he is yours! 9/4/24.

This past Christmas Eve as I stood on the stage to conduct our kids choir, My oldest son was standing with the kids helping me. Singing along with them, My youngest son came and sat with me at the next service and I was in amazement of what God had done. What a year it has been. Whenever I have been discouraged, which has been a lot this year, when I have doubted, when I have felt like I couldn’t go on, I had only to look at what God was doing. My oldest son would remind me, mom at the beginning of this year your were praying for 3 kids to return to God, now its down to one! You can’t argue with that! The battle is fierce, the road is hard and long, but our God is faithful! He has fought this battle for me and done what only he could do! There is nothing that I did to make this happen, no words I said that were the magic formula, all of this from the beginning to end is God. He has done it!

So as I look back on this year all I can say is look at the incredible, amazing, faithfulness of God. He has done great things and I can only look forward in hope and expectation for what He is going to do in 2025!