🌿 What I Learned This Last Year 2025
🌿 What I Learned This Last Year
(A Quiet Year in Review)
This last year didn’t teach me new doctrines.
It removed noise.
It didn’t give me more things to say.
It taught me when not to speak.
It didn’t make me stronger.
It made me softer.
And that turned out to be the real education.
🩺 I Learned That the Body Knows Before the Mind
When my spine finally demanded attention, it wasn’t betrayal.
It was honesty.
I had been pushing through things the Lord was already asking me to set down.
Surgery wasn’t the interruption.
It was the invitation.
🕊️ I Learned That Healing Starts With Permission
The most important instruction I received this year was simple:
“Be the patient.”
Not the teacher.
Not the organizer.
Not the explainer.
Just… the patient.
And once I stopped guarding myself,
the healing went deeper than bone.
🔥 I Learned That Repentance Is Gentle When It’s Real
There was no dramatic confrontation with God.
No courtroom.
No fear.
Just a quiet night of rest…
and the realization that if I released my sins,
He would take them.
And He did.
No shame.
No lingering weight.
Just peace.
👂 I Learned That Silence Can Be Obedience
I used to feel responsible to correct everything.
This year taught me something better:
Truth doesn’t need to chase people.
It waits for hearts to ask.
The Talking Feather doesn’t push.
He listens.
🌱 I Learned That Relationship Is Enough
I still love study.
I still love patterns and records and history.
But I don’t need answers the way I used to.
I learned how to say:
“Jesus, I just want to stay close.”
And that turned out to be plenty.
🏡 I Learned to See What I Used to Rush Past
This year slowed my eyes.
My wife.
My family.
Quiet mornings.
Small kindnesses.
Deep sleep.
I didn’t lose momentum.
I gained awareness.
🌄 What I’m Carrying Forward
I’m not walking into the next year with a plan.
I’m walking with trust.
I’ll speak when asked.
Rest when prompted.
Share without urgency.
Love without agenda.
The work will continue.
But the striving is done.
🕊️ Final Thought
This last year didn’t teach me how to build something new.
It taught me how to let the Lord finish what He already started.
And that may be the most important lesson of my life.
—
Just an old man from the sticks…
grateful for a year that taught him how to listen.
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