Happy New Year, friend! I hope you had a wonderful Christmas season. As the tinsel and baubles are packed away and we teeter on the cusp of another year, I’m here again to share my “one word” for 2025… and fair warning: it’s somewhat lacking in originality and inspiration, but it is what it is. My word for this year is “NEW”.

Trust me, I tried manipulating it into something a little more exciting, complex, or intriguing—but NEW it is, plain and simple. For those of you who have been around for a while, you’ll know that this notion of newness has its roots in our house move.

After 23 years in one home where we raised our 3 kids and made a mountain of memories, we “accidentally” found the perfect place for our empty nest lives! By the end of this month, the purchasers take possession of the old place and we can fully settle in our new home. With this next step comes a whole host of new:

New neighbours to get to know, new dog walkies for Lulu, new grocery shops to master, new rooms to make our own, new (smaller-yay!) yard to enjoy, new beaches to frequent, new local wineries to explore. I’m currently sitting at my new desk looking out at my beautiful new view… you get the gist.

I’ll be honest, “new” freaks me out a little. I rather like the comfortable and cozy and content. Yet as I looked back at my journal from the beginning of last year, I admitted that in my comfortable, cozy, contentment I was feeling dangerously close to complacency. That realization was top of mind for months, so when the opportunity of a new chapter in a new home presented itself, I (along with my husband and our Frenchie) jumped in with both feet.

So now here we are, gently limping into 2025 after what feels like the longest house moving experience ever (give me a quick Band-Aid rip over the s-l-o-w and painful peel any day!) and I’m readying myself for all the newness this year will bring, such as:

• New experiences—like getting my boating license (watch out, world!)
• Visiting somewhere new in Canada as we celebrate our immigration here 30 years ago.
• A new novel being published in June with another being written by July.
• 3 new book covers coming on republished novels.
• The joy of reading new books, cooking from new recipes, meeting new people, and learning new aspects of my writing craft and coaching.

With newness comes stretching and growing…  oh, that I would always have a teachable heart, curious mind, and grateful spirit!

“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.” 2 Corinthians 5:17

This is a familiar Bible verse when thinking of newness, but I particularly like it in The Amplified Version: … “Behold, new things have come [because spiritual awakening brings a new life].”

A spiritual awakening bringing new life… yes, please! You see, I realize some new things will be hard or sad or painful this year. Such are the rhythms of life. But as I walk with Christ as a new creation, and in His strength, as I replace complacency with courage to embrace the new and all it entails—I know I will live my life to its fullest measure! May it be for His glory.

What new thing are you embracing in 2025, friend?

If you have a “word” for this year, I’d love you to drop it in the comments below! ⬇️

For now, I’ll leave you with this beautiful benediction from Charles Spurgeon:

“I wish, my brothers and sisters, that during this year you may live nearer to Christ than you have ever done before.

Depend upon it, it is when we think much of Christ that we think little of ourselves, little of our troubles, and little of the doubts and fears that surround us.”

Every blessing for 2025!

P.S. ❄️ My 2 award-winning Christian romantic suspense novellas have been republished by Mountain Brook Ink with gorgeous new covers… if you enjoy winter wonderland Hallmark vibes along with a dose of page-turning suspense in a story of hope, you might want to take a peek at The Christmas Cabin and Snow Globe Secrets. 🙂

Linking up with some fabulous encouragers… check them out:

LET’S HAVE COFFEE;  TELL HIS STORY;  INSTAENCOURAGEMENTS: