Remembering to remember

It's the last day of the year already. I honestly felt it was a blur. I came in 2024 somehow busy and already preoccupied with a big role that I will be undertaking. I was chill about 2024, yet also caught surprised with things God can do!

I typed "2024" in the search box and Google Photos showed me the smiles, the scenes, the people, the conversations, events, and milestones for the past 12 months. As usual, I was in-between flights which I recall made me perpetually tired. I had different sets of farewell meetups as friends left the country in search of greener pastures. Some did homecoming, while some meetups were me flying in. In all these interactions, I praise God for He is a God who is very much familiar with relationships. In hindsight, it's relationships that greatly influenced my decisions this year, as I hinge all my decisions on the most important relationship I have -- God. 

As I continue to journey with God, I find myself changing as well. All that in response to the qualities that I get to discover about Him. Here are God's qualities that I had the privilege to learn and continue to be reminded of this 2024. 

1. God's heart as a father; After the pandemic, God showed me that His heart for me is not to stay as I am. Counselling played a big part in seeing that happen, and He is not so concerned with what I can do for him than how I am with him. He is not just a boss, a supervisor, a disciplinarian, but above all is a God whose heart is committed to how intimate I get with Him.  
2. God's sovereignty; Hand-in-hand with God's commitment as a father is His sovereignty. I have a tendency to get anxious over things I don't understand or can't control. As I surrender to God's leading, I remember that He holds times and seasons, so there is no coincidence in His rule. 
3. God's timing; It was amusing that after the varied experiences of seeing God orchestrate events in my life, every plan that gets derailed or cancelled is an anticipation of His finalized schedule. 
4. God as a God of restoration and friendships; One of the major projects I led this year was really helpful in honing my leadership experiences. The principle in my life that God taught me was that we were brothers and sisters first, then co-workers. This also meant commitment to them in communication and understanding. It's interesting to note too that more than cross-cultural strategies is following biblical culture above all.    
5. God is personal; I came in 2024 carrying some learnings of the previous year as God started to work on me regarding His presence in my life. He was committed to remind me that I am on a spiritual journey with Him as I trust that everyone I am hoping to reach also is in one themselves. This reality helps me remember that God is dealing with me, and that it's important that I am communing with Him, not just trying to follow rules imposed by work or ministry. After all, it all goes back to God and me.
6. God is faithful; Thinking of January to now, God didn't leave us hanging. He carried me through uncertainties, answered troubled thoughts, and consoles disturbed emotions. A counselor told me that the best conversation to have with God is that of honesty, no matter how bloody, how raw, how seemingly painful it is. I had my share of these conversations with God, and I should say that in these conversations that felt the most vulnerable are the ones that led to deeper intimacies with the Lord.      
7. God as a giver of every good and perfect gift; In this season of my life, I found myself intentionally praying for desires that surfaced in the past years. These are rarely found on objects anymore. They come in the form of situations, changes on realities that seemed to be hopeless, relationships, and outcomes. People left, some arrived, some connections happened though some also stopped. It's just amazing how this year, God taught me that He is still the best gift giver and that His heart is always good.   

God is a God of times and seasons, and my prayer is that I will always be in awe of His goodness, glory, and grandeur. After all, God will not compromise His glory to another, and it's my prayer that I will never run out of wonder in who He is. 

Let's run towards 2025 with hope on a God who is already there.

"The saying is trustworthy, for:

If we have died with him, we will also live with him;

if we endure, we will also reign with him;

if we deny him, he also will deny us;

if we are faithless, he remains faithful—

for he cannot deny himself."

2 Timothy 2:10-13

Some photos of the year that was...