Standing in December — A Year That Redefined Family, Faith, and Strength

 

2025 has been a year that did not simply unfold, it tested faith, resilience, and emotional endurance in ways many of us never imagined. We have mourned loved ones, watched people lose jobs and stability, and carried silent battles behind composed faces. Reaching December feels extraordinary. By the mercies of God, we are still standing and I hold that reality with reverence.

For the longest time, I could never understand how someone could reach a point where they chose to cut off family. It sounded harsh, almost impossible to justify. I believed family was sacred, unquestionable, permanent. But this year revealed that sometimes such choices are not born from bitterness, they are born from wounds that sit too close to the soul.

There is a deep ache that comes when the rumors you hear, the distortions of your character, the stories spun far away from the truth, are carried not by strangers, but by people you share blood with. You stand there in disbelief, realizing that someone can intentionally create narratives so distant from reality, simply for convenience or personal gain.

You always knew, in theory, that people would choose themselves first. But experiencing it, feeling that revelation in your bones, shocks you to the core. You lose respect for people you once held in high regard. The silence of those who know the truth, yet choose not to speak, becomes as loud as the voices spreading the lies.

It becomes a philosophical awakening.

You learn that proximity does not equal loyalty. Shared blood does not guarantee shared goodwill. Some bonds exist only as long as they benefit someone and once the benefits stop, the affection dissolves with them.

And then, layered over this emotional reality, comes another quiet heartbreak, watching a parent fall ill. The person who once felt invincible suddenly becomes fragile. Your hero becomes human. Nothing prepares you for that moment. It changes how you see time, strength, vulnerability and yourself.

Yet, in the midst of all of this something unexpected happens.

You discover your real tribe.

The people who do not stand with you because they gain from you but because they see you, understand you, choose you. The ones who hold your truth gently, who defend your character in rooms you will never enter, who stay not out of obligation, but out of love.

And you realize, slowly and deeply, that family is not defined by blood.

Family is found in loyalty, in kindness, in presence, in the people who remain when the noise fades. The ones who sit with your silence, celebrate your resilience, and remind you that you are not alone.

Through betrayal, grief, awakening, and vulnerability, I have also witnessed grace, quiet, steady, unexplainable grace. The kind that holds you when strength runs thin. The kind that allows you to stand in December not only as someone who endured, but as someone transformed.

2025 stripped illusions. Its reshaped trust. It deepened faith. It reminded me that every season reveals truth, about others, about life, and about the self.

But by the mercies of God, we are still here.

It is testimony

Still standing. Still discerning. Still hopeful. Still in awe of His grace.

As we step into 2026, I wish everyone healing, clarity, and gentler days. May we walk toward more wins, truer connections, honest love and deeper gratitude.

And above all, I REMAIN IN AWE OF GOD’S MERCIES.