Weekly Magazine | A Year to Remember, A Year to Renew
Your weekly magazine is here—real stories, real faith, real encouragement. Just for you!
Dear Friends,
If we were sitting together over a warm mug of coffee, I think we’d both feel it—that quiet shift that happens as one year ends and another begins. There’s a natural pause that invites us to slow down, breathe a little deeper, and pay attention to the stories God has been writing in our lives this past year.
Reflection doesn’t mean replaying every moment or getting stuck in what we wish had gone differently. It’s simply acknowledging God’s presence in all of it—the joyful moments that made us smile, the hard things that stretched us, the ordinary days that quietly shaped us. And hope? It’s not crossing our fingers for a better year. It’s remembering that the God who walked with us through every high and low is already waiting for us in the days ahead.
This week, we’re looking back with gratitude while also looking forward with faithful confidence. Let’s reflect together, hope together, and step into the new year with renewed trust in the One who holds every moment.
Encouraging you in God’s truth,
A Box Full of Blessings | Cherie Burbach
What started as a creative way to stay connected during long stretches of travel became a yearly practice of gratitude, reflection, and seeing God’s hand in the little and big moments of life and marriage.
The Payoff of Practice | Sandra Byrd
Sandra reminds us that just as music requires practice, so does our walk with God. Building spiritual “muscle memory” prepares us to respond in faith when life plays an unexpected note.
Cultivating a Year of Devotion | Shelly Sulfridge
Shelly shares how choosing “devotion” as her word of the year transformed her faith, relationships, and daily rhythms—and invites us to do the same.
Also:
A Box Full of Blessings
How One Intention Turned into a Treasured Family Tradition.
By Cherie Burbach
For many years, my husband traveled a lot for work, so we’d spend large portions of our week in different parts of the country. It was lonely for both of us, so we looked for ways to stay connected. We’d call and talk after our workdays, but still, they were times when I caught myself thinking about him and I had to try to focus on gratitude instead of the ache of loneliness I too often felt.
We decided to write notes of gratitude that we would put in a box and read at the end of the year. We bought small pads of paper—a different color for each of us—and we when we thought about it, we would write something down we were grateful for about our life, our marriage, and each other. The different colors helped us see how many notes we were each writing. When he would travel, my husband would take the paper with him and then drop the notes in the box when he returned.
