Lessons in Faith: My Biggest Takeaway for the Year Ahead

I was reminded of an important fact last year that will shape my approach to 2026: You can pray about a situation and follow what you feel is God’s direction. You can assume the desired outcome will be achieved yet end up with something entirely different.

That doesn’t make it a mistake or failure.

An outcome doesn’t always feel right or fair in the moment. But life isn’t fair and we shouldn’t expect it to be. You give it your all and sometimes you still don’t win. A loved one lives a healthy life and still gets cancer. Every adversity is an opportunity to learn from the situation and to strengthen yourself.

What if we entertained the notion that there are no mistakes in life; that every situation is simply educating and equipping us for the next chapter? Sometimes those situations provide spoon-fed knowledge that goes down easily. Other lessons are learned in hard ways that leave you feeling battered and bruised. In my experience, the hard lessons stick with you and powerfully mold you.

The older I get, the more I rely on my faith for guidance. I’m a believer in the notion that faith can move mountains but bring your own shovel. That means I pray, I seek counsel from people I trust, and then I get to work. I trust that the appropriate doors will be opened and closed for me at the right time. This approach has served me well in spite of things not always working out the way I’d hoped.

I once thought I would retire from a university as its public relations director. Eighteen months later, I knew that wasn’t the place for me. Thank goodness, because it led me to open a public relations agency that I ran for almost 12 years.

Life is beautiful in that way. Sometimes we don’t realize the lessons we’re learning in the moment until years later. I’ve lost count of the situations in life where it’s dawned on me that some skill or experience from a previous job helps me address a current situation. I find myself thinking, “So that’s the reason I was there in that season of my life!”

My path to becoming a financial advisor is one example. I remember fussing over my resume in 2018 and wondering how I would convince the decision-makers here to give me a chance. I wrote what became my favorite cover letter I’ve ever written for a job opportunity because in outlining my experience and how it correlated to what is expected of a financial advisor, I revealed to myself that my professional journey had perfectly equipped me to take this next step.

I take joy in seeing younger friends and relatives realize that life’s journey, with all its bumps and detours, ultimately leaves them perfectly equipped for success. My nephew got a bachelor’s degree in health sciences. Today he works as a relay technician for a power company. He has said he wished he had skipped the formal degree and completed the relay technician program right out of high school. But who knows whether that degree makes him eligible for a future job promotion? Time will tell, and my prediction is there will come a day when he’s glad he went to college.

So that’s what I’m taking with me into 2026: The notion that this journey is filled with learning and growth opportunities if we seek them out, and that growth doesn’t always have to feel comfortable to be beneficial. If you hand over your situation to God, He can unfold a comeback story bigger than you ever imagined. I hope your 2026 leads you down a path that leaves you better than when you started.

January 2026