2025 Remembered

If you are reading this post the day I publish it, happy New Year's Eve! I don't know about you, but it genuinely feels like the year flew by. A lot of things happened in 2025, and I wanted to try and capture some small snapshots from the past year. This has become sort of an annual tradition, where I help myself remember what happened this past year, and celebrate with you how the Lord has been at work. Without further ado, here is 2025 Wrapped (don't sue me, Spotify):

January

• "Bittersweet" was the word I often used surrounding the closure of New City. I was part of the asset distribution committee, who helped make sure all of New City's tech equipment and supplies were properly gifted to other church plants or church members that could make use of them. It was a strange feeling completely emptying out the office I worked in for almost three years, but I am so grateful for the ministry that happened here and the congregation that I became family with.

February

• The Super Bowl: the one "sportsball" event of the year that I watch primarily for the commercials. I went to two parties this year, one with my church's youth group where I serve as a group leader, and one with friends from my Northside days. I'm grateful that even after moving from Northside to New City three years ago, I still stay in touch with the friends and "church family" that I made while there. 

March

• I had a couple of trips across the state this month to lead worship at two church plants that are part of the Florida Church Planting Network. The first visit was to New Creation Church, just outside of Sarasota. This church plant was at the time still in the early stages of meeting, and I believe that they recently launched public worship services. The second was at a church plant that my home church supports, Kissimmee Fellowship. They are a bilingual English-Spanish plant that meets in an elementary school, and they are doing well and steadily growing (more on them later in the year). I was grateful to help lead worship at these sister churches, and to see how the Lord is moving in the state of Florida. 
• 31 trips around the sun. I turned 31 this month, and my parents and I celebrated by taking a birthday trip to the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge. This refuge occupies 140,000 acres of land in and around NASA's Kennedy Space Center, and has some trails you can walk or drive through to observe the wildlife. We saw lots of Florida birds and alligators as we drove through. 

Afterwards, we went to dinner at Hemingway's Tavern, a local restaurant inspired by the famous writer with a Key West- and Tropics-inspired menu—Cuban sandwiches, guava BBQ burgers, and cocktails. It's been in Melbourne for many years, but I've never been, so it was great to go and celebrate my birthday. 

• Disney World in March is an excellent time, mostly because of the moderate Florida weather and lower crowds (besides spring break). This was our first trip together to Hollywood Studios (I experienced it last year), so I was a bit of a tour guide for this trip. We all saw Fantasmic!, the evening fireworks spectacular, for the first time, and it didn't disappoint. 

April

• Easter season is one of the major celebrations of the Christian year, and serving on the worship team at my home church was something special. We had two services on Palm Sunday and Easter Sunday, which was something I hadn’t done since my college days. It was exhausting but fun at the same time, and I never want to take for granted what a privilege it is to serve the church in this interim season. 
• Wait, that isn't EPCOT! I was invited along with two families from my small group to spend a day at Universal Studios and Islands of Adventure to see The Wizarding World of Harry Potter. The last time I was ever at Universal was for Rock the Universe in 2012, so a lot has changed since then. While I'm not a roller coaster or thrill ride kind of guy (motion sickness will do that to ya), I definitely enjoyed the theming and immersion while there, and plan to go back very soon. 

May

• This month, I had the opportunity to plan and lead worship at my home church while my worship director took a month-long sabbatical. It was my first time back in a role like this since New City, and I was incredibly blessed to be "back in the saddle" in this way. Moreover, I truly felt that the Lord confirmed my calling this month, reminding me this is where He has gifted me, where He wants me, and where He is preparing me to lead in whatever position He calls me to next. 
• One of the things that has been on my Disney bucket list was to build a lightsaber. I was so excited to hear about this when Galaxy's Edge was announced back in 2015, and when we were thinking about getting annual passes, this was on the top of my list. While I didn't go on Star Wars Day ("May the 4th be with you" and all that), we still went this month, and I got to build my very own lightsaber. The entire experience was incredibly immersive; building your lightsaber was treated like a spiritual experience, where you "connect with the Force" to guide you through the building process. I can't speak highly enough of the Gatherers (cast members) that facilitated this experience–they truly are the magic. 

June

• June started with catching up with a sweet church family I knew from Northside. They moved to Dothan, Alabama, a few months before I started at New City, and they are now back at Northside. We were able to grab dinner and catch up on what's been going on, our future plans, and where the Lord has been working in our lives. I can't say enough how grateful I am for friends like that, where even after months of no contact, you can pick up right where you left off. 
• Something new also started this month. My mom has been taking Biblical counseling classes through the Christian Counseling & Educational Foundation (CCEF) and has been encouraging me to try taking one as a means of professional development. While I still feel my primary call is towards worship ministry, I realize that all ministry in the church includes shepherding people in some way, shape, or form, so I knew that I could benefit from adding these kinds of tools to my tool belt. I started my first class this month, Helping Relationships, which helped me grow in interpersonal ministry skills that practically apply Scripture thoughtfully to people's stories, as well as learning how to encourage others in their own spiritual growth. 
• June also brought some hard things. My mom started experiencing chest pain when she got to work one morning, and it didn't go away. She ended up taking an ambulance ride to the hospital, and was quickly diagnosed with a heart attack. Long story short, two stents were put in, and she stayed for about three days. We are all immensely grateful for all the EMTs, nurses, and doctors that worked as quickly as they did.  As I write this in mid-December, it has been so encouraging to see her recovery journey, and the strength that she has shown through it all is nothing short of inspiring.

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July

• July was a slower month, but there were still some great opportunities to use the gifts God has given me to lead His church. Through a professional connection, I was able to help lead worship at a PCA church in Orlando, University Presbyterian Church. They are near UCF, and I was asked to fill in for their worship leader who had a family trip come up. It has been a surprise blessing to serve in various churches this year and observe firsthand how even with our differences in expressing worship, every congregation is part of "one holy Church" that offers praise to God every Sunday morning across the city, state, country, and world. 
• Something that started this month and has quickly become a blessing to me was a worship leader video call. Dubbed "Coffee Chat", this virtual round table is open to any worship leader (vocational or volunteer) to participate in and share an hour-long low-key conversation with other church worship ministry leaders. I have already been part of one with my church's worship director and two other worship leaders (Hi, Lydia, Mia, and Paxson!), but this group and the interactions within them have become a monthly highlight for me. 

August

• Remember when I mentioned Kissimmee Fellowship back in March? Well, starting this month, I had the privilege of leading worship in an interim role there. I would drive from Palm Bay to Kissimmee every Sunday (about one and a half hours) and lead services on Sundays in English and in Spanish, which I haven't done since a high school missions trip to Ecuador! Unfortunately, their church planter and I knew that I couldn't sustain this as a long-term worship leading gig, which will bleed into a hiatus in September.
• The fam and I took a quick afternoon trip to Animal Kingdom. Disney World is somewhat famous for its magnets that Annual Passholders can collect (and store on their refrigerators!), so that was the main focus of our trip, along with snapping some photos of the Tree of Life. 

September

• Earlier this month, Kissimmee Fellowship's church planter and I began training up a worship team member at KF to take over worship leading duties. I helped produce some tutorial materials to train her on things like planning songs and scheduling team members, and she was a quick study! We alternated leading and planning weeks through September and October, and she took over fully in late October. I was grateful to help KF through this season, and for the opportunity to lead there for a short time. 
• I started my second Biblical counseling class through CCEF this month, Dynamics of Biblical Change. This course focused on how God’s grace works in believers’ hearts and lives and informs how we face life’s struggles, sin, and suffering, and how we are transformed through them. Much of this course was learning some of the "tools" of Biblical counseling through analyzing case studies, but also turning the mirror on myself through self-assessments. I really appreciated this course and what it taught me.
• Later in September, my mom and I took a trip to EPCOT to catch some of the Food and Wine Festival (did you really go to EPCOT if you didn't enjoy some festival food?) and we got to see Ben Rector and his band play, which was so fun! Ben is one of my favorite songwriters, and he is an incredibly genuine, humble, and joyful human being. I definitely will try to catch him the next time he's on tour. 

I was a bit too in the moment to record some video, but thankfully The Concrete Wanderer captured the full concert in 4K for your viewing pleasure:

October

• Fun story about my time at Northside: in late 2019, Matthew Smith of Indelible Grace called and asked about hosting a concert at Northside in 2020. We said we definitely would, but I assume you can guess what happened in 2020 😷 Anyway, fast forward to 2025 and the concert finally happened, which felt like a sort of full circle moment. Matthew is such a gifted songwriter, and he had an incredibly talented Nashville band backing him up! Maybe writing songs and touring the country is something I could do if worship leading doesn't work out! 😆
• Back in August 2023, I started working on building an electric guitar with my dad. As I saved up, I slowly bought things like a body, neck, pickups, and all the other parts it takes to build a guitar. Since New City consumed most of my free time in 2024, the project became dormant. I recently convinced my dad to help me finish the guitar, quite literally! Enjoy a collage of this project from bare wood to finished product. The last time I built a guitar was about ten years ago, and there is something incredibly satisfying about seeing a project like this from start to finish.

November

• In mid-November, my home church hosted a presbytery meeting, the body of other PCA churches in the greater Central Florida area. I have attended their meetings semi-regularly for the past few years, so it was very cool that we were able to help lead worship and host in our worship space.
• One of my small group leaders has never read or seen the Harry Potter books and movies, so a social activity that our group has been doing is hosting movie nights for each film as he and his wife finish reading each book. We've been doing that since last May (those books are long!), and I offered to host a watch party for Deathly Hallows, Part 1. I have read the books as they were released, and I've seen the movies more times, so it has been a treat to rewatch them with someone who is viewing them for the first time as well as some fellow "Potterheads". 

December

• Mom and I made a quick trip to WDW to see the Christmas decorations at Animal Kingdom and Magic Kingdom. It is so cool to see how detailed the decorations are from park to park and land to land. 

• "Christmastime is here..." and so are the extra rehearsals and Christmas parties. December absolutely flew by, but I also was able to find time to spend with family and friends in meaningful ways. It also brought its own challenges, with a reminder that it has now been a full year since I began my job search. Even as I continue to process and prepare myself for wherever the Lord is leading me next, I have seen Him at work in small ways: providing a new home in my church family and assuring me of my calling through interim times of worship leading. I have often been reminded of the first question and answer in the Heidelberg Catechism: What is your only comfort in life and death? 

That I am not my own, but belong with body and soul, both in life and in death, to my faithful Saviour Jesus Christ. He has fully paid for all my sins with his precious blood, and has set me free from all the power of the devil. He also preserves me in such a way that without the will of my heavenly Father not a hair can fall from my head; indeed, all things must work together for my salvation. Therefore, by his Holy Spirit he also assures me of eternal life and makes me heartily willing and ready from now on to live for him.

One More Thing...

I said this in a previous post, but I apologize for the lack of regular writing here. I've begun to think about a goal of weekly writing in the new year. I have enjoyed this form of creative writing where I share about what I've been up to, so the next time you see me (online or IRL), feel free to hold me accountable and ask "how's the blog been going?". 

Talk soon, Lord willing!