One evening, my sister and I went to dinner with some friends. During our chatting and catching up, my sister shared with our friends that she’d gone on a few dates with someone.

Our friends were excited for her and began asking her questions, interested to hear about how she’d met this date, what this person was like, and how things were going.

After several minutes, they turned to me and asked, “Anything new with you?”

​I live in Wisconsin, where during the fall and winter, the sun sets early and rises late. The winter solstice in December marks the longest night of the year—15 hours of darkness.

The New Year brings with it lengthening light, but it’s almost imperceptible. Yet little by little, the days get longer, until the summer solstice in June, when there’s over 15 hours of light.

​Between our longest night of the year and our longest day of the year, there’s an over 6 hour difference in the hours of daylight.

I’ve shared before how in my 20s, I struggled with deep discontentment in my singleness. I did not want to be single, and I didn’t see how I could have a good, joyful, and purposeful life until my dreams for marriage came true. Or at least an as good, as joyful, as purposeful life.

Except, there was one way I knew this was possible: through Jesus.

So while my 20s was a time of struggling with discontentment in my singleness, my 20s was also a time of cultivating contentment in my singleness, and more so, of finding my joy in Jesus.

It’s hard for me right now to see the highlights in a year that was so low.

I wrote these words in January of 2024, as I looked back on the previous year. Now, at the beginning of 2025, I’m in much the same place.

This past year has been another hard one, and it’s hard to see the highlights.

I’m not ready to share about the specific hard stuff of this last year, but I don’t think I need to for you to relate.