2024: A Year of Faithfulness

a review of my year

As the year of 2024 comes to an end I find myself looking back with so much gratitude. There’s no doubt about it—this has been one of the busiest and most difficult years of my life, and yet it’s also been one of the most wonderful ones. This year has been full of laughter, loss, tears, friendships, dances, grace, adventures, stories, and most importantly, the love and grace of my Father, Jesus Christ.

When I was praying about writing this post early this morning, I was struck by one particular word. That word was faithfulness. That’s what this year has been for me. full of faithfulness.

Not my faithfulness, certainly not; but the faithfulness of God in all things as I stumble my way through this mortal life guided by His hand. I think it’s the “theme” word, shall we say, of this past year for me.

Art & Stories in ‘24

Writing

This year was very fruitful in the writing department. First of all, I published my first novel! Allow me to give a big shout-out to all the wonderful people who supported me to the point of publication. It was an honor to work alongside you and I’m incredibly grateful that you allow me to serve you in this way. Thank you for the glowing reviews and the kind criticism you gave me during the entire process.

I also had the honor of having my first short story published on The Pearl this year, and alongside my friends from Story Warren I joined their reviewing team and was able to provide a review on a fellow indie author’s debut novel.

As 2024 draws to a close I find myself at the halfway point of my next novel. I’m really looking forward to sharing this story with you all—fingers crossed for publication in fall of 2025!

Reading

I only read twenty-six books this year. I know, it’s scandalous. It should have been more. My goal was to read fifty, but, well…sometimes life happens. Here were the top five books I read in 2024:

#5: When the Spirit Comes With Power: Signs and Wonders Among God’s People by John White (8/10)

#4: Adorning the Dark by Andrew Peterson (10/10)

#3: Tress of the Emerald Sea by Brandon Sanderson (10/10)

#2: God’s Smuggler by Brother Andrew (9/10)

#1: The Beatryce Prophecy by Kate DiCamillo (10/10)

Music

I spent 70,000+ minutes listening to music this year, putting me in the top 3% of Spotify users worldwide. My top artist of the year was JVKE, who I discovered this July due to the recommendation of a family member!

Following JVKE, my top five artists in order were Owl City, The Script, Ed Sheeran, and Forrest Frank.

My top three favorite songs this year were easily:

#3: If You Ever Come Back by The Script

#2: Castle On the Hill by Ed Sheeran

#1: this is what winter feels like by JVKE

So yeah! All in all, pretty happy with my music listening this year.

As for actual musical endeavors, I’m pretty satisfied in that department as well. Other than having a wonderful time practicing and performing with the Nighthawks Choir, I recently started taking guitar. For Christmas I was gifted my first steel-string. I’m loving the instrument and am looking forward to having the ability to not only sing but make music with my hands as well.

My cat has been very helpful during this process.

Film

I watched 37 new films this year.

And one guy—director, I should say—stood out the most.

That director was…

Christopher Nolan.

The man’s a genius. All three Christopher Nolan movies I watched this year made it onto my top ten (Interstellar, Dunkirk, and The Prestige). I haven’t seen Inception yet, but I’m making sure to keep that one on the list for 2025 alongside the Dark Knight trilogy.

Here are my top ten films from 2024, the top three accompanied by their trailers. If you haven’t watched those movies, make sure you do; they’re well worth your time.

#10: Little Women (2019) (8/10)

I liked this adaptation a lot more than I thought I would. Though I was under the impression it would be very feministic, I found the trailers misleading. This movie really is a good adaptation of Alcott’s classic novel.

#9: Wonka (9/10)

My family went and saw this a few weeks after it came out in early January of this year. It’s quickly become a family favorite. Chalamet played a perfect Wonka—not too goofy and not to creepy—instead being innocently lighthearted. The music was great, the acting was solid, and the story was best of all.

#8: Holiday Inn (8/10)

This is a fun Christmas classic from 1942 that I watched a few weeks ago. Fred Estaire and Bing Crosby are incredibly talented. Another fun element of this film was the fact that this is where the song “White Christmas” originated. Irving Berlin wrote the famous Christmas song for this movie.

#7: The Boys in the Boat (9/10)

This movie was phenomenal. The cinematography, story, and characters were great. It’s a great fictionalized take on the true story of the boys in the boat at Berlin’s pre-WWII Olympics. This is an inspiring tale.

#6: The Prestige (10/10)

With such a cast, it would be impossible for this movie to fail. Hugh Jackman and Christian Bale play two bitter rival magicians to perfection—and with the classic Nolan twists, I left this movie with my mind blown.

#5: While You Were Sleeping (8/10)

I was cautious about this movie when I heard the title, but in reality it’s a hilarious rom-com about a man who falls into a coma. This was a lot of fun to watch with my friends and brothers.

#4: Ever After (10/10)

This is a historical take on the well-loved Cinderella story. The casting is perfect, the soundtrack great, and the characters wonderful. This has risen to be one of my all-time favorite movies. It really is a classic, and I think it’s far superior to any Cinderella type film out there.

#3: The Return of the King (10/10)

It’s Lord of the Rings. Need I say more?

#2: Interstellar (10/10)

If you like Sci-fi, you need to watch this movie. Long story short, Christopher Nolan really hits hard with this one. The themes of love and time are so good.

#1: Dunkirk (10/10)

This was definitely my favorite film of the year. The cinematography, acting, sets, and story were all amazing. Everyone should watch this movie. If it wasn’t for the miracle at Dunkirk, the world as we know it would be a very different place.

Christopher Nolan tells this story from three different perspectives with very little dialogue—on character on the ground, another in the sky, and the third at sea. You’re kept on the edge of your seat the entire time. Nolan goes as far as to never let you learn the main character’s name, but by the end of the story you are rooting for him and feel like you know him so well. It’s brilliant storytelling.

Randomness

And of course, because I love goofy randomness, I had to share my favorite YouTube channel of this year. A family member sent me a YouTube channel full of three friend’s random videos from the 2000s. It’s so totally random, and yet so funny.

Life

It’s hard to put into words what this year was like. It certainly wasn’t easy. I experienced my first very personal loss with the sudden passing of my Grandfather in May, an event that rocked our entire family to the core.

Although I can easily say this year has involved more crying than any other year of my life has, I can also say that I’ve been happy. Perhaps a deeper and more adequate term would be to say that I’ve been joyful. I’m grateful for reminders of my own fragile mortality, and the hope we have in life after this. Although my Grandfather is not present with us here on this broken earth we have confidence in meeting him face to face in a truer, far more beautiful reality than this one.

This year was full of basketball games, track meets, movies with friends, VBS, camps, high school classes, prom, and best of all, more quality time with family. In September our family went to St. George Island off the coast of Florida in honor of my Grandfather. It was his favorite place to vacation and he and my Grandma used to go every year. It was my first time to see the ocean, and dang, I wish Grandpa could have been there—but somehow wandering those unmarred beaches covered in seaweed and seashells made me feel closer to him than ever before.

After getting home from our vacation we returned back to regular life and I started my first job as a coffee barista in a specialty coffee shop. In a few weeks I’m planning on buying my first car.

Faith

Sometimes loss makes you re-evaluate different elements of your life, but in my case this year I found that my faith was not quite so much challenged as it was strengthened. God truly is the God of all comforts.

Looking back on this year, I think I’ll see 2024 as the beginning of a deeper and more confident faith walk in my life. I think Christ really challenged me this year to know in Whom I have believed; He not only provided different people and circumstances in my life that caused me to really think through my convictions, He also provided me with books that caused me to really delve into where I stand theologically.

After a year full of questioning and studying the little questions of my faith, I’ve come to the conclusion that the gospel is the primary focus, heart, and mission of the Christian life; everything else is secondary. However, I have also come to value the importance of study and decision making when it comes to the secondary issues. I am deeply convicted that, as Christians, we should have an answer for why we do what we do and why we believe what we believe. I would challenge every Christian to take time to study theology.

Jonathan Runyan

from

Liberating Thoughts

once told me that:

“To study theology is like investing in a relationship. If you want to get to know someone better you’ll invest time in them. Studying theology is like that. It’s getting to know God better.”

There is great value in the smaller subjects and the smaller questions. So ask. He answers.

Finally…

2024 has been a wonderful year and I can’t wait to see what 2025 will bring. As always, thank you for your support and encouragement. I couldn’t do it without you.

Make sure to comment on what some of the highlights of your year were. What was the best art you consumed? What happened in your life? How has your faith been impacted? I’d love to hear.

Pilgriming on,

e. g. runyan

~ my quote of the year~

The more a true saint loves God with a gracious love, the more he desires to love Him, and the more uneasy is he at his want of love to Him; the more he hates sin, the more he desires to hate it, and laments that he has so much remaining love to it; the more he mourns for sin, the more he longs to mourn for sin; the more his heart is broke, the more he desires it should be broke: the more he thirsts and longs after God and holiness, the more he longs to long, and breath out his very soul in longing after God.

-Jonathan Edwards