2025 brought us many trials—and many moments where God showed up fiercely.
We entered 2025 a bit bruised from the year before, but deeply hopeful for what lay ahead. As the year began, we prayed boldly for complete healing for our youngest daughter. The year prior had already led us into a clinical trial we never saw in our game plan—one we never expected, yet became profoundly grateful for when it became a necessity.
Meanwhile, our third-born decided to spice things up by breaking her nose during softball practice, requiring two surgeries. I remember thinking, Really, God? I don’t think adding more to our plate is part of the plan.
And then came 2025.
Twenty-two infusions.
Four MRIs for our youngest.
But God.
A 70% tumor shrinkage.
She played softball, volleyball, and basketball. She hits a golf ball farther than I ever could. She’s earning great grades, making honor roll, and (mostly) still loves being at school. And just like that, she’s officially a teenager.
God was showing us His faithfulness—even as He was preparing us for another season of trust.
Our firstborn tore her ACL in July and had surgery in August. She still has a long road of recovery ahead. In the ACL world, you can’t really be “ahead” of the healing process—ligaments and cells take time to intertwine, and muscles take time to rebuild. But her doctor said that if it were possible to be ahead, she would be. That was a gift for all of us to hear.
While we were trusting God with one healing journey, He allowed another to begin almost immediately.
Almost a month after our oldest tore her ACL, her identical twin went down during a high school soccer game. My first words were, Are you freaking kidding me? God, are You serious right now?
She tore her CFL ligament in her ankle, sprained three tendons, and severely bruised her foot. No surgery—just a boot for a month and physical therapy for two. On paper, it was the least of our injuries.
But that moment broke me.
I cried in front of the trainer, all the way to the hospital, and throughout the week that followed.
The next day, a close friend came to me and expressed how sorry she was. She knew I was hurting. I remember saying, This is dumb. I don’t know why this is hitting me so hard. She’ll be fine soon. This is the least of my worries.
She gently replied, Because it’s the compounding of it all. It’s the question we’re all thinking—how much can one family take?
And that was exactly it.
The trials haven’t stopped. They keep coming. I’ve prayed for mercy, compassion, protection, favor, and healing—and at times, it feels like we just keep getting hit.
Yet 2025 also brought moments that reminded me God is working in the unseen. That miracles don’t always arrive the way we expect—but they are still unfolding.
In my heart, I know these trials are building us. Strengthening our faith. And honestly, they may be a backwards way of answering my prayer:
“Lord, make my faith dangerous to the enemy. Heal my daughter in a way that glorifies You—on earth as it is in heaven.”
My faith would not be this strong had I not endured battles I never could have won without the Lord by my side.
These two scriptures capture that truth perfectly:
Romans 5:3–4 (NIV)
Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope.
1 Peter 5:10 (NIV)
And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast.
Faith, Strength, Perseverance, are built in places of hardship. We can let it break us, or we can use it to build us. I pray with God’s strength, I use it to continue to build us.