2023 is almost over.  It has been a tough and rewarding year for me.

How would you describe your 2023?

In March of 2022 I started writing my book about watching God put the broken pieces of my life back together after my son, David Glasser, who was a Phoenix Police Officer, was killed in the line of duty. Losing a child is the most difficult thing a parent can experience.  Writing it all down was an extremely hard and yet cleansing experience.   I have been blogging about Davey’s death for over 7 years…but writing the whole experience was much different. This is the story God had been writing in my life since the awful day in 2016 when Davey was killed – “Then I Looked Up: Losing a Child, Finding His Legacy of Love”

I published my book on Amazon in February of 2023. This has been a year of great conversations with people who have read my book and wanted to tell me how my story helped them process grief and loss in their own lives. It also has been a year of constant interactions about other people’s tragedies. I’m glad God waited 6 years to tell me to write the book because I would not have been ready before for all of the stories of pain and grief I heard this year. I am reminded each time of how many people around me have experienced deep tragedy in their lives. I am so grateful to God for his comfort, wisdom and strength for my tough journey of surviving the death of my child.

My husband experienced a life-threatening heart issue at the end of June 2022 and he has had continuing health problems since then. He had another life-threatening issue in October of 2023 and so the doctor’s visits and procedures still fill his calendar.  I am thankful that the issue in June 2022 did not end his time on earth. I am thankful that the issue in October 2023 also didn’t end his time on earth. It’s evident that the day God has determined would be his last day here has not come yet and I’m grateful.  Again I am reminded how short our lives are and how quickly someone we love can be gone.  We need to love each other well today, it may be all we the time we have.

Now God is speaking to me about 2024.  He has plans.  Call them resolutions, call them goals, call them my ‘words’ for 2023, it’s obvious that God is using these last several days of 2023 to tell me what he wants me to focus on next year.

So God stopped me as Paul talks to Timothy in his first letter to him – “Timothy, my son, I am giving you this command in keeping with the prophecies once made about you, so that by recalling them you may fight the battle well, holding on to faith and a good conscience..”  1 Timothy 1: 18 & 19.

How do I fight the battle well 2024?  When I’m connected to God through his Word and through his people, he fights my battles with me – guiding me, encouraging me and giving me victory.

How do you plan to fight the battle well next year?

How do I hold onto the faith in 2024?  I have a hunger that growls in my soul with the desire to grow in my love for and knowledge of God.  I am confident that turning off the TV and putting down my phone so I have more time to read and study God’s Word is the right thing for me to do.   My favorite thing about retirement – other than not having to set an alarm – is having all the time I want to spend with God.

How will you hold onto the faith in 2024?

How do I hold on to a good conscience in 2024?  When I’m in line with God, I know down to the depths of my heart and mind that I’m in the right place.  I feel God’s approval and blessing when I focus on him and what he is calling me to do.

How will you hold onto a good conscience next year?

With God by my side, I’m ready. I’m prepared to do God has planned for me.   So bring on 2024 with all its challenges and opportunities and blessings. 

Thank you, Abba Father.