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A Christmas Wish for Your Best Year Yet
- Terri Schafer
- Dec 7, 2025
- 4 min read
As we step into the final month of the year, I wanted to share something more meaningful than just a checklist or holiday reminder. December is a sacred pause — a moment to breathe, reflect, and realign before the busy start of a new year. My hope is that this month’s message provides you with space, encouragement, and a guided way to reconnect with what matters most. I’ve included a special reflection guide for you, along with a heartfelt message I pray helps meet you exactly where you are.
Before the Year Ends… Pause
There’s something about the end of a year that pushes us into action — the rush to set resolutions, make lists, and declare that “next year will be different.” It’s tempting to speed up, to fix things, or promise ourselves a fresh start just because the calendar is about to turn. But real, lasting change doesn’t come from pressure, perfection, or a burst of motivation that fades by February.
It comes from clarity.
It comes from slowing down long enough to ask, “What truly matters to me right now?”
Jinny Ditzler, author of Your Best Year Yet, reminds us that before we plan what’s next, we must first honor where we’ve been. She encourages us to take a gentle, honest look at our year — not with judgment or comparison, but with awareness and compassion.
Ask yourself:
What worked?
What didn’t?
What mattered most?
What did I learn?
Who am I becoming — and who do I want to become in the next 12 months?
These aren’t just questions. They are invitations to reconnect with your heart, your values, and your God-given direction.
Most people skip this step entirely. They rush into January with big intentions and even bigger pressure… but without the awareness that fuels sustainable change. Reflection clears space. Awareness fosters alignment. And alignment — not urgency — is what drives meaningful action.
This is the heart behind the Your Best Year Yet philosophy, and it's the foundation of what I want for you as you prepare for the year ahead.
Your Blueprint for a Meaningful 2026
Included with this blog post is the full reflection worksheet so you can work through it at your own pace. I also want to share the deeper meaning behind it.
This work isn’t about creating a year that is “busy” or “productive.”
It’s not about setting 25 goals or fixing every area of your life all at once.
And it’s definitely not about becoming someone different. This is about designing a year that feels aligned, intentional, and authentic — a year that reflects the truest version of you.
A year that feels like growth, not grind. A year that feels like calling, not chaos. A year where your values show up in your choices, not just in your notebook.
When you take a moment to reflect—even briefly—something beautiful begins to happen. You start to see:
where God was most present,
where you were stretched in unexpected ways,
where you surprised yourself,
and where a new version of you is quietly forming beneath the surface.
You start to notice patterns — the ones that empower you and the ones that drain you.
You begin to see what needs to continue, what needs to be completed, and what needs to be released.
You remember that your life isn’t a race to win, it’s a rhythm to honor.
This is where your blueprint begins.
Not with resolutions. Not with pressure. Not with “I should…”
But with clarity — and with a feeling of coming home to yourself again.
A Christmas Wish for You
As you go through this month — with its plans, gatherings, quiet moments, and the rush of beautiful chaos — here is my wish for you:
I hope you slow down enough to hear your own heart again. I hope you recognize your worth when you look back at your year — not because it was perfect, but because you showed up, grew, and kept going. I hope you let go of the burdens you were never meant to carry and experience the relief of setting them down.
I hope you enter the new year not striving, but centered. Not frantic, but focused. Not unsure, but anchored in who you are becoming.
And more than anything, I hope you truly feel the abundant life that God has always been offering you — not someday, not eventually, but right now. In the small moments. In the unglamorous steps. In the breakthroughs and the breath-throughs.
Right where you are.
A Year of Brilliance Awaits
Here’s the truth: Next year doesn’t need a “new you.”
It simply needs the truest you — the one who is willing to pause, reflect, and choose a path of growth, grace, and intentional action.
You already have everything you need to make this your best year yet. It’s already inside you.
Your gifts.
Your resilience.
Your wisdom.
Your desire to grow.
Your faith that whispers, “There’s more for me.”
The Your Best Year Yet reflection guide included in this blog is simply a tool—a blueprint—to help you uncover what God has already placed in your heart.
As we wrap up this year, I want you to feel seen, supported, encouraged, and championed. My hope is that you step into 2026 with clarity, confidence, and a renewed sense of possibility.
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
Terri Schafer
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