In Matthew 18, Jesus says, “Unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.” I don’t pretend to know everything Jesus meant, but spend five minutes with a toddler and you’ll notice some things: trust, dependence, a wild sense of wonder.

For a long time, my faith journey followed a similar pattern. I knew about God, but I didn’t actually know God. I could talk about God, but found it hard to talk with God. I read about God, but struggled to be with or feel close to Him.

When I first read this verse, it didn’t sit well with me. Another translation says, "you learn more at a funeral than at a feast." Talk about a buzzkill. As someone who resonates deeply with the Enneagram Type Seven—described as energetic, optimistic, and always seeking new experiences, I struggled to understand why mourning could be better than celebration.

Any good therapist will tell you that walking has profound psychological benefits when dealing with depression or anxiety. There is something about being outside with the wind on your face and a big sky above you that helps reorient our perspective.

To abide in God is to live in the reality of His love, just as a child lives in the security of a well-loved home. When we abide in Christ, we are not striving to earn our place, but instead we are resting in the truth that we are already welcomed.

In the next few days, I hope you can take some time to pause and reflect as 2024 comes to a close. There is a mix of emotions for me: gratitude, amazement, and a bit of grief and disappointment too. I wonder if you feel the same.

Perhaps when Jesus spoke of the mustard seed, He was inviting us to shift our focus from the measurable to the relational. A seed doesn’t strive or hurry—it simply grows as it is nourished. Similarly, our spiritual growth often happens in the small, quiet places: a moment of stillness, a whispered prayer, or a creative expression of gratitude.