Dear 2025,
You’ve been so good to me! Sure, there were trials and tribulations, but for the most part, you blessed me with many good tidings and memories.
From a personal perspective, it was fun to explore the beauty of God’s creation at Acadia National Park in Maine for our family vacation last summer. It was also great to take my middle daughter’s final ‘back to school’ picture as she entered her senior year of high school. We helped move our oldest back to college for her sophomore year. Our youngest, Everett, crushed swim team this summer claiming a medal in all 5 races at Champs weekend!
Professionally, we were welcomed toward the beginning of the year with Liberation Day, a day where tariffs were implemented globally which caused the market to teeter into a bear market within a short amount of time. Our small but mighty team picked up the phone and personally called each one of our 370 clients to talk them through the situation and help calm their anxious nerves. Turns out, by year end, tariffs were almost a distant memory as the market closed out 2025 with a 18% total return for the year.
The unexpected benefit of this career is that your clients become your friends. Our team had the privilege of stewarding the wealth of our HZ friends throughout the year. Unfortunately, there’s still no cure for cancer, or Alzheimer’s, or Parkinson’s, or accidents. Thus we had to say goodbye to a number of good friends this past year. These losses are hard for the spouse and family that’s been left behind, and, it’s hard for us too. You see, we have to put our human emotions aside and work through the financial chaos that’s left. We’re blessed in that our firm’s competence is to make order out of chaos as we help the widows and widowers make sense of their finances and make a solid plan for their future. We owe it to them and their loved one that they lost.
So 2025, I bid thee farewell.
Through the ups and downs, the twists and turns, the highs and lows, progress was made. I came out the other side better than how I went in. I didn’t let 2025 happen to me…I happened to 2025. I followed my disciplines and my intentionality throughout the year. I ate well. I exercised. I spent time with people I love, with people who love me. I read good books and listened to good podcasts. I grew as a leader, a father, a husband, and friend. Yes, I fell Below the Line more times than I care to admit, but I’m grateful for my family, my team, and my God for help lifting me back above.
And thus, I stand on the line between you and 2026.
I look ahead, my eyes straining forward to see what lies there. The path is hazy, undefined. Yet, I must step forward into the future that awaits. I take with me my courage, my disciplines, my faith. I leave behind my cowardice, my weaknesses, my Below the Line behaviors.
May God grant me the grace I need to embrace my future with boldness and conviction. May I lead with humility and courage. May those who I encounter be better because of their interactions with me. May those who disagree with me find common ground for kindness. May those who follow me be grateful for the path You’ve cleared.
Head up. Shoulders back. Right foot forward. This next step, my first of 2026. Many more will follow. I can’t wait to see what’s in store!
The Best Is Ahead!
