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Dear friends, it wasn’t too long ago that we made the first steps into the year 2024, and it’s already that time of the year when we are called by our conscience to meditate on the past and by our sense of responsibility to plan for the future. In other words, we are called to make a retrospective of past achievements or failures and, more importantly, look forward in hope to a more prosperous future.
During the last twelve months, which seemed to have been as short as a blink of an eye, we made profound memories, formed friendships, shared blessings, and participated in events that have helped us grow in faith and the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. Those are things that we need to cherish.
It is not about how long a day, a week, a month, or a year lasts, it is about appreciating every moment we live as if it were the last one because short moments, nettled together, form minutes, hours, days, weeks months, and years. I would even go as far as saying that the way we treasure moments will determine our eternal destiny.
As for me, I will be stepping into the year 2025 with gratitude. Gratitude to God, for His abundant love and mercy and for the blessings He bestowed upon me during the past year. I am thankful to God for making me the beneficiary of His blessings, through all of you, during the last five years as I was working on behalf of His saints – youth, teenagers, and children.
When I was converted, I left my parents’ home encouraged by God’s promise made in Matthew 19:29 where it says: “And every one that hath forsaken houses, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my name’s sake, shall receive an hundredfold, and shall inherit everlasting life.” I left my parent’s home in search of a new family and new friends who would journey with me to the heavenly home. In the Bible verse I just quoted, God had promised to multiply father, mother, brother, and sister by one hundred, but that promise has been more than fulfilled in my life as He multiplied my family by thousands. Wherever I traveled, you were my fathers and gave me a bed and a pillow on which to lay my head, you were my mothers and set the table for me as for your children, you were my brothers and have slept on the floor so I can use your comfortable bed. How can I forget all of that?
Many of you have sent me messages of thanks, telling me that I was a blessing to you and that I played a part in your most important decisions. My friends, let me tell you, you were a blessing to me. You made my trips memorable. Your stories are what my wife and children were looking forward to hearing when I was returning to my own family.
Speaking of my family… thank you, Monica, the best wife a pastor could wish for, thank you, Klara, for your resilience, calmness, and kindness and for using your talents for God and His church, thank you, Carlos, for your patience, and for being your mom’s closest friend when I was gone and for using your talents to bless others.
Dear friends, my wish for you, for the new year is that you learn from failures be thankful to God for victories, and step forward with hope in the redemption of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, who will be coming soon to take us home. Parents, make your children your priority number one. Children, grow in the knowledge of Jesus Christ. Teenagers, may God’s word be your inspiration in the decisions you make. Youth, in school or at work, make sure you represent your King.
To everyone, may your most important resolution for the new year be to invest in ETERNITY. I wish you a happy and blessed New Year.
Adrian Finaru,
GC Youth Department Director
