HOW did I miss Epiphany 2025? It was a great year!
This time I'm not going to go into great detail about what gifts I got for my family or what I said to them. I think I've created that model already - you can click the "Epiphany" label at the bottom of this post to see some examples. I'm just going to give a brief summary, because the things that the Holy Spirit has given me for family members have become increasingly targeted and personal over the years - I guess I've been learning better and better how to hear His voice in this situation. I need to start applying that skill all year round!
This year my youngest turned 18. She's about to graduate from high school, and she's really been blossoming this year. In 2025 her word was "create" and she's been creating amazing stuff all year... visual art and music have been all around her in 2025. But there have been a few goals in those areas that, although she worked really hard, she either barely reached, or barely didn't reach. Her word for 2026 is "launch". As in, Peter said "Lord, we've fished all night and didn't catch anything, but if you say so we'll launch out and try again." And you know what happened! I gave her a shirt that says "Jesus said, go fishing!"
My oldest is about to graduate from college. His word this year is "up". I feel like he's started to grow out of some of his kid and young man ways and emerge as someone who is on the way upward, as in, upward toward the prize of the high call of God. I gave him a metal sign that is a picture of a river with part of that verse on it.
My wife, after her battle with cancer, has just now started to show signs that she's ready to do pretty much anything that God calls her to do again. I think she's been a little bit afraid of getting sick again. her word is "confidence" - as in, your confidence is in the Lord! (I got her a gold bracelet with an encouraging word on it.)
I found out a week or two ago that my youngest is keeping all of her cards (this is the third year that I've printed out cards with a word and a Scripture on them for the year). My wife still has all three of hers on the refrigerator. (I haven't asked my son if he's keeping his.) All three of them have said that the words and Scriptures have been valuable to them throughout the year. If you're not doing something like this for your family, Epiphany is a great opportunity! The first week of the new year is a perfect time to get off on the right foot!
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