Pondering the Year: What Mary Teaches Us About Reflection and Renewal

It is the last week of 2025, and I am more than ready to welcome a new year. But before I rush ahead into what’s next, I feel the gentle nudge of the Holy Spirit reminding me to pause. 

Before we move forward, we must reflect. 

Reflection invites us to look honestly at the year behind us—to consider the choices we made and the consequences that followed.

It invites sacred questions: 

• What do I need to leave in 2025? 

• What do I want to carry into this new season? 

• How have I grown this year? 

• What do I sense God calling me to develop in 2026? 

  
  

Reflection is where learning happens. It is where wisdom is formed. Yet reflection is also a spiritual discipline we often overlook. 

Scripture gives us a beautiful example of this discipline through Mary, the mother of Jesus. 

Mary’s Quiet Strength and Radical Trust 

Jesus’ birth was anything but ordinary. An angel appeared to a young virgin and announced that she would conceive and give birth to the Son of God. Mary was a humble, devout Jewish woman—faithful in a quiet way that did not draw attention to itself. 

She stands among the giants of Scripture: 

• Noah, righteous in a wicked world 

• Moses, who spoke with God face to face 

• David, a man after God’s own heart 

God’s favor is often revealed through His choosing—using ordinary people to accomplish divine purposes. Mary’s response to the angel was simple, yet profound: 

“Let it be to me according to your word, for I am the Lord’s servant.” (Luke 1:38) 

Her words reveal deep trust and humility. This was a woman who knew God personally. Scripture tells us she had “found favor with God,” but her response shows us why. She trusted Him completely—even when the path ahead was uncertain. 

The Discipline of Pondering 

Luke 2:19 tells us: 

“But Mary kept all these things and pondered them in her heart.”

To ponder means to deeply reflect, to meditate, to return again and again to what God has done. Mary did not rush past the miracles surrounding Jesus’ birth. She did not let them fade into memory. Instead, she revisited them, allowing God to reveal their meaning over time. 

Later, Luke 2:51 says: 

“But His mother kept all these things in her heart.” 

Mary remembered. 

In contrast, many of us live at such a fast pace that we forget what God has already done. When new struggles arise, we respond the same way we always have, with worry, fear, or control, instead of faith. 

Yet Scripture reminds us to “be anxious for nothing” and to trust God with everything. God does not merely respond to need; He responds to faith expressed through obedience. 

Remembering strengthens our faith. Reflection anchors us. 

Why Reflection Is So Hard—and So Necessary 

In today’s world, sitting quietly with our thoughts can feel uncomfortable. Assessing the beliefs we carry and the direction our lives are headed requires courage. But it is necessary work. 

I’ll offer a gentle and shameless plug here for counseling. As a clinical counseling student, I may be biased—but as a human being, I know this to be true: sometimes we need help. 

Having a trusted, nonjudgmental person to walk alongside us is a gift. Reflecting with a licensed professional can often become the catalyst God uses for healing, growth, and transformation. 

Redeeming the Past Through Prayer 

Engaging in contemplative prayer is one of the ways God redeems lost time—and even the sins, wounds, and traumas of our past. Nothing is wasted in His hands. 

God can take moments of deep joy and seasons of great pain and turn them into testimonies of His faithfulness. When we reflect with Him, He reshapes our understanding and restores what was broken. 

As we close out 2025, may we follow Mary’s example: 

• slowing down 

• remembering what God has done 

• pondering His work in our hearts 

  
  

And may we step into 2026 not rushed, but renewed—carrying forward only what God intends for the next season.