{"id":849,"date":"2024-01-02T21:43:01","date_gmt":"2024-01-02T21:43:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/christianwriter.blog\/?p=849"},"modified":"2024-01-02T21:43:01","modified_gmt":"2024-01-02T21:43:01","slug":"looking-back-on-2023","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/christianwriter.blog\/?p=849","title":{"rendered":"Looking Back on 2023"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Since the new year just began yesterday, I thought I would take the opportunity to reflect back on 2023 and look forward to 2024.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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2023 was an amazing year for me personally\u2026 I accomplished a lot of goals, including graduating high school, getting my driver\u2019s license, and starting a part-time job. The Lord has also been teaching me a lot of great things, as He will continue to teach me in the coming year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, there are also many things I was able to accomplish in my writing journey this past year. During 2023, I finished and released a novella (\u201cThe Face You See\u201d<\/a>), a short story (\u201cA Christmas Conundrum\u201d<\/a>), and a poem (\u201cIn Jesus Christ\u201d<\/a>). \u201cA Christmas Conundrum\u201d was also featured as a read-aloud in our church\u2019s Christmas Eve service, which you can watch here<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I also shared two of my senior school projects (a research project<\/a> and a speech<\/a>), and I was privileged to feature one of my good friends, Juliana, in this blog\u2019s very first guest post<\/a>. Speaking of which, I was also given the opportunity to be a guest on a podcast this year, which you can watch here<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At the very beginning of 2023, I started a YouTube channel<\/a>, and since then I\u2019ve grown to have over 100 subscribers. I also started Instagram<\/a> and Facebook<\/a> accounts, where even more bonus content can be found.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And now let\u2019s move on to some of my favorites from 2023:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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  1. Favorite Post<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n

    It\u2019s really difficult for me to choose just one blog post out of the many that I\u2019ve written this past year. However, there is one that stands out to me, and that is \u201cMy Favorite Character Encounters With the Cross.\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

    I had a lot of fun researching some great Christian books and movies to find the best scenes featuring the cross. Better yet, looking at all of these scenes as a whole made me see the cross of Christ in a light I\u2019d never seen it before.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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    1. Favorite Series<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n

      I\u2019ve written several post series this past year\u2014some of them still ongoing\u2014and they were all a joy to write. Of course, I can\u2019t go without mentioning our Positive Change Arcs<\/a> series, which we finally finished in 2023.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

      But I would have to say that my favorite series was The Story of Humanity<\/a>. Being a person who loves structure and plotting, it was so neat to see the entire story of the Bible fit into a few character arcs. It just goes to show that the best author to ever write is God Himself, and that He planned everything so that He will ultimately receive the glory He deserves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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      1. Favorite Book<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n

        This past year, I mostly worked my way through a few Jane Austen novels, as well as a few books assigned for my senior year in school. I did enjoy \u201cDo Hard Things,\u201d which is a nonfiction book written by teens for teens.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

        Probably my favorite book in 2023, though, would have to be \u201cEmma\u201d by Jane Austen. I had seen the movie before, but I decided to read the book and found myself surprised at how much I liked it. I especially enjoyed the witty humor and dynamic characters, a common theme in Jane Austen\u2019s books.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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        1. Favorite Movie<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n

          Okay, I could pick just one movie. I saw some great films this past year, and rewatched some, as well. But my favorites weren\u2019t actually that hard to choose. A month or two ago, I watched The Dark Knight Trilogy with my brothers, and I absolutely loved it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

          As a disclaimer, we did use an extension that removed unwanted language and other content from the movies, which was a huge blessing as I personally dislike watching movies containing those things. But the movies themselves were an amazing experience, and are honestly some of the best films I\u2019ve ever seen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

          Typically, I like movies that are less suspenseful and action-packed, but I have to say that these are definitely an exception. I don\u2019t really have many complaints about the trilogy as a whole, which, if you know me, is high praise.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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          1. Favorite TV Show<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n

            I\u2019m a big fan of family TV shows (especially old ones), and I was able to watch a few this past year. My friend gifted me the Basil Rathbone \u201cSherlock Holmes\u201d series last Christmas, which I enjoyed immensely.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

            My favorite show in 2023, though, was one that my sister and I have recently been rewatching. If you\u2019ve watched\/read \u201cAnne of Green Gables\u201d, you\u2019ll love the TV show \u201cRoad to Avonlea,\u201d as many of your favorite characters join new ones on new adventures in the town of Avonlea.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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            Before I end this post, I just wanted to mention a few of the goals I have for the upcoming year:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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            1. Read more<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
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              1. Finish writing my current novel<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
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                1. Build my social media platform<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
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                  I hope you had a great 2023, and that the Lord will continue to bless you in 2024!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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                  Comment below your favorites from this past year, as well as your goals for the next year!<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

                  Since the new year just began yesterday, I thought I would take the opportunity to reflect back on 2023 and look forward to 2024. 2023 was an amazing year for me personally\u2026 I accomplished a lot of goals, including graduating high school, getting my driver\u2019s license, and starting a part-time job. The Lord has also […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-849","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/christianwriter.blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/849","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/christianwriter.blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/christianwriter.blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/christianwriter.blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/christianwriter.blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=849"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/christianwriter.blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/849\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":851,"href":"https:\/\/christianwriter.blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/849\/revisions\/851"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/christianwriter.blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=849"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/christianwriter.blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=849"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/christianwriter.blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=849"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}