2024 Year in Review

“What if the life we are looking for is found in the middle seat, the seat that as humans we naturally gravitate away from.”

Jan 01, 2025

For the past three years, I’ve been using a theme word to anchor each year. These words usually come to me the week before the year begins as I reflect on the past year and what God has been teaching me. In previous years, my words have been joy, surrender, and this year, abide.

“I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.” — John 15:5 (ESV)

Merriam-Webster defines abide as “to bear patiently; to wait for; to accept without objection; or to continue in a place.” I didn’t anticipate how much this single word would transform my life, but hang with me through this review, and I pray you’ll see how “apart from me you can do nothing” is one of the most freeing truths we can receive.

While this is my first time sharing a “Year in Review,” my hope is that this serves as both a reflection of the past year and a testimony to God’s faithfulness in the highs and lows. I pray these reflections encourage and bless you as you head into 2025.

Turning 30: A Milestone of Reflection

On February 15th, I stepped into my thirties. Turning thirty is a bittersweet milestone. As a teenager, it felt like an age I could hardly imagine reaching. Yet I carried expectations of what my life would look like by now. I thought my relationship status would be different, my career more advanced, and my community more established. Facing the reality of unmet expectations brought a mix of emotions.

The feelings of disappointment were real and didn’t need to be ignored, but they were accompanied by profound joy as I reflected on God’s faithfulness over the past thirty years. Even when my plans haven’t unfolded as I envisioned, I can see how God has been at work in every season of my life, guiding and growing me in ways I couldn’t have planned for myself.

A scripture I’ve meditated on this year is Isaiah 55:8-9:

“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.”

Turning thirty wasn’t just about acknowledging my own journey but also about recognizing the ongoing work God is doing in my life—teaching me to trust Him in all circumstances. Abiding in Him means acknowledging where He has me today while patiently waiting for His plans to unfold, knowing His thoughts and ways are far above mine.

Resource Global - Gospel Action Plan

This year, I had the privilege of joining a virtual cohort through Resource Global, an organization equipping Christian leaders to bring renewal to their workplaces and communities. Over eight months, I explored God’s larger narrative of redemption and my unique role within it. These months challenged me to move beyond my personal story and focus on participating in God’s redemptive work, which He has uniquely planned, equipped, and prepared beforehand for me (Ephesians 2:10).

At the end of the program, we developed a Gospel Action Plan—a tangible step God was inviting us to take. My plan was to share a message that had been on my heart for two years but had been set aside. The message, titled The Middle Seat, is an analogy of the middle seat on an airplane with the idea that:

“What if the life we are looking for is found in the middle seat, the seat that as humans we naturally gravitate away from.”

The Middle Seat

If you’ve ever flown on an airplane, you know there are three seating options: the aisle seat, the window seat, and the dreaded middle seat. But let’s be honest—there are really only two options: the aisle and the window.

The aisle seat represents control. You have authority in the row and don’t have to experience the vulnerability of the middle seat. The window seat offers safety. You avoid vulnerability, but you relinquish direct aisle access. The middle seat, however, is the least desired. It’s uncomfortable, vulnerable, and no one willingly chooses it.

In life, we often find ourselves in a “middle seat.” In these moments, we desire safety (the window seat) or control (the aisle seat). Everything in us resists the vulnerability of the middle seat. But what if the fruit of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, and self-control is found here?

If we look at Jesus, His life was marked by vulnerability. He was born in the humblest way, lived the most vulnerable life, and died the most vulnerable death. Vulnerability is in God’s DNA. So, if our God operates in vulnerability and invites us into His redemptive story, where do you think He sits?

If I had to guess, He’s in the middle seat.

My Middle Seat

Marriage has been a deep desire of mine for years. As I entered my thirties, I hoped to find a partner and start a family. But this summer, I found myself in the middle seat of life. I faced the heartbreak of a relationship I believed was leading to marriage. It left me vulnerable—grappling with unmet expectations, loss of community, loneliness, anxiety, and sadness.

By His grace, I came across the boarding pass from the flight that originally inspired The Middle Seat message. I was reminded how naturally I seek understanding or control. But I was also reminded that the middle seat is where God operates. He is near to the brokenhearted (Psalm 34:18).

The middle seat is uncomfortable, frustrating, and painful. But it’s also where I’ve experienced love, joy, peace, patience and self-control. Jesus begins the Sermon on the Mount with the Beatitudes (Matthew 5):

“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.”

These vulnerable positions are called blessings because they allow us to abide with our Creator, transforming us into His likeness. I’ve taken a message like this and tried to create my own kingdom or worldly comforts. But, I will tell you that all those have always come short. It’s easier said than done because it’s counter cultural and against human nature to stay in the middle. However, I promise you there is a joy in chaos and peace that makes no sense because apart from Him we can do nothing, including experiencing this joy and peace in life.

After choosing to stay in the middle seat this year, I can tell you there is a flourishment in life I’m experiencing that makes no sense. In the midst of questioning what God is doing, I am finding peace. In the midst of rebuilding community, I am finding joy. In the midst of loneliness, I am filled with love. (I’ll write another post with testimonies of only God stories the second half of this year that I can take no credit for).

So whether you find yourself in the "middle seat" of life, facing difficulties, or in the aisle or window seat, enjoying a season of peace, I encourage you to abide in the only vine that gives true life. He is writing a story far greater than we can imagine and invites us to live not for our small kingdoms but for His eternal kingdom and glory.

For those in the middle seat: I pray you see God clearly in your season. I pray you resist the urge to seek safety or control and instead choose to abide in the vine—the source of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, and self-control. Remember, our Savior and Creator is working right where you are, even in the discomfort and vulnerability of the middle seat.
For those in the aisle or window seat: Is there a step of vulnerability God is inviting you to take? Whether you have faith or not, there is a God who is in constant pursuit of us. He desires to use willing and available hearts for His work, the kind of work that truly satisfies the longings we seek to fill in this world.

Looking Ahead to 2025: A Year of Sharing and the Word

If you’ve made it this far:

Thank you!
I hope these words give you a glimpse of God’s work in my life.

As I head into 2025, I’ve been asking God for the word to anchor next year.

2025 will be the year of ‘Sharing.’

This year, I feel led to embrace vulnerability by sharing my story, the gospel, and the lessons God has placed on my heart. Through messages like "The Middle Seat," I hope to encourage others to abide in God’s presence and word and to find life in vulnerability. I pray that through words and conversations—with friends, family, coworkers, strangers, and even on the internet—many will be drawn back to Him: His glory, His work, His promises, His love, His grace, His nearness, His gentleness, His peace, His church, and ultimately, His return.

In addition, my local church is embarking on a Year of the Word in 2025. Would you consider joining us on the journey to walk through the entire Bible together? God’s word has become a treasure I can’t keep to myself, and I would love to personally invite you to join us. Learn more at jointhejourney.com.

Also, stay tuned for additional pieces of writing I’ve been working on, which will be released on this substack throughout the year. There is so much to look forward to in 2025, and I can’t wait to share it all with you!

God bless,

Andrew Bob Park

Ephesians 3:20-21