55 | Before You Write Off 2025, Listen to This.

It's almost the end of 2025, and instead of gratitude, you're drowning in guilt.

The books you didn't finish. The goals you didn't hit. The platform that didn't grow. Everyone else is posting their year-end wins—12 books published, six-figure incomes, USA Today bestseller lists—and you're wondering if you wasted an entire year.

But what if you're measuring the wrong things?

What if God sees your 2025 completely differently than you do?

In this vulnerable episode, I'm sharing my own disappointing 2025—an unexpected international move that disrupted every plan, left books unwritten, and income goals unmet. And yet, God revealed something that completely changed how I see this year.

If you're heading into December feeling like you failed at your calling, this episode will shift your perspective.

We're talking about the metrics God actually cares about (spoiler: they're not book counts or bestseller lists), why "unproductive" seasons might be God's most important ones, and the one thing most Christian authors are forgetting as they measure their year.

This isn't toxic positivity. This is about learning to see what God sees—and discovering He might be celebrating things you haven't even noticed.

Because friend, what if the guilt you're carrying isn't from God at all?

Scripture referenced: Psalm 103:1-2, 1 Thessalonians 5:18, Ecclesiastes 3:1, Philippians 4:6-7, Isaiah 43:19

Perfect for: Christian authors feeling like failures, anyone comparing their year to others' highlight reels, writers carrying guilt about "unproductive" seasons, those ready to finish 2025 strong.

Turn up the volume—this one will help you see your year through God's eyes instead of the world's.

👉 Listen now to uncover the secret to becoming an anointed scribe!

Transcript

It's almost the end of the year and if you are like most authors, you are probably looking back at 2025 and feeling disappointed.

The books you planned to write but didn't finish,

the sales goals you set but didn't hit,

the platform growth that never happened,

the income you needed but didn't make. And instead of gratitude, you are feeling guilt.

Guilt that you didn't work hard enough,

Guilt that you wasted a year.

Guilt that maybe you're failing at the very thing God called you to do. But friend,

what if you are measuring the wrong things?

What if God sees this year completely differently than you do?

So today we are talking about how to finish your author year with gratitude instead of guilt. And why God might be celebrating things you haven't even noticed.

Turn up the volume, friend, because this episode will help you see your year through God's eyes instead of the world's. This is episode 55.

I'm Urcelia Teixeira, ex real estate agent turned award winning Christian fiction author.

When I wrote my first novel on a bucket list whim, I had no idea it would spark a spiritual journey that would redefine my calling.

But you know what, friend? Self publishing wasn't easy. I got caught in the hustle, chasing rankings and sales while desperately trying to stay rooted in Christmas.

Now, by God's grace, I'm building my author business his way. And now he's called me to help you do the same.

Welcome to the Anointed Scribe podcast, where faith meets business for Christian writers. Let's write, publish, and grow our author business God's way. Are you ready? Well then, let's get started.

Hey, it's your author friend, Urcelia. And welcome to today's episode of Anointed Scribe.

I'm so grateful you're here, whether you're a regular listener or found me for the first time. Welcome to the Anointed Scribe tribe.

Now, for my listeners in the US I know yesterday was Thanksgiving. And for those of you in other parts of the world,

hello from Cape Town, South Africa, where I've just recently immigrated back home after eight years abroad in Portugal and the uk.

For us who might not celebrate Thanksgiving,

I think we can all agree that this time of the year has us reflecting on the year behind us and the year ahead.

And with December just around the corner, I wanted to create an episode that helps you close out 2025.

Well.

Not with shame,

not with guilt, not with disappointment, but with gratitude.

Because I think a lot of us are going to hit December carrying heavy burdens we were never meant to carry.

And friend, I don't want that for you.

So let's talk about it because here's what usually happens this time of the year in the author community.

Everyone starts posting their year end wins.

I published 12 books this year. I hit the USA Today best seller, grew my email list to 50,000, made six figures from my writing.

And friend, if like me, your year looked nothing like that,

you start feeling like a failure, right?

You start making a mental list of everything you didn't accomplish.

The book you meant to finish, but it's still sitting at 10,000 words.

The launch you planned but never executed, the marketing strategy you bought but never implemented,

the income goal you set in January, that feels laughable now.

And the guilt starts building, right?

The enemy's lies start circling in your head.

I should have worked harder. I should have been more consistent. I should have done more. I can't believe I allowed myself to get sidetracked.

And, and, and can I tell you something friend? I've been there.

In fact,

I was there just a few weeks ago when I boarded the plane to South Africa because 2025 didn't look anything like I planned. I had big goals, big dreams, big expectations about what God was going to do this year.

And a lot of them didn't happen because God snuck in an oh by the way, pick up your house and move instruction.

He surprised us with that mid year side note, friend, when God moves, He moves quickly. You best be ready to move when he moves is all I'm saying.

Anyway, so yes, we made a massive international move from the UK to South Africa that completely disrupted my writing routine for months.

And to be honest, I'm still not back into it.

Books I planned to write are still unwritten income goals I set. Feel distant and honestly, I have had moments of feeling like I wasted the last six months of this year.

But here's one of the things God's been teaching me. Maybe I'm measuring the wrong things.

Because while I've been focused on what didn't happen,

God's been celebrating what did.

Isn't that an awesome thought?

Let me share something with you from Psalm 103:1 2 Praise the Lord, my soul, all my inmost being, Praise his holy name,

Praise the Lord, my soul and forget not all his benefits.

That phrase,

forget not all his benefits.

How sobering is that?

Because I was so busy remembering all my failures, all the tasks and the little things I didn't get done that I was forgetting all his benefits.

I was so focused on what I didn't accomplish that. I wasn't seeing what he actually did.

We had been praying for God to make a way back home to our family for years. Literal years,

friend. And when he did, almost overnight,

I wasn't truly seeing it.

And friend, I wonder if you're doing the same thing.

What if he stopped for a moment and asked God, what do you see when you look at my 2025?

Because I promise you, he's not making the same list you are making.

Here's what I think God might be celebrating about your year.

Maybe you didn't publish as many books as you planned,

but you showed up and wrote. Even when it was hard,

even when sales were discouraging,

even when nobody seemed to be reading.

You were faithful with a calling. Even in the wilderness season,

even in your valley.

Even when anxiety and depression got the better of you. Despite of and in spite of, you kept going. And that, dear friend, is not failure. That's faithfulness.

So, okay, maybe your platform didn't grow the way you had hoped. But you stewarded what you do have well.

You served your readers with integrity.

You didn't compromise your values to chase numbers.

That's not lack, that's obedience.

Or maybe you didn't hit your income goals. And for your info, few authors do.

Somehow we always set the bar too high, isn't it?

But nonetheless, you kept trusting God for his provision, right?

You didn't give up on the calling when it got hard.

You chose faith over fear.

That's not defeat. That's courage.

See, if we had to create a comparison table, I believe it would look something like this.

We measure success by numbers.

God measures success by faithfulness.

We measure success by what we accomplished.

God measures success by who we become.

And those are completely different metrics right there on the opposite side of each other.

God gave me this verse, or reminded me of this verse this month. 1 Thessalonians 5:18, that says, Give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus.

Not give thanks for all circumstances. No, it says, give thanks in all circumstances,

even the hard ones, even the disappointing ones, even the ones that didn't turn out like we had hoped because God was still present,

still working,

still faithful,

even when you couldn't see it.

So let me ask you this, friend.

What if you made a different list as you close out 2025?

Not a list what you didn't accomplish,

but a list of what God did despite your circumstances.

What did you learn this year that you couldn't have learned any Other way.

What character did God develop in you through the hard seasons?

What relationships deepened?

What faith muscles got stronger?

What did you discover about his faithfulness?

For me, this move to South Africa taught me things I never would have learned if everything had gone according to my plan.

For one, I learned that God's provision doesn't always look like I expect.

I learned that obedience sometimes means laying down what I thought I was building so he can build something different.

I learned that my worth isn't tied to my productivity.

I learned that sometimes in air quotes, the unproductive seasons are actually the most important ones because God was doing something in me that was far more important than what I was trying to do for Him.

He was doing something for my family that was more important than my bank balance.

And friend. Maybe that's your story, too.

Maybe 2025 wasn't the year you thought it would be.

But maybe it was exactly the year God needed it to be.

Ecclesiastes 3:1 says, There is a time for everything and a season for every activity under the heavens.

A season for planting, a season for harvesting,

a season for building, a season for resting,

a season for growth, a season for pruning.

And maybe 2025 was a pruning season for you.

That doesn't mean you failed.

Don't believe the Devil's lies. It means God was preparing you for what's next because he knows the plans he has for you.

Sometimes he reveals it to us ahead of time.

Most often, I'll tell you he doesn't.

Otherwise we won't need to trust Him. Right?

So here's what I want you to do before the year ends.

First,

I want you to release the guilt you didn't waste this year,

even if it didn't look like you hoped.

God was still working, still teaching, still preparing.

Second, I'd like to encourage you to make a gratitude list.

Not of what you accomplished, because that's what we normally do,

but of what God did.

How did he provide?

How did he show up?

How did he prove faithful? Write it down.

Really spend some time with it. Because we forget his benefits way too quickly.

Third,

celebrate the faithfulness. You showed up.

You kept going.

You didn't quit.

That matters more than you know.

Fourth,

release the comparison. This is a big one. Stop measuring your year against someone else's year.

Their journey isn't yours. Their calling isn't yours.

Their timeline isn't yours.

You are only responsible for your own obedience, not someone else's results.

And finally, have a private conversation with God and ask him what he wants to say about your year,

not what you think,

not what others think.

Or does God think?

Because I promise you, he is celebrating things you haven't even noticed.

Philippians 4:6 to 7 says, and we all know this verse, but perhaps we need to be reminded today,

do not be anxious about anything,

but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving,

present your requests to God.

And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

With thanksgiving, that's the key.

It doesn't say, with guilt or with shame or with disappointment, present your requests to God. No,

it says, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. With gratitude, present your requests to God.

Because when you choose gratitude,

peace follows.

And friend,

don't you want to enter 2026 with peace instead of pressure?

With gratitude instead of guilt? With hope instead of shame?

Spoiler alert. You can,

but it starts with changing what you're measuring now.

So I'd encourage you and me to stop focusing on what we didn't do and to start celebrating what what God did.

Because he was faithful. He'll remain faithful even when things didn't go according to plan. He was very much present even in the hard seasons. And he is working even when you can't see it and even when you didn't see it throughout 2025.

So I want to leave you with one of my favorite verses.

Isaiah 43:19 says,

See, I'm doing a new thing now. It springs up. Do you not perceive it?

Friend, God's not done with your story.

2025 was just one chapter, and the author of your life is already writing what comes next.

And God's faithfulness.

It doesn't end with December 31st.

God operates outside of time, right?

The same God who carried you through 2025 is already present in your 2026.

So finish this year with gratitude and step into the next one with confidence in his unchanging character,

knowing that even things that aren't good or didn't go as planned are still used for our good and for his glory.

Friend, before I let you go, I want you to use the Send me a message link in the show notes and let me know where you need God to show up for you today so can pray for you.

It's 100% anonymous. I can't see your name or your email or your phone number. I can't even reply to you. But I can read your request and I can pray for you.

So I encourage you to use this feature to send me a private message to let me know what you are struggling with right now so we can come together and take this to the Lord in prayer.

And if you found today's episode helpful, please consider subscribing and leaving a review.

You know firsthand the impact this has on discovery. So please help me get this show into more listeners ears. I have a mission and I cannot do it without you.

Oh, and if you want more tips outside of the show, sign up to my monthly 5 minute Mana emails. The link is in the show notes. Okay, so that's it for today's show.

Thank you for listening. And remember, for such a time as this,

you have been called to thrive. And as God's anointed scribe.