I’ve heard a great many people dissing 2016. To be fair there’s been a great deal of turmoil and despair this year. But I beg to differ with all the naysayers. There have been plenty of rays of light shining in and through the darkness that has periodically dotted the landscape. Just take a look at how my most viewed posts of 2016 have observed light shining through.

If you look at all five of the posts below as a whole, you’ll most definitely see that there was tragedy this year. But this small sample also shows that people were interested in creativity, ministry, making one’s own life better, and pinholes of light in the midst of tragedy and trouble.

Let’s take a brief look at each of these posts that were viewed by hundreds of people:

1. One Simple Trick to Declutter Your Life This post was inspired by Greg McKeown, the author of the book, Essentialism: This Disciplined Pursuit of Less. This post gives you one simple thing to do every 90 days to propel you forward in life. I’ve tried it and it really works.
2. An Interview With Former Disney Performer Turned Pastor Here’s the money quote from this post: “Disney isn’t great because they have billions of dollars to throw around on products. They’re great because they help you forget the ‘junk’ of life. The church is great because it doesn’t just help you forget the junk, it removes it and frees you to live, and we need to embrace that.” Read the post to unpack it even further.
3. Why Orlando Is Still The City Beautiful It was a dark time in June of this year. Orlando, known as The City Beautiful, was covered with the blood of a mad man. And yet the city stepped up with the kind of love and help that can only happen at a time like this.
4. 5 Things I Wish I’d Known When I Became a Pastor I pulled back the curtain just a bit on what it’s like to be a pastor. I celebrated twenty-five years in ministry this year and it was a great time to reflect.
5. Why Milwaukee Is Much More Than the Violence You See on TV My other home town of Milwaukee was also devastated by rioting after a police-involved shooting. The violence happened in the very neighborhood from which we moved more than four years ago. It’s still near and dear to our hearts. And so are the wonderful people who live there.

As you reflect on 2016, what stands out to you?