The Year of Light: A Gentle Winter Journey with God from Midwinter to Candlemas

The Year of Light: A Gentle Winter Journey with God from Midwinter to Candlemas

If you’re tired of “New Year, New You” pressure, colour-coded goals, and resolutions that never quite stick, The Year of Light is for you.

This gentle, Christ-centred guide leads you through the winter season; from Midwinter, through the 12 Days of Christmas, into Gentle January, and on to Candlemas, with tiny, do-able steps.

Instead of desperately seeking to fix yourself, you will:

• sit with the Lord in the winter dark,
• notice what is truly on your heart,
• shape a handful of kind, realistic intentions,
• and place the coming year into God’s hands.

All in a way that honours low energy, busy family life, and tender hearts.

What is The Year of Light?

The Year of Light is a printable, guided journaling journey designed to fit inside your existing notebook or “Book of Light”.

Over small steps, it leads you through four gentle movements:

1. Midwinter – Listening
2. The 12 Days of Christmas – Gathering
3. Gentle January – Shaping
4. Candlemas – Blessing
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You’ll also learn a simple weekly rhythm for returning to your Prayer / Year of Light Page so you can walk with your intentions in small, realistic steps.

Who is this for?

This resource is especially for you if:

• You feel overwhelmed by traditional goal-setting and resolutions
• You are tired, neurodivergent, or living with chronic illness and need very small, flexible steps
• You long for a Christ-centred way to begin the year that honours your actual life
• You love the idea of journaling, but need clear prompts and gentle guidance
• You’d like to weave the Church year (Christmas, Epiphany, Candlemas) and the natural year (midwinter, first stirrings of spring) into your spiritual practice

You do not need to be artistic, crafty, or “on top of things” to use this.

You simply need a notebook, a pen, and a willingness to show up as you are.

A gentle invitation

If you are longing for a kinder way to begin the year, one that does not demand a new you, but honours the you that God already loves, The Year of Light offers a quiet, winter companion.