Entering a New Year With Gratitude, Even When Life Hands You Lemons
The New Year has a way of doing two things at the same time…
1) It invites us to look back
2) It challenges us to look ahead
Many stop to reflect on what they’ve walked through, what surprised them, what hurt more than they expected, what God carried them through, and then they step into a new year with…
Unknown outcomes. Unwritten chapters. Lemons they haven’t tasted.
That tension between reflection and uncertainty is where many listeners are living right now. It’s also where Forrest Frank continues to lead, not with answers but with honesty.
Grateful for What Was, Honest About What Hurt
One of the things we respect most about Forrest is that he doesn’t rewrite hard seasons once they’re over. He’s been open about a season marked by a serious back injury which slowed his body, interrupted momentum, and forced stillness he didn’t ask for.
What mattered most was that he stayed present with God. It wasn’t about “pushing through.”
Instead of trying to rush past the pain or spin it into something inspirational too quickly, Forrest let the season be what it was and from that place came songs shaped by real gratitude. Not gratitude after everything worked out, but gratitude inside the tension.
That posture tells listeners something important:
You don’t have to pretend the lemons taste good to be thankful God is still with you.
“Thankful” and the Choice to Worship Without Certainty
As we head into a new year, Forrest’s song “Thankful” continues to resonate, not because it ignores what’s missing, but because it gently redirects our attention to what’s already been given.
- It’s not a victory lap.
- It’s not a reset button anthem.
- It’s not pretending life is perfect.
It’s a song rooted in choosing gratitude for the everyday gifts we’re often tempted to overlook — the roof, the bed, the food on the table, the people who know our name, and ultimately, Jesus Himself.
Not everyone is starting the year with bold goals or clean slates. Some are stepping into January carrying unanswered prayers, physical limitations, relational strain, or quiet fear about what’s ahead.
“Thankful” doesn’t deny those realities.
It simply reminds us that gratitude can begin today, right where we are, and that awareness itself can be an act of worship.
Creating Space for Gratitude Moments
Around the holidays, the Killer Bee Marketing team shared three simple ways radio stations could lean into the moment “Thankful” was already meeting listeners. While those ideas were framed seasonally, the heart behind them wasn’t. They were designed to create space for gratitude in three directions (shared, outward, and private) reminding us that not every meaningful response needs to come back to the station to matter. Those same ideas can be adapted and used throughout the year whenever a song opens the door for honest reflection and gratitude.
Honest Faith Is Strong Faith
For those of you still getting to know Forrest, this is where his heart really shines.
He doesn’t lead listeners toward faith by overselling certainty. He leads them by modeling trust. By choosing gratitude without pretending control, and what a powerful example for us in Christian radio as we begin a new year.
Listeners don’t need us to sound polished.
They need us to sound present.
They don’t need quick resolutions.
They need permission to be honest about where they are today, at that moment.
Forrest continues to model how worship can sound like trust, instead of triumph. What if we mirrored that posture in Christian radio—on-air when we don’t have the perfect words, or online when conversations get heavier than we expected? It would create space for real connection with the people God has placed in our circles to serve.
A New Year Invitation for Stations
As stations step into 2026, there’s an opportunity here. Not to manufacture hope, but to recognize it. To acknowledge what’s been walked through. To name the uncertainty ahead, and to remind listeners that gratitude isn’t denial, it’s dependence.
Songs like “Thankful” help create those moments naturally. They don’t demand a response. They invite one.
Sometimes that response comes back to the station.
Sometimes it stays private.
Sometimes it moves outward toward others.
All of those moments matter!
Why This Matters More Than Ever
At 55 Promotion, you’re going to hear us talk more about stewarding those moments. Some evolve from the lyrics in the songs you play, some from the comments shared on social media, and others from the everyday interactions where God is already at work and invites us to pay attention.
We want to encourage you to pay attention to Forrest as he continues to model what it looks like to hold faith with open hands. To be thankful looking back, and to stay thankful stepping forward into what hasn’t been revealed yet. That posture is personal. It’s pastoral, and it’s deeply relevant as we begin a new year.
Radio doesn’t need to have all the answers for 2026, but we can create space where listeners feel safe bringing their real questions, their real gratitude, and their real lemons to God. Sometimes that’s where the most meaningful worship begins, and how cool is it that you and I get to be part of those moments?
A quick note: This article is grounded in our own experiences, reflections, and real conversations. AI tools were used as a writing assistant, with every word reviewed, shaped, and refined by a real human.