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Written by Jason Montoya on . Posted in My Life.

2024 Reflections — Unmasking, Taking Responsibility, & Stepping Into The Void

It’s the time of year when I reflect on the year, before entering my annual blogging break. This annual reflection point blog post is my last post for 2024. I'll take a break from posting new content for at least a month. Visit the blog archives or past podcast episodes to hold you over during my break.

I'm grateful for the journey of life,

The friends and family along the way,

And the creator who makes it all possible.

rings of power, season 2, snapshot

“Faith is not faith if it is not lived.” - Captain Elendil, the Rings of Power, S2E6

One of the best ways to continue leveling up is by reflecting on the past. By reviewing and learning from our past, we continue growing.

This is the driving force of my annual reflection point.

Cataloging the highlights also brings the year into focus as a useful snapshot.

So, let's talk about 2024.

When the pandemic hit in 2020, I decided to move forward a year ahead of schedule with the Share Life podcast. That year's crises were catalysts for launching what was already brewing.

Similarly, many of my activities in 2024 were ideas and initiatives brewing, and the societal challenges we're now facing in America became the content of my activities. My blogging picked back up with a ton of writing and more podcast episodes with incredible interviews.

In addition, I became heavily active on all my social media channels (links are at the top or bottom of this page). Until now, I've been resistant to a steady social media campaign because of the commitment required, but when the trajectory of our country is at stake, I decided to embrace that commitment.

Much of the content of my activities was related to the topic of my book about Jesus' passion and my book about redeeming society.

From these foundations, I transitioned the insights and lessons learned from these projects into the real-world political situation and the 2024 presidential election (also extensions of the 2016 and 2020 elections).

Fundamentally, I rejected passivity, took responsibility, and embraced ownership for more parts of my life.

This extended to the political sphere, an area that I had been involved in at the margins over the last decade, and quite deeply almost twenty years ago. Now, it was time to dive in deep again, and publicly. The public outlet acted as a gateway to numerous offline and private interactions with people from all sides of the issues. Some interactions were amazing while others were horrible.

"Who we truly are as Christians, James teaches, depends on the unity of word and deed: we can show up either as hypocrites or as doers who act (1:25).

The unification of life and word stewards the Christian understanding of the human not only as it exists in Christians themselves — we are to see this when we look in the mirror — but also in public. To present the Lord of glory in and with our humanity, we must do it in public

- C. Kavin Rowe, Method, Context, and Meaning in New Testament Studies

As a Republican in a party where they won't acknowledge and accept responsibility for January 6th and all that preceded it, I've taken on that burden.

And regardless of where those who disagreed with me were coming from, I held onto the love of Christ as a guiding force as tightly as possible.

Engaging in controversial topics in tension with my community was a risky move, but it was also important for my transformation into a better and bolder leader. It was also an opportunity to remove splinters for my healing.

My word for our society this year is "unmasked". As the year unfolded, it seemed like we were moving towards a form of unmasking where we were all revealing who we were/are and what we wanted — the good, bad, and ugly.

So, in a sense, it's been a year of constant tension, and I've leveraged that tension for growth and transformation. I suspect this tension will continue to grow for the foreseeable future.

On other matters...

On top of my continued successful freelancing work amplifying income and influence for my clients, I also made it 40 years into this human journey (born in 1984) with an incredible wife and five kids, one of which got baptized earlier this year (video below). That's on top of getting a family Golden Retriever, Cait's therapy/service dog.

There was also a 20-year high school reunion! Details on that are below.

And, there are a few things in my life that have been as transformative as Space Base (haha). My sister got it for me for Christmas last year, and my neighbor and I have played probably a thousand games of Space Base! My son was active for a bit, but now my wife has joined me and my neighbor's dice game obsession.

Let's dive a little deeper into the 2024 highlights.

What's In This Reflection Point?

20 year high school reunion, flagstaff high school

A High School Reunion 20 Years In the Making

This past summer, we had our 20-year high school reunion (Flagstaff High School). I participated in the planning committee with Mariah and Abey in the year that preceded the event. Additionally, we also delayed the reunion a year (from 2023) and merged it into a multi-year reunion including several other classes in the mix!

Both planning and participating in this reunion were new experiences for me as I had done neither up to this point! Both were awesome ways to engage, and the reunion turned out to be amazing. Ironically, it was also a day of meeting and talking with many fellow students for the first time in a meaningful way. For others, it was seeing them again for the first time in over 20 years!

Anyway, here's a handful of photos from that reunion day this past July.

from the garden to the cross book cover

Turning 40: A Showcase of How Awesome Is My Wife

1984. That's the year I was born and on October 22nd of this year, I turned 40!

While the reason for the party was that I was turning 40, the big takeaway was just how awesome my wife was in planning and decorating for it.

As you'll see in the photos below, she went all out in showcasing my life, and bringing together friends and family from all parts of the country and different seasons of my life (thank you Staci for flying out to visit!)

The party was a Mexican Day of the Dead (Dia De Muertos) celebration. My wife's vision was that I shouldn't have to wait until I'm dead for people to share all the great things they see in me. She put together a book of photos and quotes from friends and family as well.

It's wild that I'm now 40. It doesn't feel like I suspected it would, twenty years ago!

Enjoy the party photos below.

My Son's Testimony & Baptism

Several years back, I shared Madison's baptism with you. 

Now I'm excited to follow up this year with another! David chose to share his story, proclaim his faith publicly, and get Baptized earlier this year.

You can watch his story and baptism in the video above.

path of the freelancer

Marketing Freelancing Flourishes & Experimenting With Alternative Forms of Income

I'm continually grateful for how my freelancing business has continued to flourish.

I'm now ten years into the journey and work continues to flow in. The clients I'm working with and the projects I'm involved in are great fits and I'm making good money.

While my hourly work continues, I've also been experimenting with other ways to make money that are not dependent on my time. This has involved some affiliate marketing income and I also got my first podcast sponsor this year.

Figuring out these alternative financial pathways is a clue to being able to do more of the type of work I love most (writing and podcasting).

Speaking of writing...

from the garden to the cross book cover

Book Update: From the Garden to the Cross

I feel like a broken record telling people how big of a book project From the Garden to the Cross turned out to be and how much work continues to be required to finish.

This year, I've made a large amount of progress on the book, by writing out sections that need work as blog posts (see below). And by sharing quotes and notes I've collected over the journey on social media.

So, this puts me somewhere around 85% complete.

My last 14 months of political activism have been a transformational learning process that has been critical for embodying and witnessing the dynamics and story of Jesus' passion experience. I've collected new insights and garnered helpful experiences during this tension-filled season of political activism.

My next big milestone on the book is working out all the sections that still need updating. I then need to blog them out (as I've been doing throughout this year spurred on by my weekday blogging challenge).

Once that's done and I have a coherent draft from beginning to end, I'll be 90% finished. I've got about 28 sections of the book that need this specific attention.

Once I get to 90%, it'll be much smoother sailing to finish as I read, remove, and update the manuscript towards being a finished work. I'll also get my first physical copy so that will be exciting.

Until then, it feels like a big uphill trek. I'll keep working my way through it until it's done.

In the meantime, you can read the parts of the book that I've posted here on the blog, listed below.

a cross in the sky in a field

Book 2 Update: Redeeming A Morally Bankrupt Society

As I announced earlier this year, I've been working on another book.

Yeah, I'm pregnant with book twins, haha.

This second book is a political one that explores the societal dynamics we're facing, and how we might overcome them towards a redeeming form of society (as opposed to the spiral downward into the abyss version) for us and the generations to follow.

Over the past 14 months, I've blogged a great deal of this book's content so I need to assemble it into a draft and identify the sections I've still got to work out. I suspect I'm around 50% complete with the book.

It certainly looks like America is in for a dark and tragic valley before we get to a possible redeeming destination. It's these types of dark moments that are revelatory of what is most important.

There are still a few chapters I need to work through including on the topics of political extremism, abortion, and climate change.

I'd also like to engage in multiple conversations with various authors of books I've read or want to read as part of this project to gain their insight on particular issues to explore.

If you'd like to understand why I call us a morally bankrupt society, check out this conversation with Jesse Nigro on the Share Life podcast where we discuss it further. In short, the following quote captures a part of the problem.

"...like a tacit collusion: a mode of working together in which each role-player furthers the role-playing of another. If we play the role of church leader in such a way as to avoid political struggles, we collude with the politicians who play the role of the führer and his supporters.

We can thus attend church on Sunday morning and the Nazi rally later in the afternoon with little to no sense of the discord, reinforcing the deadly power of the one and the political impotence of the other.

By such collusion, the playing of roles is reinforced, enhanced, and extended, thus magnifying its effects: the refusal of integrity literally takes on a life of its own as it becomes systematically embedded in a societal way of being.

Regardless of the few individual exceptions, society now as a whole lacks the ability to make the connections that preserve the unity of the self and, hence, the wholeness of the other. Indeed, in its role-playing collusions, it actively reinforces division: it is a society of incoherent or divided selves."  - C. Kavin Rowe, Method, Context, and Meaning in New Testament Studies

rioters and fire, at night, outdoors

Political Activism: My Year of Public Engagement As a Republican for Harris

"Stay and haunt my dreams. Can you take me there?

Be my beautiful nightmare."

- Bludynymph, Alan Walker, Neon Nights

Over a year ago, I decided to take a step into the political fray, publicly. My blindspot had been expecting the Republican party to magically change course and move away from Trump without intervention. That was a naive pipedream. Now, we can see how America is diving into the nihilistic abyss, together.

In the fall of 2023, I wanted to arrive at the end of 2024 without any regrets. After the 2020 election and January 6th specifically, I had regrets about not speaking out publicly.

This time, I was going to operate differently and step into the fray. I suspected the 2024 election was going to be close and Georgia would be one of the swing states.

If all was said and done, and Trump won by a slim margin in the swing state of Georgia, I did not want the regret not speaking out publicly. And so, I stepped into the fray as a Republican for Biden (and then Harris when Biden stepped down). 

If you want to understand why I was for Harris and against Trump, you can do so here.

What's Your Line?

"It's the accommodaters who actually facilitate potentially radical shifts if they really go along with the Trump administration. That's my fear.

Having lived in Russia through the foundational period of Putin, it was the people who I never thought would accommodate themselves to the Kremlin and who ultimately did, those were the things that actually consistently shocked me, and enabled his regime."

- Susan Glasser, How to Prepare for Trump 2.0

My question to Trump voters, going forward is simply, what is the line that if Trump or the Republican party crosses where you will push back? Where does your allegiance reside and how far does it go?

Trump has obliterated norms, operated outside the law and constitution, and is willing to leverage violence to take power.

His contempt for truth along with the foundation of his second term being revenge, we can expect this nightmare pattern of Trump's behavior, which has already damaged America, to continue.

So, how far will you continue to go along with Trump's faith in tragedy?

What started as a Republican project now seems to be an American one: America is on its way to being shaped in the image of Trump, with a strong faith in tragedy to bring us together.

I hope Americans like you and I will continue to speak the truth and demonstrate courage, even when it's costly. I pray that we will do the right thing when the walls close in.

The last 14 months have been a season of me practicing speaking the truth, doing the right thing when others don't like it and it's costly, while also inspiring others by courageously stepping into the void.

I encourage others to do the same. 

Ultimate Hope

Ultimately, my hope does not reside in America or its leaders. It rests on the shoulders of Jesus.

And sometimes God allows us to descend into the abyss so we're reminded of how dependent upon him we are and because of the freedom he gives us to make these choices.

Christ is the only exit from this world. All other exits - sexual rapture, political utopia, economic independence - are but blind alleys in which rot the corpses of the many who have tried them." - Seraphim Rose, Hat Tip to Paul Kingsnorth

May God give us grace in the next season of our story. And hey, I could be wrong...

America the Finger Trap

I think of America as a finger trap, the one where you put both fingers in the ends and try and get out it. The more you struggle, the harder it is to get out.

The idea is that the more America polarizes and calcifies; with one side or the other forcing their will upon the other, the more entrapped we become in the societal system structure and complexity.

We'll discover how true this is, and if enough force is used, whether the American finger trap will simply be broken and overridden altogether, or hold long enough for us to work things out and move forward.

America: We Learn The Hard Way

Rapid Fire Journal Notes, Lessons Learned, & Revelations

As the year has progressed, I've learned some lessons learned throughout the year.

Here are a few of them. I'll share more in 2025 as subsequent blog posts.

  • Refuge Seeking

    We humans don't like to be criticized. The more public we are, especially with social media, the more intense that pressure can sting. And this creates a dynamic to seek refuge in our fortresses.

    The antidote is being vulnerable, stepping outside our fortress, and taking risks for peace and relationships.

    Outside our fortress, that risk is higher, but when our identity and refuge are ultimately in Jesus Christ, where we go, so does our refuge.

    Christ's refuge is better than any human construct we create and while it won't eliminate the emotions we'll have in the journey, it does mitigate the fear and contempt that brews in our fortress.

    So, take that leap of faith and step out in courage in the one area of life you've resisted. You never know what hangs in the balance of shedding your refuge-seeking.

    Letting go of outcomes and the things we have to lose enables us to more effectively navigate challenging circumstances to do the right thing and take risks.

  • Weekday Blogging Challenge
    Thanks to Jim Karwisch for spurring me and others on to launch another weekday blogging challenge.

    It's been a few years since the last one and because I'm a writer, it was great to get the words flowing at a higher clip. The momentum was great for moving along my progress as I blogged many sections of my book, From the Garden to the Cross.

    If a friend ever needs a collaborating partner for a blogging challenge, I'm always available.

  • Paintballing With the Boys
    Cait bought a day of paintballing with two of my boys and their neighborhood friend. I've not been paintballing since 2005.

    It was pretty awesome to revisit this activity with my kiddos. Our Paintball Atlanta experience was awesome and look forward to future visits. See some of the photos in the additional photos section below.

  • We Who Wrestle With God

    My cousin flew out from Arizona to stay with us, learn space base, visit the Georgia Aquarium, and see Jordan Peterson Live. My takeaway from his talk is that if we don't leave Egypt, we become part of Pharoah's tyranny.

create sign

Created Content

The Share Life Podcast Treks Onward

This year, I added 19 more episodes to the podcast. There are now 112 episodes in total!

This has been a great year for the Share Life podcast.

In the final interview episode of 2024, I had an incredible post-election conversation with Margaret Heffernan, who is an author and did the famous Ted Talk, Dare to Disagree.

If it were not for the dark societal dynamics unfolding and my activism in antagonism with my political party, I may never have reached out to Margaret. I'm grateful she generously offered to share 45 minutes with us.

You can watch or listen to our conversation about the journey ahead here.

Other highlights from the podcast include

Explore these new episodes below!

View All Podcast Episodes

Additional Blog Posts

In addition to the blog posts I shared throughout this page, I've also written some other blog posts on other topics. You can explore them below.
View All Blog Posts

Guest Interviews

As usual, I had multiple opportunities to share my insights as a guest on other podcasts. You can explore them below.

My Wall of Consulting Client Gratitude

I would not be successful without my many wonderful clients.

Thank you all for choosing to work with me!

  1. Mike Troncoso and Oya Dela Osa at Robbins Geller Rudman & Dowd LLP
  3. Wimberly, Lawson, Steckel, Schneider, & Stine, P.C.
  4. Richard Bembas & Curtis Gibbs of Ecotech Machine Tool
  6. Stout Creative
  7. Taxonomy Strategies
  8. Deenie McKeever of McKeever's First Ride
  9. JW Outfitters
  10. Barrett Sherrill & Fred Lemon & Associates
  11. Dr. Donald Capoferri & Precision Pain Relief Center
  12. Rick Davenport & Roofing Atlanta Inc.
  13. David Wittenberg of Wittenberg Law LLC.
  14. Riada Equipment
  15. SSS Pharmaceuticals
  16. The Johns Creek Chorale
  17. Jim Hampton of CityWatch LA
  18. Allison Miller of Destined for Glory
  19. Blessing Jonas of Dominion Revenue Services
  20. Jessica Lalley of Voices to Connect
  21. Lauren Lowe at Lauren Elaine Interiors
  22. Bryant Cornett of FullPorchPress
  23. Alicia Guillette at the Valley Box Company
  24. Don Schafer at True TV Plus
  25. Solar Crowdsource
If you'd like to join this list of clients and work with me next year, contact me here.
montoya family annual photo

Closing Thoughts

I've been blogging since 2014! So, thank you for joining me on this journey. 

My first annual reflection point was in November of 2014. This idea spawned on the back of Thanksgiving as a way to reflect on the year and share my gratitude for those who made my life and work possible; It was only eight months after I shut down my marketing company and shortly after I turned 30.

It's wild to think that I've been freelancing longer than I had Noodlehead Marketing and now I'm 40!

So much happened in that business in such a short period, it felt way longer than 7 years.

My prayer in that final year was asking if God wanted me to continue my mission inside the company or outside of it. And outside was the path that I followed.

My prayer now is as follows. Perhaps it will guide you in the season to follow as it has guided me in this past season I've trekked.

"Lord, please give me what I do not have, but need for the journey ahead. And, please take away that which I'm holding, that I need not hold any longer."

The adventure I began by leaving everything and everyone I knew, traveling across the country in 2005, has been a wild and fruitful journey, although not one without heartaches.

As we continue the adventure, it's critical that we only carry that which is needed for the adventure at hand and ahead. 

See you in 2025 as we traverse the void together.

montoya family annual photo

Family photos courtesy of Hannah Dawn Photography

Created on December 10, 2024.
Last updated on December 10, 2024.
Tags: Annual Reflection Point