Maybe This Is Thriving
What if thriving isn't somewhere on the other side of everything that's hard? Maybe resilience isn't always dramatic. Maybe it's ordinary—showing up, loving, praying, hoping, and trying again tomorrow. I've spent so much time waiting for the next big thing that I'm beginning to wonder if I've misunderstood which parts were the big things all along.
And Then What?
What happens when the thing you've been waiting for finally happens? The new job. More money. The accomplishment. The recognition. The moment when it finally feels like it's "your turn." I've spent a lot of time believing happiness was waiting for me somewhere just up ahead—but lately, a much more uncomfortable question keeps showing up: And then what?
THRIVING: A Six-Month Check-In
Six months ago, I declared 2026 my Year of THRIVING. I was ready for abundance, opportunity, momentum, and a holy "watch this" moment from God. This essay explores what happened when my expectations collided with reality—and the surprising discovery that maybe God was changing me more than He was changing my circumstances.
In this six-month check-in, I'm not a millionaire, bestselling author, keynote speaker, or Broadway star. My back still hurts. The credit cards still exist. And yet... somehow, I'm thriving more than I was before. I reflect on marriage, family, teaching, faith, writing, and the surprising realization that maybe the life I've been looking for isn't somewhere else.
Maybe thriving isn't found in finally arriving. Maybe it's found in fully showing up where I already am.
Living in the And
I think I’ve been waiting for my life to start again. Waiting for my body to feel better, for the pain to ease, for things to go back to the way they were—or at least to something recognizable. I’ve told myself that once I’m healed, once this chapter is over, then I’ll fully live again. But lately I’ve started to wonder what it would mean to stop waiting.
When Everything Feels Like Too Much
Some weeks don’t arrive with a single breaking point—they just keep adding weight. That’s what this one felt like. Every day brought another responsibility, another decision, another thing that needed attention while my body and spirit were already stretched thin. I kept telling myself to push through, to stay focused, to keep moving forward. But underneath all of that was a quieter truth: I was exhausted, overwhelmed, and running out of margin.