Life lately has been… a lot.
😣 A lot of change.
💔 A lot of heartache.
🙌🏻 A lot of surrendering what I thought things would look like.
A couple of months ago, I stepped into a completely new season. I brought my sweet newborn granddaughter into our home under emergency guardianship, thinking it would just be for a little while. We were told this was temporary. A short chapter. Just until things settled down.
But that chapter has started turning into a whole new book.
Without going into every painful detail, a recent event forced me to make one of the hardest decisions I’ve ever had to make as a mother—I had to ask my own child to leave our home. Not out of anger, but out of love. Out of protection. Out of wisdom. And with that decision came another: moving from temporary guardianship to becoming a certified kinship foster parent for this precious baby girl.
Suddenly, this is no longer a short season. This is becoming our new reality. And with that shift, a million other things began shifting too.
💼 The job I loved? I had to leave it to care for this baby full-time.
📖 The Bible study courses I poured my heart into creating? They launched with hope but landed with silence. I tried. I prayed. I showed up. I marketed. I trusted. And still, not one single person enrolled.
🎁 The subscription boxes I built with care? The video devotionals I filmed with passion? The multiple platforms and pivots I worked so hard to bring to life? They all flopped. Every single one.
But somewhere in the middle of all of that striving, God was gently calling me back to the one thing He first placed in my heart: writing.
Not just course content. But writing. Fiction. Non-fiction. Devotionals. Blogs. Encouragement through words. Not to try and make money this time. I have learned that I need to trust in God alone to provide. Not to be known or filled with accolades. I have learned to desire that only God’s glory be reflected in every situation. But just to get back to sharing my heart, my testimonies, and my faith – with the hope that what I am doing will strengthen and encourage each heart that receives my works and every pair of hands that holds the words of my Kingdom calling.
And I’ve come full circle.
I keep trying different avenues, hoping they’ll be “the thing” that works. But God keeps showing me that the calling hasn’t changed—it’s just been buried under layers of hustle, noise, and pressure. This isn’t relinquishing my calling. It’s redirecting it to its original purpose.
And honestly? That feels really good. To be honest, it felt like failure. But over and over again, God has whispered to my weary heart: “This is still part of the story.”
Here’s what I’m learning in this unexpected season:
Failure is not the end. It’s fertilizer.
🌳 It’s messy. It’s humbling. It stinks sometimes. But it also makes way for new things to grow.
🌷 When our plans flop, God isn’t shocked. When our hearts break, He doesn’t run. He draws near. He gets in the dirt with us and starts planting something new.
🌱 And slowly, I’m seeing little shoots of hope.
I’m finding joy again in the giggles of this baby girl. I’m finding peace in knowing I’m exactly where I’m meant to be, even if it’s not where I expected. I’m discovering new ideas, new rhythms, and new ways to encourage others who might be walking through their own life storms. And most of all, I’m developing a deeper trust in God and his guidance of my life than I have ever had before.
So friend, if you’re also holding the broken pieces of what you thought your life would be right now, know this:
You are not alone.
You are not behind.
You are not forgotten.
God is still writing your story. And sometimes, the chapters with the biggest plot twists turn out to be the most beautiful.
Thanks for walking this journey with me. I’ll keep showing up, one prayer (and one iced coffee) at a time. 🧋
With love,
Debbie 💚
Bloom In The Bible 