I wasn’t planning to look back this week.

Honestly, my brain’s been a little foggy, and I figured I’d just ease into the next theme. But then I found myself scrolling through the tools we’ve walked through over the last 9 weeks… and something unexpected happened. I caught myself smiling.

Not because everything suddenly made sense.
Not because I did it all flawlessly.
But because I could see little places where steady work has slowly taken root.

A calmer breath here.
A kinder thought toward myself there.
A moment when I didn’t spiral like I once would have.

It reminded me that most of the real progress in healing doesn’t announce itself with trumpets.

It shows up in quiet corners — when you’re simply living your life and realize, “Oh… I handled that differently.”

So this week, I’m taking a slow look over my shoulder and noticing what God has carried me through. And maybe you’re doing the same. Maybe you can see even one small way the ground beneath you feels a little steadier than it did a few months ago. That’s worth honoring.

And now we get to look ahead.

Not with pressure.
Not with big expectations.
Just with a soft awareness that we’re stepping toward a season that can be… complicated.

The holidays hold so many layers for trauma survivors

Memories, expectations, emptiness, tenderness, hope, and quiet aches sometimes sneak up when we least expect it. As we move toward that season, I want you to know you’re not alone. I’m paying attention to these emotional shifts in myself too, and I want to make space for both the joy and the weight of it. I’ll talk more about that next week.

In two weeks, we’ll start a simple new rhythm shaped around the four Advent themes — hope, peace, joy, and love.

The themes of Advent are not easy for survivors to embrace so we’ll spend time looking at each theme with compassion and care.

Faith in the Fog

I’m excited to share Faith In the Fog with you. It’s full of stories, reflections, tools, scriptures and resources that helped me heal and I hope they will help you move forward in your journey. Advance copies are available now and include a free Toolkit PDF. If you’ve already pre-ordered, thank you. If you haven’t yet, you can find it here.

Stay Connected

If you’d like to keep walking with me through updates, new tools, and reflections, and have access to a downloadable worksheet for each week’s Tool of the Week, you can join my list here.

Pray • Share • Give

If this reflection encouraged you, would you take a moment to:
– Pray — that Faith in the Fog finds its way into the hands of those who need its message of hope and healing and that I listen to God’s voice in all that I do.
– Share — this post with someone who might need the reminder that they’re not walking alone.
– Give — if you’d like to help make it possible for Faith in the Fog to reach those who need help navigating the fog of healing, you can do that here.