Discover how to find your identity in Christ instead of productivity and learn why true rest begins with knowing whose you are.
Chasing that 90’s Summer: Creating Intentional Summer Rhythms
Rest, Grief, and Healing: Why I Stepped Away for a Season
When God Whispers a Promise (And You Keep Saying Yes)
Seven years ago, in 2019, I felt the Lord whisper something to my heart:
“You will write a book and a ministry will be born from it.”
At the time, I had no roadmap. No publishing plan. No strategy deck. Just a quiet nudge and a simple invitation to obey. And so I did the only thing I knew how to do — I started saying yes.
Yes to early mornings. Yes to writing when no one was reading. Yes to refining and rewriting. Yes to surrender when I didn’t see the full picture.
This last year, especially, has been one of the hardest of my life. There were moments I questioned myself. Moments I wondered if I had heard God clearly. Moments that felt like pruning more than progress.
But here’s what I’m seeing now: God was constructing something far beyond what I could see.
It’s not just the book or a ministry. It’s a message from my heart born from lived experience.
The Heart Behind A Pace of Grace
A Pace of Grace: Steady Your Spirit When Life Gets Messy was not written from a place of having it all figured out but written in that messy middle. In the tension between a full calendar and a worn out spirit. Knowing there is more to this life in Christ than what I was living. It was written in the wrestling of identity and in the quiet spaces where God gently reminds us who we are.
This book is:
• Rooted identity — knowing you are a daughter before you are anything else
• Stillness in a noisy world
• Letting go of hustle and embracing grace
• Finding joy in ordinary moments
• Choosing obedience when the outcome is unclear
• Building real, life-giving community
It is an invitation to slow down enough to hear God’s voice. It is trading anxiety for God’s steadiness.
It is a place to focus on Jesus’ pace that’s shaped by grace instead of cultural pressures. And it’s a reminder to remember that messy seasons are not wasted ones.
The Obedience Before the Outcome
What excites me most this week isn’t that a book is releasing, it’s that God continues to keep His promises.
A vision He gave me in 2019, is finally coming to fruition. 7 years later… And through it all, He sustained me. Through seasons of uncertainty, He sustained me. He refined the message through real life — through motherhood, ministry shifts, disappointment, healing, and joy.
I did not muscle this message into existence. I showed up when I didn’t think I had it in me. I listened. I followed. I surrendered. I obeyed. And He built it!
When I didn’t know how it would come together, He told me the next thing. When I had no idea what to write, I would hear the gentle nudge of “write that down”. I’m in awe of how He used me in this. A simple yes — That alone feels like a miracle.
My Prayer for You
If you are in a season that feels messy…
If you feel stretched thin but still know you are called…
If you are tired of striving and ready to breathe again…
This book is for you.
My prayer is that when you hold these pages, you feel seen.
That your shoulders relax.
That your spirit steadies.
That you are reminded you are rooted in Christ — and from that place, you can radiate His beauty.
A Pace of Grace releases Tuesday, and I could not be more grateful for the journey that brought it here.
If you’d like to learn more or grab your copy, you can find all the details here:
A Pace of Grace - Steady Your Spirit When Life Gets Messy
Thank you for being part of this story. Truly.
Love & Blessings,
Heather 🤍
Rooted in Christ. Radiating His beauty. 🌻
The Joy of the Lord
I was talking with a friend recently about something that keeps catching my attention.
It’s the theme of “joy”.
A friend is painting something beautiful centered around it.
Another is releasing her very first song anchored in Nehemiah 8:10.
Books are coming out with joy woven through the pages.
Conversations keep circling back to it.
It’s even in the book I have coming out March 10th!
It’s everywhere right now! I’m loving it!
And I just keep thinking… What is God doing?
When the same theme starts rising in different spaces, through different people, who don’t all know each other… I don’t think that’s random. I can’t help but wonder what is in store for the people of God when this is the common thread being woven together by the Creator of the universe.
It feels like preparation. Not hype or surface-level positivity… But something deeper… steadier.
And honestly, that’s why I wrote about it in A Pace of Grace.
Life isn’t easy and Trials and hardships will come to each of us. But there is good news, my friends: the joy of the Lord is not dependent on our circumstances. Joy in the Lord flows from the Holy Spirit within us.
Life is full of both mountaintops and valleys; yet the joy that can only come from the Lord remains constant. Scripture reminds us, “The joy of the Lord is your strength!” (Nehemiah 8:10). This is a deep, sustaining joy that steadies us even in hardship.
When trials come, we don’t have to pretend they don’t hurt. Instead, we lean into a God who promises His presence, peace, and strength. That’s the part I love.
There isn’t a need to pretend or fake it. We don’t slap a Bible verse on pain and call it healed. Joy is not denial. It’s anchoring. Paul wrote, “Rejoice in the Lord always” (Philippians 4:4) — and he wrote that from prison. His rejoicing didn’t mean chains weren’t real. It meant God was bigger than them. That feels so important in this season.
Joy is not the same thing as happiness. Happiness comes and goes. It rises and falls with circumstances. It’s tied to outcomes. Joy is different. Joy is a fruit of the Spirit because it comes from the Lord. It cannot be created or willed into existence.
Joy is knowing God is faithful even when you don’t understand the storyline. Joy is being able to whisper, “It is well with my soul,” while still admitting, “This is hard.” Pain and joy can sit at the same table.
And I wonder if that’s what God is strengthening in His people right now; a steady, Spirit-formed joy that can hold weight. Maybe we’re being prepared. Maybe joy is the foundation for what’s coming next. Maybe before new assignments, new doors, new growth… He is rooting us deeper. And if that’s true, I want it!
I want to be rooted in Christ.
I want to radiate His beauty.
I want to walk into whatever is next with a spirit that is steady — not because life is calm, but because He is.
If you’ve been sensing this theme too… lean in. Pay attention. Ask Him what He’s strengthening in you… And the surrender and walk in obedience! “For his anger lasts only a moment, but his favor lasts a lifetime! Weeping may last through the night, but joy comes with the morning.” Psalms 30:5 NLT
Book Release - 2.5 Weeks!!
If you’re longing for that kind of steady joy, that’s exactly why I wrote A Pace of Grace: Steadying Your Spirit When Life Is Messy.
This book isn’t about trying harder or smiling through chaos. It’s about learning to anchor your heart in truth when everything around you feels uncertain.
If this message resonates, I’d love for you to grab a copy. You can find it here:
https://amzn.to/4auvrM0
Upcoming Speaking Engagement
I’m speaking at the Faith in the Little Years Summit on Day 3, Sunday, March 8th at 10AM EST about Grace in the Chaos: Seeking God when Motherhood feels overwhelming. You’re invited!
Get all the details and grab your free ticket here https://heyheather--amanda-stores.thrivecart.com/raising-littles-with-purpose-pack-after/698cdf409b368/ !
Healing Isn’t Linear: Redeeming a Day I Once Dreaded
Healing isn’t linear.
It doesn’t move in neat, forward-facing lines. It loops and circles back. It surprises you in ordinary moments. And sometimes, grief hits differently depending on the season you’re in.
On February 13, 2001, my grandma passed away.
I was in sixth grade, getting ready for our Valentine’s Day party at school. At the time, I loved Valentine’s Day. I loved the pink cards, the candy hearts, the joy of it all. But that day changed everything for me… in more ways than one.
For years afterward, Valentine’s Day wasn’t sweet. It was left as a reminder of my broken heart. A day that carried sorrow instead of the excitement it once had. Grief has a way of attaching itself to dates on a calendar, right? Even when life keeps moving, those dates can stop you in your tracks.
Over time, I found myself caring less about the holiday. It just didn’t feel important anymore.
But healing has a way of showing up in unexpected places.
When I started dating my husband, he made it a point to get me flowers every Valentine’s Day. I love flowers. Always have. But it wasn’t just about the bouquet. It was about the consistency. The way he honored something that had become complicated for me.
His steady love began healing something in me that I didn’t even realize still needed healing.
Later, when we found out we were pregnant with our first child (a girl), I shared a memory from my childhood that meant so much to me. Every Valentine’s Day, my dad would get my mom flowers… and he would get me flowers too. It was a sweet reminder that I had a dad that loved me and thought of me, even when he didn’t have to… since he married my mom when I was 6 years old.
My husband loved that tradition immediately. He has carried it on for our girls ever since. He is such a gift as a girl dad. Watching him hand them flowers each year feels like watching legacy unfold in real time.
And then came another layer of redemption.
I began something that started small as a galentines tea. It has now become Galentine’s Day Brunch and my girls look forward to it each year. This has offered a sweet redemption to January 13th, a date that used to make me curl up in a blanket and wait for the day to pass.
Every year, I set the table with intention. I set & decorate the table. I prepare the food. I set out a special game or craft. And as I do, I feel something holy happening in the chaos of my kitchen.
What was once a day I dreaded has become a day I prepare for with joy.
Fifteen years later, here I am — setting a table on a date that once marked heartbreak.
Healing isn’t linear.
Sometimes it looks like tears.
Sometimes it looks like flowers.
Sometimes it looks like a beautifully set table filled with little girls laughing.
God is so kind in the way He redeems our stories. He doesn’t erase the loss. He doesn’t pretend the grief didn’t happen. But He weaves beauty into it. He plants new memories where old pain used to live.
If you’re carrying a date that feels heavy, I want you to know this:
Redemption is possible.
It may take time. It may take new traditions. It may take brave love and gentle consistency.
But what once held sorrow can, by God’s grace, hold sweetness again.
A Gentle Prayer
Father,
You see the dates on our calendar that still ache.
You know the memories that feel tender and unresolved.
Would You meet us there?
Would You begin weaving beauty where grief once settled?
Give us courage to create new rhythms, to open our hearts again,
and to trust that You are still redeeming every part of our story.
Amen.
Soft Call to Action
If this resonates with you, you may also love my upcoming book, A Pace of Grace: Steadying Your Spirit When Life Is Messy. It’s an invitation to slow down, anchor your identity in Christ, and find peace even in the places that once felt painful.
You can learn more here → https://amzn.to/4kAPTiU
You Didn’t Fall Behind: Closing January with Grace
January has a way of sneaking in expectations we never intended to carry.
We begin with good intentions—fresh starts, new rhythms, hopeful plans—and somewhere along the way, the pressure creeps back in. The pressure to do more. To be more consistent. To prove we’re changing.
But as this month comes to a close, I want to offer you a gentle reminder:
You didn’t fall behind.
Because God was never measuring your progress the way the world does.
January wasn’t meant to be a test you passed or failed. It was an invitation—to slow down, to surrender, to let go of striving, and to learn what it looks like to walk at God’s pace. And invitations don’t expire just because a calendar page flips.
Grace Isn’t in the Completion — It’s in the Continuing
Maybe you started the month strong and felt grounded in stillness.
Maybe you tried, stumbled, and felt frustration rise up again.
Maybe you meant to slow down… but life didn’t cooperate.
Here’s the good news: grace meets you in all of it.
God isn’t waiting for you to arrive at some finished version of yourself before He delights in you. He walks with you in process. He’s present in the starting and the restarting. He’s just as near when you feel steady as when you feel scattered.
Obedience isn’t about perfect follow-through.
It’s about choosing to keep turning your heart back toward Him.
Again and again.
Without shame.
Without fear of getting it wrong.
What You Learned Matters — Even If It Feels Small
Growth often happens quietly.
It looks like noticing when your soul feels hurried.
Pausing before reacting.
Choosing rest even when it feels countercultural.
Letting something go instead of pushing through one more thing.
You may not have kept every intention or practiced every rhythm perfectly—but if your heart became even slightly more aware of God’s presence this month, that matters.
Small shifts create deep roots.
And God does some of His most transformative work below the surface, long before anything looks different on the outside.
You’re Allowed to Carry January with You
As much as the world tells us it’s time to move on—new month, new focus, new expectations—God’s invitations aren’t bound by dates.
You can keep choosing stillness.
You can keep practicing surrender.
You can keep walking gently.
You can keep letting obedience be light.
Nothing needs to be forced.
Nothing needs to be rushed.
Nothing needs to be earned.
Grace doesn’t rush you forward.
Grace walks beside you.
A Simple Reflection Before Moving On
Before stepping into what comes next, I invite you to pause and reflect:
• What is one thing God showed you about your pace this month?
• Where did you feel most at peace?
• What is one striving habit you want to keep releasing?
Write it down. Pray over it. Hold it gently.
Let January’s lessons become February’s foundation—not pressure, just presence.
Remember This Above All Else
God never asked you to have it all figured out by January 31st.
He asked you to walk with Him—and you did.
And every step you took, even the uncertain ones, mattered.
As we close this month, may you move forward knowing this:
You are not behind.
You are held.
And grace is still setting the pace.
✨ A Personal Invitation
If this post felt like it put words to what your heart has been sensing this month, A Pace of Grace was written with you in mind.
This book isn’t a formula or a productivity plan—it’s a gentle invitation to slow down, stop striving, and learn how to walk with God in a way that brings peace instead of pressure. It was written from the middle of real life, imperfect rhythms, and honest questions about faith, rest, obedience, and surrender.
A Pace of Grace is for the woman who loves Jesus but feels weary.
For the one who wants to follow God faithfully without burning out.
For the one learning that obedience doesn’t have to be heavy and rest is a spiritual practice, not a reward.
As January closes and you look ahead, my prayer is that this book would walk beside you—reminding you that you are not behind, you are deeply loved, and grace is still setting the pace.
✨ A Pace of Grace is available for pre-order with a release date of March 10.
Thank you for walking this journey with me.
When Letting Go Feels Like Losing Control
Surrender isn’t waving a white flag in defeat—it’s choosing trust over control. In a world that glorifies hustle and hyper-independence, the call to “let go and let God” sounds like foolishness. But God’s pace often begins where ours ends. In this post, you’ll reflect on how surrendering your own plans doesn’t mean giving up—it means stepping into the peace that only comes when God leads. Share a moment from your own story when surrender led to unexpected peace.
When the Outcome Isn’t What You Expected
You obeyed.
You prayed.
You trusted.
And then… it didn’t turn out the way you imagined.
What do you do when obedience doesn’t lead to the outcome you hoped for?
Maybe the ministry didn’t grow.
Maybe the relationship didn’t heal.
Maybe the opportunity closed.
Maybe you felt alone in your yes.
It’s in these moments we find out what our obedience was really rooted in.
“Obedience is not a transaction; it’s a transformation. God isn’t after results. He’s after your heart.”
– A Pace of Grace, Chapter 5
Sometimes we obey hoping it will produce something visible—something we can measure. But God is often doing something invisible.
Something eternal.
He’s forming you.
Training your trust.
Building your endurance.
And teaching you how to walk by faith, not by outcome.
“God isn’t only working through your obedience—He’s working in you as you obey.”
The fruit may not look like what you expected.
But that doesn’t mean your yes was wasted.
You never know what God is protecting you from, preparing you for, or producing behind the scenes.
So don’t let a disappointing outcome convince you that God didn’t move.
He did.
He is.
And He will.
Because obedience that honors Him always bears fruit.
Even if it takes a while to see.
Reflect + Respond:
Has obedience ever led you somewhere unexpected?
What did you learn about God—or about yourself—in that process?
Don’t measure the worth of your obedience by the size of the outcome.
Measure it by the nearness of your Savior.
Scripture for the Week:
“Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to Him, and He will make your paths straight.”
—Proverbs 3:5–6 (NIV)
💛 From the Pages of A Pace of Grace
This post wraps up our August Called series, inspired by Chapter 5 of my upcoming book, A Pace of Grace.
Because grace doesn’t always show up in the result—
Sometimes, it shows up in the middle of your yes.
Coming February 2026 from Leafwood Publishers.
Small Steps, Big Faith
We often think of calling as this big, dramatic, spotlight moment.
A lightning bolt from heaven.
A stage. A mission. A moment of total clarity.
But more often?
It starts with something small.
One faithful yes.
One hard conversation.
One decision to show up when no one’s watching.
“Faithfulness in the small things trains us to recognize God’s voice in the big things.”
– A Pace of Grace, Chapter 5
Sometimes we miss God’s invitation because we’re waiting for it to feel bigger.
But obedience isn’t measured by how flashy it looks.
It’s measured by faith.
I think about Nehemiah.
He didn’t start by building a wall.
He started by weeping for his people and asking the king for permission to help.
Before he ever held a tool, he held a burden—and obeyed one step at a time.
God isn’t just calling us to “do big things.”
He’s calling us to be faithful in the little things—
because that’s how He builds something lasting.
“Sometimes God’s plan doesn’t feel significant until you look back and see the pattern of small yeses stacked like stones of faith.”
When you feel overlooked, underestimated, or like what you’re doing isn’t enough—
Remember: small obedience still matters.
God sees it.
He blesses it.
And He builds something holy through it.
Reflect + Respond:
What small step is God asking you to take this week?
Are you overlooking something small because it doesn’t feel “important enough”?
Ask the Holy Spirit to show you what faithfulness looks like today. Then, trust Him with tomorrow.
Scripture for the Week:
“Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much…”
—Luke 16:10 (NIV)
💛 From the Pages of A Pace of Grace
This week’s post is shaped by Chapter 5 of my upcoming book, A Pace of Grace.
Because faithfulness isn’t always about what we do—it’s about who we’re becoming in the process.
Coming February 2026 from Leafwood Publishers.