There was a season where it felt like everything was unraveling at once. Some of it came from choices I made—trusting people I knew deep down I shouldn’t have trusted. Some of it came from the wounds and actions of others. Hurt has a way of multiplying when hurt people are involved.

In what felt like a matter of days, my husband lost his job, we lost the place we called home, and our family was suddenly depending on others just to get by. Even in the refuge we were given, tension followed us. Relationships were strained, emotions were high, and eventually we had to move back to our home state.

I felt panic. Anger. Defeat. I felt like we had failed as parents. There were moments I didn’t know what to do except praise God for what He was still providing, even when I couldn’t understand what He was allowing.

The shift began when family helped bring us home and gave us a place to land. Distance from a place God was not calling us to brought clarity. But even more than a change in location, God met me as I sought Him daily. Through His Word, through prayer, and through people willing to speak truth into my life, He held me together.

What I thought was collapse became correction.

Over time, reconciliation came. Forgiveness came. We moved back to Florida stronger than before. My husband found a new career. Our family found peace and purpose again.

And looking back, I can see blessings I could not see then. I got nearly a year of memories with my mom before she passed—time I would have missed had none of this happened.

My “40” felt like loss. But God was working in it all.

My current situation is not my final destination.

If you’re still in your “40,” hold on. Things may feel uncertain, but God is not absent. He is working, even in what feels broken, and His ways are better than ours. There is peace on the other side of surrender.

41 Story Submissions
41 Story Submissions