The Surprising Mindset Shift That Helped Me Through a Crisis

I kept getting up to look at the clock and peek through the nurses’ window. Surely they should be finished by now, I kept thinking.

Our 22-year-old daughter was having emergency surgery, and honestly? It was one of the hardest things I’ve ever walked through. My dad had died two months earlier. My husband had been laid off from Dell the month before. But this - my baby girl on an operating table - this was the thing that pushed me to dig deeper than I ever had.

And here’s what that season taught me:

6 months after surgery & ready to graduate!

Even when almost everything was out of my control, God showed me what was still mine to steward:

I could choose my thoughts and emotions.

The default was panic, worry, and stress, but none of that was helping anyone (least of all me). In my notes app, right next to the emergency nurse number, I literally typed, “I have strength for this.” Romans 8:11 kept washing over me. God’s strength was holding me up even when my own felt paper-thin.

I could care for my own nervous system.

Yes, I was that woman singing hip-hop praise songs (Mandisa, anyone?) while bouncing a full foot in the air on the rebounder like my life depended on it. It helped.

Doing those two things gave me just enough margin to ask myself:
How do I want to show up for Olivia? What does she need from me? How can I best support her?

Wow. That season stretched me in ways I didn’t expect, but it also revealed how much my emotional capacity had grown. I was more resilient than I realized. God had been building strength in me long before I needed it. He’s just amazing like that!

And here’s the part I want you to hear, dear one:

This kind of resilience isn’t reserved for a few “strong women.” It’s something that can be learned, practiced, and strengthened, one thought at a time

If you’re in a season where life feels heavy…
or chaotic…
or like you’re being stretched in more directions than your nervous system can handle…

you don’t have to walk it alone.

This is exactly the kind of work I do with my coaching clients.

Together, we build emotional capacity. We calm your mind, settle your body, and help you show up to your real life with the kind of strength and peace you didn’t think you had access to.

If you’re ready to grow that quiet, grounded resilience from the inside out, I’d love to walk with you.

Click here to talk about working together, or to snag a spot in my Peace & Purpose Reset.

You have strength for this too. And you don’t have to find it alone.