I recently came out of a long wilderness season where my family faced a lot of trials, and we are entering a season of NEW life. I am 10 years into building an impactful small business, and I am ready to transition into things I believe God is calling me to, all while raising two littles in two different phases of life (6.5 and 4 months) and working a part-time non-profit job. It’s one of those seasons where I am stretched thin, but I believe it is also a season where everything on my plate is what I am called to and that God has graced me to do it.

“Wholeness” for me means walking confidently in the fullness of who you are, the good and bad and ugly and complicated. It’s truly knowing your worth and where you come from and being able to face the day with your head held high knowing that you’re in and on purpose, no matter how it may look or feel. You trust and believe and have a God confidence in taking life step by step. I think when you can settle into God’s arms in that way, you can deal with any situation, be it work or play or relationships or finances and know that at the end of the day, it will ALL be okay and work out as it should.

In 2017, after being pretty sick with the flu virus, I started feeling pretty awful – unable to eat, body aches and thought I had meningitis because of the pain I was experiencing. After several visits to urgent care and the emergency room, I discovered I had Pneumonia and Congestive Heart Failure. At 34 years old and completely healthy, I had contracted a virus that sent me into critical condition and fighting for my life. After 16 very long days in the hospital, I started a year long recovery of getting myself better and a ton of self-work. I spent months re-evaluating my life, what made me happy, what made me sad and deciding what things I needed to put down, let go of and move on from and which things made me happy, brought joy, blessed my life and I needed more of. Taking that time to get to know myself again reminded me that there is always work to be done on ourselves and that we truly are always evolving, changing and growing. I gave myself permission to be different and to walk different and to change my mind about some things. Sometimes I feel like we need to allow ourselves the grace to begin again. Although I don’t believe I have it mastered, I know that 2017 was the springboard toward my journey to wholeness.

Those demands and expectations are not real. No one can put restrictions or requirements both on your life or time unless you let them. You are allowed to change your mind and walk in this world differently, and one way I was able to do that was establishing values to live by. I sat down and thought through what I hoped my life would stand for and then came up with 5-6 words that would represent that journey. It really has helped anchor me and helps guide my priorities. If the things that are in demand or competition for my time don’t align with my values, there really isn’t much to talk about, and I highly recommend that women who juggle a lot of different plates consider doing that too.

My name is Ruthie Ridley. I am a wife, mom of 3, registered nurse, worship leader and influencer. Overall, I am a compassionate creative. My current season is one of transition. I am contending for major breakthrough for our family for a new home and financial freedom!

Wholeness to me means constant connectedness to the King. In every season. Having an ongoing conversation throughout the day with Him is how I stay whole, simply giving Him thanks and recognizing all that I have to be thankful for. Another way I practice self-care in the Lord is through worship. There is no other powerful weapon or tool in the kingdom.

Worship. Always worship. Through really tough times I find that the Lord is closest to me and my ears are wide open in moments of worship. This is both in a corporate setting and one on one with the Lord. He WILL draw close to you if you draw close to Him.

Make time for yourself. No one else can do this. Take a moment to take a deep breath and focus on you and Jesus. Even if this is 20 minutes a day, it will make all the difference in the world. You are worth it.

My name is Nikole Lim, and I’m the executive director of Freely in Hope – equipping survivors to lead in ending the cycle of sexual violence. I’m a writer, speaker, and educator on restorative storytelling and survivor-leadership models.

Wholeness looks like the art of kintsuge – broken pieces of pottery that are mended together with pure gold. This image reminds me to accept the way things are within myself, while also moving toward the woman I am becoming, for she can be both broken and whole at the same time. Contemplative prayer in silence, stillness, and solitude allows me to pursue wholeness by practicing consenting to the presence of God, as the gold bonding agent, allowing God to do in me what I am unable to do in myself.

Finding peace within silence, listening to the inner voice within – knowing that experiences of pain are not just deepening my ability to feel but also expanding my capacity for joy. In the same way, despair expands our ability to find hope, and brokenness expands our recognition of beauty. Where there is suffering, there is also an invitation to love.

Overcoming our false identity and the lies that control us – as Henri Nouwen describes – ”I am what I do, I am what I have, I am what others say about me.” Countering these lies perpetuated by our ego allows us to move closer to who we truly are – beloved of God. Reject the inherent, but false belief that you are not enough. I believe that women hold all power within.

I’m a wife, mother, grandmother, entrepreneur and mentor. Very much a type A individual, whom my friends might classify as a performance junkie. In the last few years, there have been significant changes in my life. My husband and I sold our home of 31 years and traveled for 18 months. In the last year, we have resettled to a new area. This type of transition comes with many unknowns, as well as practicing the value of patience. As I have sought relationships and activity, to some He has essentially said “not yet”.

At one point in my life, my idea of wholeness could have easily been labeled “busyness.” I did not think of myself as “whole” unless my schedule was packed. In this last season, I’ve been forced to shed those misconceptions and move into a time of significant silence – not easy for a person like myself. There have been moments, more than I care to admit, when it has been difficult to engage spiritually with my God. I know He desires the entirety of my being. I cycle through periods of focusing on Him and way too many times where I focus on myself; old habits die hard.

A quote I recently heard from Ruth Haley Barton resonated to my core. “Without the regular experience of being received and loved by God in silence, we are vulnerable to a kind of life that is driven by a profound emptiness that we are seeking to fill through performance and achievement.” Silence can be difficult in our social media-driven, information overload culture.

In these days, I find wholeness in the abundance of His beautiful creation, taking long walks by the ocean, appreciating the company of my husband and building new community. I know He has more, but in the meantime, I try to find contentment in the silence, grateful for His unwavering steadfastness.

One of the most difficult times in my life came when I was selling a business at the same time my father was in the end stages of life. The pressures were extreme for me to be available for my parents, and continue to operate the business for my customers and employees to the best of my ability.

There were many days when I felt a wall stood before me, and that I only had the capacity to take a single step. In those times, I fell on my face before Him, asking for direction. I felt like I was clinging to a precipice. I also felt strangely confident in the direction He provided. He was faithful, although I was sure in those moments of doubt I would never make it through. There was nothing about me that was whole; I was lacking in so much. The wholeness didn’t come from me; it was Him. I could sense His peace, His presence and His fullness in such a profound way.

Abide in Him, which is essentially believe, trust, rest and receive. Trust that He is there to carry you through, even in the bleakest of times. As simplistic as this sounds, know that He wants you to bring it all before Him, every little detail. Worship Him through your struggle, you were made for His glory, and the greatest testament to this is our worship, even in those times when it is difficult to be in the Word.

Don’t be afraid to share your struggle with a trusted community, even if it’s a community of one. We are called to community, to hold one another up in prayer and bear one another’s burdens.

Know there are times of great producing, and times of pruning. He prunes so that more fruit will be produced, but during those pruning times can come pain. Endure, persevere and purpose yourself to walk into it, rather than away from it.

Love yourself. This is not something we talk about often. But we must love the person He made us to be. We can’t love others well unless we learn to love ourselves. This can mean becoming proficient in using the word “No”. Learn from the practice of Jesus and take time for yourself.

Understand that He is the one who brings us to wholeness, and it is in His time. We are not superhuman, regardless of what we may want to believe. There are no easy steps, and no formulas to apply. There is no guaranteed outcome to any situation, only the knowledge that He cares more than any of us can ever understand, and He will never leave or forsake us.

Maybe my Instagram bio says it best – I’m a wild heart, tamed by God…over the top about family…feisty work in progress…and Jesus is truly all I know. I write books, speak, podcast and lead a ministry called Ministry Strong. My current season is a 23 year marriage and 3 kids (16,18,21). We are doing our best to teach how to problem solve as young adults and, hopefully soon, pay their own bills. 🙂

Wholeness to me is honesty, from the inside-out. No hiding or denying. Working on getting better rather than settling for half-living. None of us will be fully whole until heaven, but the measure that we can be here on earth is worth pursuing with all we’ve got. Those are the things I practice myself – through prayer, counseling when needed, rest and accountability – to be well and whole.

One of the most powerful ways I have not been taken under by the things that have threatened to break me – from my pastor-dad’s scandal with the IRS, to my husband’s job loss, to my dad’s death a few years ago and all the disappointments and struggles in between – is accepting something I wish were something different. It is maybe the hardest most important thing I’ve ever done. It’s also an ongoing work Jesus has to help me with every day.

I get it. I feel you. What you experience is real and hard but also not impossible, because Jesus really can make all things well. Just stay in the journey and keep going. Don’t spend your time fighting for people to love you – you’ll stay exhausted. Focus on God’s love towards you. Don’t keep putting on emotional backpacks – it’s not your job to take care of everything. Hand over the day’s issues to God every night, and always put your hope in the “hope that will not disappoint” (Romans 5:5). I love you, and I fight for joy, too. It can be found.

I am Michelle Ana, a faith, beauty and lifestyle content creator. I’d say I’m in a hidden season where God has allowed me to deeply heal from some brokenness that I had experienced in my past. It’s a season filled with lots of “secret place” encounters.

Wholeness for me looks like the act of drawing near to my creator, believing and knowing that I am who HE says I am and not what my thoughts may try to convince me that I am. This requires me to make a daily decision to look at the facts that God provides in His word and not my reality.

I was in a very dark grieving season, where I felt like I lost everything, and on top of it all, my husband passed away in the beginning of a new year. My heart was in pieces, but I just knew that God was a sovereign God and that if He was able to do a miracle in my life before, He surely would do it again. After several months of therapy, writing in my journal, prayer and worship – I began to see light, God was putting my heart together again. There is daily maintenance that happens in my heart so that I can operate from a place of wholeness.

God responds when He hears his children, but sometimes it’s hard for us to delegate, walk away from or even say no to responsibilities that are so natural for us as women. There is a decision to be made that requires for us to assess our daily lives and think about how much more loving, patient and efficient we’d be if we operated from a place of wholeness. Therefore, I’d say begin to steward your time, responsibilities and work accordingly, so that wholeness can find its way into your heart and life.