06/16/2026
Last night, I found myself in a room where I least expected to be completely broken open and rebuilt, my son’s tennis banquet.
We were standing in a crowded room, forming a massive circle around a man I had never met before one of the varsity coaches. We had just learned that he was starting his very first cancer treatment this morning. Everyone reached out, placing a hand directly on him or on the shoulder of the person next to them, creating a massive human chain of love, strength, and raw prayer.
In that moment, standing in a room full of people surrounding him, my heart wasn't filled with pity. It was flooded with this overwhelming, powerful mix of joy, strength, hope, and fierce honor for this man. When the circle broke, I ran to him. I hugged him as tightly and for as long as he would let me. It was the longest, best, most well-received, soul-to-soul hug I have ever given or received in my entire life. We cried together. He told me how much he loves and appreciates hugs, and in that space, we talked about how amazingly good God is. We serve such an amazing God. The coach looked at the road ahead and showed us what it means to have no fear. When you have such a deep awe, reverence, and fear for God, it doesn’t leave any room for any other type of fear. He knows he is held. He knows he is loved. He knows there is an eternity awaiting all of us.
Watching that, learning from him, and experiencing that through his emotions and words was the most rewarding feeling, one I knew I had to share today. Because it got me thinking: That could be any of us standing in the middle of that circle. We could be the one terrified for what this morning looks like, wondering what that treatment room feels like.
Fast forward to this morning. Right after dropping my daughter off, I got stopped at a train crossing. As the train roared past, the sun was hitting the windows, and the song "Passenger" by Alex Warren came on. Right there, stopped at the tracks, I burst into tears. I was crying, praying for the coach's treatment happening at that very moment, but I also found myself moving, almost dancing into the music in the middle of my sorrow.
It hit me what that train stop signified. In his song, Warren talks about feeling like a passenger in his own life, watching things happen from the sidelines rather than living them.
How many of us are doing exactly that? We get paralyzed by the hard things. But two opposite things can be true at the exact same time..
You can have joy, and still be deeply sad.
You can have a heartbreaking day, and still smile.
You can experience sorrow, and still dance while you wait for the train to pass.
Lately, in growing my business and trying to be more present online for The Renewal Lab, I’ve been trying to follow the rules, be more active, show up in the algorithms, like more, share more, do more so people can see the page. And honestly? It is so incredibly draining.
Social media holds so much good there is beautiful, uplifting content here for people who need it. But when we use it to escape, it becomes a taker. It takes our minutes, our brain space, and quietly turns into an avoidant tactic. I realized I was using the scroll to procrastinate on the real-life things I wanted to put off the laundry, the toilets, the sweeping But in doing that, it was stealing the fulfilling things the laughing, the playing, and the deep, present connection with my kids.
Being online is a drain. Being outside in the sun is not.
But this isn't just about social media. It's about a much bigger human condition. We are all going through hard things. It’s life. Every single one of us is carrying a cross, navigating a struggle, or facing a terrifying morning. But we don't have to do it alone, and we don't have to do it through somber, isolated actions.
Right now, we are all doing one of two things:
We are either living, hiding, and fearing behind our screens, our walls, and our comfort zones.....or we are suffering, thriving, smiling, and hugging our way through the fire.
Think about the last time you felt a true, personal connection. That deep, genuine warmth inside that lit up a moment, sparked your soul, and made you feel alive. Go there. Stay there. Share there. Love there. Hug there.
Stop hiding from your life. Get out of the passenger seat, take the wheel, and start truly living it.
Go out of your way to love on people today.
Hug your friends. Tell people you love them. Make it weird. Make it awkward. Make it completely embarrassing. Hold people up so fiercely that they have no choice but to feel seen, valued, and safe.
We are not alone in our trials unless we choose to be. We don’t live on social media; we live right here in the messy, gorgeous, heartbreaking physical world. Smile through the tears, give the longest hug of your life today, and remember that even on the hardest days, we can choose to thrive.
