The Wilderness Before the Breakthrough: When Calling Finds You in the Ruins
Introduction
I didn’t set out to start a ministry.
I thought I was just trying to get healthy trying to figure out what worked for my body. I was tired of the weight gain, the inflammation, the brain fog, the sugar addiction that seemed impossible to break.
Maybe that’s where you are too.
Maybe you're doing everything you can to feel better, but something still feels off.
That’s where I was.
But in the process, God was doing something far deeper.
He wasn’t just healing my body.
He was restoring my voice.
What began as a simple wellness journey slowly revealed itself to be something sacred.
Because it turns out, our health struggles aren't just physical.
They’re often connected to the places where we’ve been silenced, overlooked, or wounded.
One night in my backyard after years of betrayal, silence, and feeling dismissed I said something out loud I never expected:
“I feel renewed. I feel transformed. I have a voice.”
And that voice stayed with me.
It grew. It deepened.
And eventually, it became what I now know as Glow Beyond Fifty.
At first, I thought it was just a brand a place to help women over 50 with their health.
But beneath it all was something I couldn’t ignore:
A call from God that couldn’t be separated from who I am.
A voice that had been waiting to rise.
And one day, I heard it loud and clear:
“This is not just wellness. This is your ministry.”
Maybe you’ve felt it too…
Like you’re in wait mode as if your flight has been delayed indefinitely and no one’s telling you when it’s going to take off.
You keep showing up, boarding pass in hand, but there's no clear answer.
Minutes stretch into hours. Hope fades. And the silence makes you wonder if you were ever meant to fly at all.
That’s what it feels like when your voice is buried.
That’s what it feels like when your calling is still cocooned.
But I’m here to tell you:
Your gate hasn’t closed.
Your departure is not canceled.
You are not too late.
“Just because you haven’t taken off yet doesn’t mean your flight’s been canceled. God’s not late He’s just preparing the runway.”
When Wellness Isn’t Enough
For a long time, I thought I was just searching for health. I wanted to feel better in my body to lose the weight, get off the medications, and finally stop the exhausting cycle of sugar cravings. And little by little, I did. The outside transformation was real. Tangible. But something inside still felt… unfinished.
Maybe you’ve felt that too.
You start the wellness journey, and things improve but deep down, there’s a part of you still aching. Still waiting. Still wondering if there’s more. Maybe you’ve felt like an old, worn-out shoe, used up, pushed aside, like your best days are behind you.
That’s where I found myself.
I started Glow Beyond Fifty to share what had worked for me hoping it might help other women over 50 who were feeling lost like I once did. And while I built guides, ebooks, and practical tools, there was something deeper that kept tugging at me.
There was still a wound under the wellness.
There was still a silence beneath the desire for success.
There was still a calling I hadn’t quite named.
And maybe you’re feeling it too that quiet inner ache that whispers, “Is this all there is?”
Here’s what I didn’t realize back then:
Healing isn’t just about what you’re leaving behind.
It’s about who you’re becoming.
I wasn’t just being restored.
I was being recommissioned.
“God doesn’t just want you well. He wants you whole.”
The Breaking Before the Breakthrough
The breakthrough didn’t come in a church service. It didn’t arrive after a perfectly planned prayer. It came in an ordinary moment one I wasn’t expecting.
And maybe that’s how it happens for most of us.
No spotlight. No grand announcement. Just a sudden shift in the quiet, where something in your spirit cracks open and you realize: God has been here the whole time.
That’s what happened to me.
After years of feeling silenced, dismissed, and betrayed, it was like the dam broke and light came pouring through the fracture. And I saw it clearly for the first time:
The wilderness wasn’t the end.
It was the preparation ground.
The voice I didn’t think I had.
It had been there all along.
All those silent years where I questioned my worth, second-guessed my calling, and felt invisible they weren’t wasted. They were sacred. Not punishment. Not delay. A setup.
God was getting me ready.
To speak.
To carry freedom.
To rise.
And if you’ve ever wondered why your voice feels quiet… or if the silence means you’ve missed your moment… I want you to know:
Your silence isn’t the end of the story.
It might be the very place your voice is being formed.
That moment in my backyard was just the beginning.
Because soon after, the next move of God would find me this time, through a song.
A Voice Finds Its Anthem
Not long after that moment in the backyard, I was walking my dog Bailey through our favorite bird sanctuary park when a song began to play on my iPod “The Anthem” by Jesus Culture. I’d probably heard it before, but this time… something pierced through.
The lyrics.
The melody.
The declaration.
It was like heaven was singing directly to me.
“He’s calling. Wake up child. It’s your time to shine. You were born for such a time as this.”
I stopped right there on the path. Tears welled up, and I couldn’t take another step. The Lord was speaking so loud, so clear it echoed through every part of me.
I wasn’t just hearing a song.
I was hearing my story.
Maybe you know what that’s like when something ordinary becomes undeniably sacred. When God interrupts your routine and suddenly, you feel... seen.
For years, I had lived under silence. Shame. Striving.
But this?
This was the sound of resurrection.
Of identity.
Of freedom.
Something in me rose up.
Worship flooded into places that words had never touched.
And in that sacred moment, I knew:
This was the sound of my calling waking up.
Around that time, God gave me the name Grace Anthems. It was my first online ministry. I truly believed it was the beginning of something beautiful. But it never really took off. And I’ll be honest once again, I felt defeated.
Have you ever felt that way?
Like you tried to step out in faith… but nothing came of it?
Like maybe you heard wrong… or maybe you missed your chance?
Years passed.
The calling never left it just lingered in the background, unfulfilled.
Waiting.
Like a bird not yet ready to fly.
Then one day, I had what I thought was just a business idea:
Help women over 50.
Share how I got healthy.
Build something practical without mixing business and spiritual.
Just a way to help other aging women feel good in their skin.
Maybe you’ve done something similar tried to keep your spiritual life in one lane and your work, family, or passions in another. But God doesn't separate the sacred and the everyday. He weaves them together.
And that’s exactly what He showed me next.
After countless hours of work, deep learning curves, late nights, and quiet doubts… I found myself sleepless, asking Him for help.
His answer came like a lightning bolt to the heart:
“This isn’t just about the body. You can’t separate the spiritual from the everyday. This brand is the whole of you.”
That’s when I knew:
Glow Beyond Fifty was never just about digital downloads.
Never just about weight loss.
Never only about nutrition.
It was about deliverance.
About identity.
About voice.
About freedom.
God wasn’t asking me to simply share what worked for me.
He was asking me to open the gates.
To create a space where you and other women like us could step into healing, wholeness, and purpose.
To guide you deeper than diet culture.
To invite you to glow not with perfection, but with glory.
This isn’t a brand anymore.
It’s a ministry.
God used a song to resurrect what silence tried to bury.”
Conclusion: There’s Purpose in the Pause
Maybe you're in that quiet in-between right now.
Maybe the dream God gave you hasn’t taken off like you hoped.
Maybe you're doing all the “right” things eating better, moving your body, reading the books but still wondering why you feel stuck, heavy, or disconnected.
Maybe your voice has been buried for years under shame, busyness, or heartbreak.
If that's where you are, I want to tell you what I wish someone had told me:
The wilderness isn’t wasted.
It’s where God prepares you.
It’s where He refines the message.
It’s where your voice is strengthened by silence so when it rises, it carries truth, not just noise.
You don’t need another diet.
You don’t need another round of trying harder.
You need space to heal, to listen, and to come alive again spirit, soul, and body.
That’s why Glow Beyond Fifty exists.
Not just as a resource but as a refuge.
A place where women like you can finally breathe, heal, and remember who you are.
Because your body and your spirit were never meant to be separated.
And when the breakthrough comes, it won’t just change your health it will reignite your calling.
You’re not too late.
You’re not too hidden.
You’re not too broken.
You are right on time for what God is awakening in you.
“At 50+, you thought you were too late.
But God said, Now you're ready.”
Reflection Invitation:
Take a quiet moment.
Put on “The Anthem” by Jesus Culture.
Let the words wash over you.
Then ask God: What part of me are You trying to wake up?
Write it down. Speak it out.
Let it begin.
