Still Standing. Still Becoming. Still Undaunted.

You guys. I gotta tell you, this has been a rough week. Not rough like I've had a headache for a couple of days (even though I have) or rough like my bum knee is extra hurty (even though it is). No.

Rough like seventy-seven degrees. Inside. For three days.

And here's the thing: I know I write a lot about Undaunted living. I've even written multiple posts about why I'm so in love with that particular term. I've written about resilience and perspective, and I've spent years sharing about choosing joy and how taking charge of your mindset can change your life, right there in the middle of dealing with setbacks. But that attitude was forged in the fire of life lessons learned on the battlefield.

Because I'm not just sharing tips I picked up from self-help books. I'm not regurgitating secondhand teachings from some formal education on stress management and personal growth. I don't pick up my phone, use AI as a diary, and let it tell me who I am or what my life means. And I certainly don't collect inspirational quotes just to post them and call it wisdom. The things I write about are lessons I lived first.

I'm out here learning perseverance and emotional resilience the hard way, in the trenches, just like you. Still learning how to stay positive when everything goes wrong. Still figuring out what to do when life keeps throwing obstacles in the way. And yes, still finding joy in stressful situations—even when I have to dig around a little because it's hidden in the struggle.

That's why, when I spent a sweaty half-hour wondering why I couldn't breathe on Friday afternoon, it wasn't a shock to see 75° on the thermostat in my dining room. It's why I was almost (but not quite) amused when I turned the A/C off and on again, only for nothing to happen. And it's why I laughed out loud when I switched it from Auto to Fan, only to realize that wasn't working either.

I'm a 68° girl in perimenopause, y'all. I'm forty-two years old and seventy-five degrees ain't it.

But as easy as it is to talk the talk when it comes to holding gratitude and staying positive...your girl spent the weekend walking the walk.

I've spent a lot of time in the last few months sitting quietly behind the scenes, trying to put words to the heart of what I write. And I've realized that regardless of whether it's me on the blog or a character in one of my stories, the theme is always the same.

It's always a woman standing in the middle of her worst case scenario—when everything goes wrong, when she's exhausted from constantly overcoming obstacles, when she's run fresh out of faith and resilience and she's tempted to quit but she doesn't. And I use words to paint a picture of the woman Still Standing.

I tell you where she went, who she met. How finding peace in those moments changed the fabric of who she used to be and altered the course of who she is now. And through the chapters of her story, my desire is always to offer you hope. Because like her...and like me...you're Still Becoming.

Every time you read something I've written, I pray you walk away with hope you didn't have before. I pray you recognize pieces of yourself in these stories—because it's okay to feel reminded that you're not alone. And because if you're still standing and still becoming, Still Undaunted is the honor badge you purchase with gritted teeth and determination.

But it's easy to love a slogan when life is behaving itself. So what about those moments when it all goes wrong? What about the sting your heart feels when it's like the whole universe is poking fun at you? What about when your air conditioner dies the same weekend you're responsible for showing up to share Jesus at a crowded youth conference?

What about when the A/C is just the opening act in a brand new series of Unfortunate Events? For me, it looks like this:

Friday morning. Wake up already pre-tired. Conferences are hard for me because I do not group. I am not a people person. I'm old enough to think most teenagers are intentionally disconnected, and I'm chronically annoyed by the constant attachment to phones. But I love my students with my whole heart, so I prep a backpack. Pain meds for my knee? Check. Bible for studying? Check. Leader notes for small group sessions between teachings? Check. I am prepared.

"But like, why's it so hot in here?"

For some people, maybe the A/C going out is just inconvenient. For others, perhaps it's a serious emergency. For me, when it's the second time this summer and both times were on the weekend when my apartment's maintenance office is closed, it's an irritating coincidence. But right at the beginning of conference weekend?

My daughter and I always listen to the same Andy Mineo CD on the way to this conference. It's on blast—and on repeat—the whole way there, and the whole way back. This year, we chose to bus with our church campus instead of driving (because surprise, my car has no A/C either)...and my CD player ate my CD. We got through half of one song, thirty seconds of classic 1990s CD skipping, and then the screen went blank. After which, it said, in all caps, "NO CD."

Pardon me? No A/C and no CD, either? I don't think so. Now there's a tone of spiritual warfare that's beginning to feel personal. And I am NOT about to let my attitude get ruined before conference. (Also, I take this as a sign that this conference is gonna SLAM.)

So we switch to the radio. It's cool. We'll get Jesus on blast through K-Love. Except we can't, because the station is all static. So we flip to Air1. Which is also static.

And all I can picture in my mind as my daughter and I are chatting about perspective is Satan doing that little virus tantrum from Dr. Mario (start this video at 1:02 and watch the red virus at the bottom left—you'll laugh, I promise), and it's hilarious. We laughed all the way to the church, where we boarded a bus (that also had no A/C), and let me tell you something.

The me from ten years ago would've been discouraged. Distracted. Defeated. Probably dangerously close to flat-out enraged. But the Friday me? The sweaty, slightly asthmatic me from this weekend? She was defiant enough to be absolutely pumped.

She took her meds. She made do with limited caffeination. She raised her hands and closed her eyes and let God speak through all the noise.

Because struggle isn't unique to Christians or non-Christians, and neither is ownership of your perspective. Undaunted living isn't about effortless living, and it isn't about refusing to tell the truth when something's wrong. We don't build resilience in the absence of interruptions, and we don't get stronger without struggling.

Undaunted living is refusing to let temporary frustrations steal permanent joy. It's looking around at situations that border on ridiculous, and finding reasons to laugh anyway.

Maybe it's keeping your heart open so you don't miss the moment when nearly 700 teenagers put their phones down to worship all at once. Maybe it's the tears that fill your eyes when little hands raise quietly around the room as the generation who will one day rule the world responds to the gospel. Maybe it's making new friends and fostering new connections, or finding the courage to keep moving when your knee smarts and your back aches and the boy beside you smells like onion tacos...but he's sobbing as he surrenders to Jesus...and you set your hand on his shoulder to pray.

*****

Let me caution you, though. Don't mistake mindset for miracles. I had a great weekend, but my knee still hurts and I'm still exhausted. The maintenance guy never showed up despite an emergency work order, and I'm relying on inhalers I haven't needed in months. I'm still unhappily uncaffeinated. But my heart is full.

And as I sat sweating through this post, nauseated from the heat, several neighborhood boys stood below my open window, arguing about why they aren't friends anymore because one of them keeps telling people another one's "business." They can't be older than 10 years old. Seriously.

So at what point do we decide what kind of story we're living?

This is where Undaunted comes in, not only as a brand but as a lifestyle—because hardship and inconvenience do not deserve to play the main character role in your story. Is it part of the story? Sure. There's no getting around it, because we all go through hard times.

And you don't have to win every battle either. You can't. No one does.

But you can show up. You can stand up. You can become the kind of person who grows through the struggle. And you can choose, no matter how sweaty you are, to...

Like my content? Feel free to leave a comment—or share this post with someone you know!