As I was thinking about healing, I couldn't help but think about trees.
Stay with me for a second. Every year, a tree lets go of its leaves, not because the leaves were bad, but because they were only meant for a season. By letting them go, the tree conserves its energy, strengthens its roots, and prepares for the new growth that's coming.
I wonder if healing is much the same. As women—and especially as mothers—we spend so much of our lives carrying responsibilities, expectations, disappointments, guilt, fear, and sometimes even identities that no longer fit who we're becoming. We wear them for years: the strong one, the fixer, the people pleaser, the woman who puts herself last, the mom who believes everyone else's needs matter more than her own. Like a tree releasing its leaves at the end of a season, healing has a gentle way of whispering, "It's time to let go of what no longer belongs."
Not because those seasons didn't matter, and not because those experiences didn't shape you, but because they were never meant to become your permanent identity. Just as a tree releases its leaves when the season changes, healing often asks us to let go of what once served a purpose but is no longer meant to remain. Sometimes that looks like sleeping more because your body needs restoration. Sometimes it's unexpected tears because your heart is making room for peace. Sometimes it's setting boundaries that once felt impossible or saying goodbye to relationships, habits, or beliefs that helped you survive but no longer help you thrive.
Growth often asks us to release before we can receive. And the beautiful thing is that what emerges isn't someone completely different... It's someone who has been there all along, covered by layers that were never meant to stay forever. So if this season feels unfamiliar... if you're resting more, if you're crying without always knowing why, if you're becoming less willing to settle for what drains you... trust the process and know this may be exactly what healing looks like.
You're not falling apart. Like a tree in autumn, you may simply be letting go of what was only meant for a season, and in time, that surrender makes room for new growth, more peace, more freedom, more joy, and more of the woman God created you to be.
