Sacred Steam

The quiet place where gratitude, prayer, and purpose flow into clarity.

I thought that after my months-long hiatus, I’d return here rested, rejuvenated, and ready to share how keeping a daily gratitude journal for the past two months has helped me focus on the positive while weathering life’s storms. (I even have the picture to prove it—which I’ll still share because the pages are pretty, I’m proud of them, and they were helpful. I’ll likely revisit that topic in a future post.)

But the real story today is the epiphany I had in the shower this morning—that sacred space where most of my downloads seem to arrive. As I moved between prayer and praise, a clear and affirming truth settled over me:

I am exactly where I am meant to be, in this exact moment in time.

I know it sounds cliché, but when I pause to consider where I was ten years ago compared to where I am now, I’m astounded at how these two seasons mirror each other. If I didn’t believe life was a school before, I certainly do now.

After a decade away from the 8th grade classroom—a decade that included moving overseas, rising to Program Director at an English Language school, returning to the U.S. to work four years as a senior consultant in change management, publishing a book, and even experiencing almost a year of unemployment—I never imagined I’d find myself back here. Yet here I am, ten years later, in the same district, the same building, with the same principal, teaching the same subject and grade.

At first, I thought this return was a setback. How could I possibly be moving backwards after everything I’d accomplished? Sitting with that question forced me to reflect deeply. And in that reflection, I realized there’s no coincidence here. There’s a lesson. A purpose.

This full-circle moment feels intentional. My heart, mind, and sense of self have grown, healed, and evolved in profound ways over the past decade. And maybe—just maybe—this version of me is exactly who these students need. And perhaps, just as importantly, they are exactly who I need, too.

I step into the 2025–2026 school year with hopeful anticipation, ready to see what unfolds.