Finding Balance in a New Season of Life

It’s been over a year since I last wrote a blog post. So much has happened since then.

In August 2025, my mom had emergency surgery, and I knew I needed to take a step back. She recovered from the surgery, but at 93 years old, she still deals with the aches, pains, and challenges that come from having lived a long life. She continues to amaze me.

During this past year, I stepped away from several things I had been doing—writing this blog, leading a Bible study, and even attending church regularly for a season. I also reduced the number of hours I was working at the chiropractic clinic. I needed time and space to focus on my mom and my family.

But one of the things I discovered during that time was that I also needed time and space for me.

Stepping back didn’t mean that I had stopped loving God or seeking Him. In many ways, it gave me room to be with Him without feeling like I always needed to be doing something for Him. My morning routine of coffee and Bible reading remained a consistent and grounding part of my days.

I also began scheduling—and actually keeping—monthly massages with a wonderful Christian massage therapist who incorporates prayer and listening to the Holy Spirit into her work. That may sound like a small thing, but it was one way I began giving myself permission to receive care instead of always being the one caring for everyone else. 

As life gradually settled into a new rhythm, my husband and I began talking and dreaming more seriously about retirement and what the next season of our lives might look like. Our adult kids in Phoenix recently moved from a small apartment into a house, and our family continues to experience changes and new beginnings. There is plenty that remains uncertain, but we are learning to take things one season at a time.

Life seems to be moving along at a rapid pace, and I am trying to do the opposite—to slow down, be present, and appreciate the season I am in instead of always rushing toward whatever comes next.

Another meaningful change this past year was completing a specific six-week eating plan. I lost 18 pounds, which gave me the motivating shot in the arm I needed to begin moving in the right direction again. I still have more weight I would like to lose, and I certainly haven’t followed the plan perfectly since finishing it. But I feel better, and more importantly, I was reminded that I really can make changes when I decide to be intentional.

That word—intentional—keeps coming back to me.

For me, sugar is rarely just about sugar. It can be comfort, reward, habit, or something I reach for when I am stressed, tired, or overwhelmed. Taking a break from it gives me an opportunity to pay attention not only to what I am eating, but also to what is happening in my heart.

So, with that in mind, I’ve decided that it’s time for me to do another 40-Day Sugar Fast—and I’ll be inviting others to join me.

This won’t be about perfection, punishment, or following one rigid definition of what it means to give up sugar. It will be about creating space to notice what we are reaching for, turning to God in the moments when we would normally turn to food, and choosing what we want most over what we want right now.

Maybe that is part of what this next season of Betsy’s Balanced Living is meant to be: not having everything figured out, but learning to live with greater intention—physically, emotionally, and spiritually.

I hope you’ll join me.