I read a quote recently by Brianna Weist that stopped me in my tracks. “Little by little, you will begin to see that life can only grow outward in proportion to how stable it is inward…” Because it put words to something I had lived, but didn’t quite know how to explain. See, all those years ago when I was struggling, I felt like a little baby tree without proper roots or supports. I knew I needed to learn how to grow inward stability.
There was a time in my life when everything looked fine on the outside…”It’s fine, I’m fine, everything’s fine…” I had the husband, the kids, the house, the friends, the routines. I was doing all the right things: going to church, homeschooling, keeping the fridge and their bellies full, the wheels kept turning day after day. And people thought I had it together…shoot, I could even fool myself for a minute!
But deep down, I knew better. Inside, I was tired. Not just physically tired (although yes, that too). But emotionally drained. Mentally overloaded. Spiritually dry. My thoughts were spiraling constantly. My emotions were up and down. I couldn’t seem to catch my breath—mentally or spiritually.
I’ve already shared that I remember whispering to my husband many nights, “I’m so afraid. I don’t know how to get out of this. (And then once on the other side, I’m afraid of going back to that place. I don’t know if I can make it out again.”)
I was scared. Even though everything on the outside looked okay, my insides didn’t feel stable. I was trying to build my whole life on what felt like a shaky foundation.
That’s why the quote from Brianna Wiest hit me so hard.
“Life can only grow outward in proportion to how stable it is inward.”
Yes! That’s it. That’s the truth that any one of us rarely says out loud. We know it…we just know what to do about it.
The Outward Life We All Want
We all want the outward fruit, right?
We want peaceful homes.
We want meaningful relationships.
We want to walk in our God-given purpose.
We want clarity, joy, peace, and stability.
We want to feel like we’re finally living the life God meant for us to live.
And here’s what I’ve learned through hard-won wisdom:
You can’t grow outwardly if you’re crumbling inwardly.
You can’t pour into others from overflow when you’re constantly empty.
You can’t stay rooted in peace when your thoughts are always spinning.
And no one teaches us this! No one tells you how fragile you can feel on the inside, even when you’re doing everything “right.”
So What Do We Do?
We go inward, not in a self-centered, self-help, woo-woo way. We go inward with Jesus, grounded in the Truth and the Word. We start tending to our inner life the way we tend to everything else. We learn how to become stable on the inside — mentally, emotionally, and spiritually — regardless of what’s going on outside of us and ultimately, out of our control.
Scripture Has Always Known This
Romans 12:2 (NLT) says:
“Let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think.”
Not by changing your circumstances.
Not by fixing your spouse or calming your kids.
Not by giving you a new job or a bigger house or a picture-perfect morning routine.
But by changing the way you think.
That’s where the transformation begins. In your mind.
- Because your thoughts shape your emotions.
- Your emotions fuel your actions.
- And your actions determine the results in your life.
If the foundation of your thought life is unstable, everything built on top of it will start to wobble too.
The Science Says the Same
What I love is how beautifully the science of the brain confirms what Scripture has said all along. Thanks to neuroplasticity, we now know that your brain is capable of change. It’s not fixed. Your patterns of anxiety, worry, fear, and overthinking — they’re not permanent!!!
You can literally renew your mind.
You can rewire it.
You can retrain it.
But here’s the thing…
It won’t happen overnight.
It won’t be fixed by a Pinterest quote or one good quiet time.
It won’t be fixed by a new planner.
It won’t be fixed by a new organizational system.
Like the quote said, it happens little by little.
One thought at a time.
One pause instead of panic.
One moment where you choose to speak Scripture instead of spiraling.
What Stability Really Looks Like
When I first started this journey, I thought stability meant never feeling anxious again.
Nope.
Stability means I know what to do when anxiety hits.
It means I don’t let the spiral suck me under.
It means I can tell the difference between a thought and the truth.
It means I’ve practiced stopping and asking, “Is this thought serving me?”
It’s not perfection.
It’s not always calm seas.
It’s knowing how to anchor yourself when the storms come.
Little by Little…
The changes didn’t come in a dramatic, overnight moment…although I kind of wish…
They came slowly.
One journaling session at a time.
One scripture affirmation at a time.
One conversation with God at a time.
I stopped being afraid of my thoughts. (That was huge!!)
I stopped reacting out of fear.
I started renewing my mind.
And little by little…
I became inwardly stable.
And guess what?
That’s when my outer life started to change too.
I showed up differently.
I was more peaceful.
I made decisions with clarity instead of confusion.
I stopped bracing for the worst and started anticipating the best.
You Can Too
If you’re reading this and something in you is whispering, “This is what I need…” I want you to know this isn’t out of reach for you.
You’re not lazy. You’re not broken. You’re not crazy. You’re just mentally overloaded. Spiritually exhausted. Emotionally maxed out.
But there’s a way out—and it starts from the inside.
It starts with thought renewal.
It starts with surrender.
It starts with letting God transform you by changing the way you think.
Want Help Starting?
Helping you find your way out is why I created the Thought Renewal Blueprint.
It’s everything I wish I had when I was stuck in the spiral: practical, biblical, and backed by neuroscience. It will help you:
Understand how your thoughts work
Recognize your thought patterns
Replace toxic thoughts with truth
Build inner stability so you can grow outward again
This is the foundational work that sets everything else in motion.
Because you don’t just need more motivation. You need mental stability. And that, my friend, is something God is ready and willing to build in you.
You don’t have to keep holding it all together on shaky ground.
With love,
Jenny
Ready to grow stable from the inside out? Click here to get the Thought Renewal Blueprint and begin the slow, beautiful transformation from spiraling thoughts to anchored peace.
And if you need a little more personalized help, once you purchase the Blueprint, you have the option to purchase a one-time private one-on-one Life Coaching session at a special price only for Blueprint purchasers.
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