Tonight, I’ve been thinking about soul checks.

My mother used to send me a text every now and then whenever too much time had passed without hearing from me. Sometimes I was simply busy living life quietly, carrying things silently, moving through responsibilities without really stopping to process how I was doing emotionally or spiritually. But my mother always seemed to sense it. She wasn’t just checking on my schedule or whether I was physically okay. She was checking on my soul.

Lately, I feel her asking me that question again:

“Giselle, how’s your soul?”

This academic year, from August 2025 until now, has honestly been one of the hardest seasons my family and I have experienced in a very long time. Certain years in life become markers. You remember them not because of celebrations, but because of what they carried.

2015 was one of those years for me because that was the year my mother passed away.

Then, 2018 became another difficult milestone for our family. Ron lost his father on his mother’s birthday. Three months later, his mother passed away, and then only a few months after that, his oldest brother passed away as well. It felt like grief just kept arriving before we even had time to breathe.

Then came the uncertainty and suffering surrounding Ron’s health beginning in 2019 and leading into his first surgery on January 1, 2020. What followed were years filled with surgeries, recovery, fear, exhaustion, and moments where life changed overnight. There were days filled with uncertainty and long stretches where we simply tried to survive emotionally, spiritually, financially, and physically. Even now, Ron still continues yearly follow-ups with his vascular team because of everything his body endured during that season.

And then this school year began on my birthday, August 6, 2025, which was also the very day my aunt went into the hospital and would eventually expire in just a few short months. From that point on, it has felt like one heavy thing after another. More loss. More grief. More difficult news involving people we love deeply. Just wave after wave of emotional weight.

But this weekend reminded me that even in difficult seasons, God still gives us glimpses of strength, purpose, resilience, and grace.

This weekend, I had the opportunity to witness my husband complete another century ride, marking his ninth century ride within the past five to six years. Earlier today, as we reflected on everything he has endured and overcome since 2020, Ron shared something with me that honestly left me speechless. Since his surgeries and recovery journey began, he has ridden more than 34,000 miles across 1,653 rides, all while continuing to push through with his left leg and foot, determined to grow stronger physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually with every mile. Hence his nickname – Strong Jones!

Most people simply see a cyclist completing an impressive ride, but I see the testimony behind it. I see the surgeries. I see the amputations. Even our children joke lovingly sometimes and refer to him as “eight toes down,” but behind the humor is a very real journey of survival, adjustment, pain, and perseverance. I see the nights of neuropathy and lingering phantom pain. I see the recovery that never completely ends. I see the moments when I literally had to help him learn how to walk again. I see all the days when life could have easily broken his spirit, yet somehow, through faith, determination, movement, and grace, he kept going anyway.

And yet yesterday, he rode over 103 miles.

What moved me even more was hearing him explain that cycling does something for his soul. It helps his mental health. It gives him peace, clarity, release, healing, and strength. Honestly, I believe that is why we have become so passionate about spreading awareness that movement and mental health truly go hand in hand. Sometimes healing is not only found in medicine or procedures. Sometimes healing is also found in exercise, sunlight, community, fresh air, prayer, endurance, and simply refusing to stop living.

What inspired me even more this weekend was realizing that every rider beside him carried their own story, too. Every person out there pushing through hills and exhaustion was also pushing through something personal that life had handed them. Suffering has a way of making people stronger, softer, wiser, and more compassionate all at the same time if they allow it to.

As I sat reflecting today, even after receiving more difficult news involving our family, I realized something important. We are tired, yes. We have been stretched emotionally, yes. But we are still here.

And I think that matters more than we sometimes realize.

I also found myself reflecting on marriage, healing, and purpose. Ron and I have certainly had difficult seasons over the years like any couple does, but one thing I know with certainty is this: what God truly joins together cannot easily be destroyed. Life may test it. Pain may strain it. People may misunderstand it. Circumstances may shake it. But there is something powerful about relationships that are genuinely covered by grace, commitment, endurance, and God’s hand.

So tonight, my soul check is simply this:

I am reminding myself that setbacks may slow us down, but they do not have permission to stop us.

As long as we are yet living, there is still purpose ahead of us. There is still healing ahead of us. There is still work for us to do, still people for us to love, still testimonies to share, and still grace available for the journey.

So if you are carrying something heavy tonight, this is your reminder to pause for a moment and check on your soul.

Not your productivity.
Not your performance.
Not your appearance.

Your soul.

How are you really doing?

And have you been gentle with yourself lately?

In love and charity,

Giselle (aka) Blooming-Lillie