Slow Down to Rise Again

Discovering Spiritual Resilience and Hope in Grief

Callie Hime

When my mom passed away on Thanksgiving Day 2024, I didn’t know how to step back into life. After Christmas, I returned to work, but I wasn’t me anymore. I couldn’t pick up the same pace, because everything inside me had shifted. I didn’t fit in my own routines. I didn’t know how to merge back into the cadence of everyday life when my heart still carried grief.

The Weight of Returning After Loss

That’s where resilience had to take on a new meaning for me. I always thought resilience was about bouncing back quickly, about proving that you can keep going. But I was learning that resilience in faith looks different. It’s not pretending loss hasn’t changed you. It’s about finding a new rhythm with God.

Resilience comes from walking in step with Him.

God’s Invitation to Slow Down

By fourth quarter, after months of stumbling between exhaustion and striving, I finally came back into step with Him. And when I did, He whispered something unexpected: “Callie, I want you to sleep in the mornings.”

At first, I resisted. My church upbringing taught me that when life is hard, you dig deeper—you get up earlier, pray longer, and push harder. But God was calling me to something counterintuitive. He wasn’t asking for more striving; He was inviting me to rest.

That extra half hour of sleep each morning became His gift of resilience. It gave me space to breathe, listen, and heal. Resilience was about surrendering my pace to His. It was about slowing down to rise again.

The Exhaustion of Interval Training

Walking with God often feels like hiking with my kids when they were little. My son would lag behind like the “pokey little puppy,” and my daughter would rush ahead, eager to lead the way. Neither one found rest because they weren’t in step with me.

That’s how I lived for months after my mom’s death. I’d lag behind God in grief, then sprint ahead in stress, trying to keep up with everyone’s expectations. The result? Exhaustion. It was like spiritual interval training—always catching up or racing ahead, but never resting in step with Him.

How often am I doing interval training when God’s cadence is never demanding an interval training?

Resilience doesn’t come from constant sprinting. It comes from walking beside Him, finding His cadence, and letting Him set the rhythm.

The Shepherd’s Cadence

Psalm 23 has always been dear to me, but in this season, it spoke louder than ever: “He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters. He restores my soul” (Psalm 23:2–3 ESV).

Nothing in those verses describes a God who demands a relentless pace. Instead, He shifts cadence—sometimes calling us to lie down, sometimes leading us by still waters, sometimes walking through dark valleys. His invitation is to walk beside Him, not to run ahead or fall behind.

I’ve realized there’s a big difference between walking a few steps behind or ahead of God, and walking shoulder to shoulder with Him. When you’re right beside Him:
You hear His voice more clearly.

• You see His goodness more vividly.
• And you experience His presence in ways you’d miss if you were always catching up or rushing ahead.

There is a big difference between shoulder-to-shoulder conversation and being even a couple of steps ahead or behind.

I saw this most clearly in my mom’s final moments. On Thanksgiving morning, when God took her home, I remember an overwhelming awareness of His goodness. My dad and I could feel it—so deeply that it wasn’t even something to argue with or question. We knew it because we were clinging right next to Him.

Resilience Reframed

Here’s what I’ve come to believe: setbacks don’t disqualify us. They reshape us. Losing my mom reshaped my faith, my rhythms, and my definition of resilience. I didn’t snap back quickly—I slowed down. And in slowing down, I rose again, not in my own strength, but in the steady cadence of the Shepherd who restores my soul.

Resilience is not about trusting God to set the pace. It’s about surrendering your old rhythm when it no longer fits and receiving the new cadence He gives you.

Callie Hime

Callie Hime serves as the Middle School Dean of Student Life at Pusch Ridge Christian Academy in Tucson, Arizona, and brings nearly two decades of experience in education to her role. She has a genuine heart for guiding students and supporting their families. Her career is marked by a dedication to nurture young people academically, emotionally, and spiritually. Callie approaches her work with a personal touch that reflects her own faith journey and encourages spiritual growth in the students she serves.

Outside of work, Callie is a loving wife and mom to three teenagers, a family life that keeps her days full of energy and perspective. Through every season of life, she remains passionate about encouraging others in their faith and a steadfast hope in Christ.

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