Author Rachel Valencourt

For the first time in years, I disappeared.

Not intentionally. Not permanently. Life simply had other plans.

If you’ve been here for a while, I want to begin with one thing: thank you.

Thank you for staying subscribed. I know it’s been far too long since I’ve shown up in your inbox, and I don’t take your patience for granted.

As writers, we love to think we’re the ones holding the pen. Then life reminds us that sometimes the most important chapters are the ones we never saw coming.

Over the past year, our family has experienced more change than I could have imagined. We said goodbye to someone we loved. We faced unexpected health challenges. We packed boxes and moved not once, but twice. We celebrated a sixteenth birthday. We watched our oldest daughter graduate and step into adulthood.

Some days felt like endings.

Others felt like beginnings.

Most felt like standing in the space between chapters, unsure of what the next page would bring.

If you’ve followed me for any length of time, you know I believe every life has a story. Mine is no different. What I’ve learned is that growth rarely happens during the highlight reel moments. It happens in the waiting. In the uncertainty. In the quiet seasons when God is doing work beneath the surface that we cannot yet see.

This past year taught me to slow down.

To listen.

To rest.

To trust.

For someone who always has a suitcase half packed, a book idea brewing, and a list of goals waiting to be tackled, that wasn’t easy.

But it was necessary.

The beautiful thing about stepping away is that eventually you begin to hear yourself again.

You remember what matters.

You remember who you are.

You remember the dreams that God placed on your heart in the first place.

As I write this, I’m sitting in our new home in California wine country, looking ahead to a season that feels full of possibility. I’m ready for new adventures, I’m ready for this new beginning and I’m ready for this new book to take shape in my imagination. Ideas that sat quietly for months are starting to stir again.

For the first time in a long while, I feel renewed.

Not because life suddenly became easy.

Not because every challenge has been resolved.

But because hope has a way of returning when we least expect it.

So if you’ve been wondering where I’ve been, the answer is simple.

I’ve been living.

I’ve been loving my family.

I’ve been healing.

I’ve been gathering stories.

And now, I’m finding my way back to my writing.

More than anything, I want you to know how much I appreciate you. Thank you for buying my books, leaving your reviews and spreading the word. The fact that you’re reading this post after such a long silence means more than I can say. While I may have stepped away for a season, I never stopped being grateful for this community and the privilege of sharing these stories with you.

Thank you for your patience.

And thank you for continuing to walk this journey with me.

I have a feeling the next chapter is going to be a good one.

With gratitude,