The Woman Waiting for You

Happy Monday,

As I've written these letters over the past several weeks, I've found myself thinking about one woman over and over again. She isn't someone I know by name, yet I feel like I've met her a thousand times. She's the woman who quietly carries responsibilities that no one else sees. She faithfully pours into her family, her career, her ministry, and everyone around her, often placing her own dreams somewhere near the bottom of the list. She loves deeply, gives generously, and keeps moving forward, even on the days when she's exhausted.

Maybe, in some ways, she's you.

The beautiful thing about life is that none of us are meant to remain the same. God is always inviting us to grow, to heal, to trust Him more deeply, and to become more like the woman He created us to be. Yet becoming isn't always comfortable. It requires us to leave behind old fears, old disappointments, and sometimes even old versions of ourselves that no longer fit where God is leading us.

I don't believe the woman waiting for you is someone completely different. I believe she's already been growing inside of you, quietly and faithfully, even in seasons when you couldn't see it. She's becoming stronger through every challenge you've overcome. She's becoming wiser through every lesson life has taught you. She's becoming freer every time you choose faith instead of fear.

She isn't perfect.

She still has questions.

She still has moments when she wonders if she's enough.

But she refuses to quit.

She no longer measures her future by yesterday's disappointments because she's beginning to trust that God's plans have always been greater than her fears.

I think that's what I love most about transformation. It isn't about becoming someone else. It's about finally becoming yourself, the woman God saw from the very beginning.

As I think about this year's BAM TransformHER Retreat, I can't help but imagine what could happen when eleven women make the courageous decision to step away from the demands of everyday life and intentionally invest in the next chapter God is writing. I imagine mornings filled with quiet conversations with the Lord as the sun rises over the Gulf. I imagine women encouraging one another, praying together, sharing stories, laughing until their cheeks hurt, and discovering that healing often happens in the presence of people who simply understand.

That is why this retreat has never been just another event on the calendar.

It is a place to be encouraged when you've grown weary.

It is a place to be empowered when you've questioned your strength.

It is a place to be equipped for the purpose God has placed within you.

Most of all, it is a place where you can finally meet the woman you've been becoming all along.

As I finish this final letter, I want to leave you with one last question.

If nothing changed over the next year except one decision, what decision would your future self thank you for making?

Would she thank you for continuing to postpone your healing?

Would she thank you for waiting until life became less busy before investing in yourself?

Or would she thank you for having the courage to say yes when God quietly whispered that it was time?

Friend, I don't believe you're reading these words by accident. I believe every woman who has followed this journey has done so because something inside her has been stirred. Perhaps you've recognized yourself somewhere in these letters. Perhaps you've seen your own hopes, fears, and prayers reflected in these pages.

If that's true, then maybe this invitation has never simply been about attending a retreat.

Maybe it's about honoring the woman God has been forming through every season of your life.

This October, only eleven women will gather with me in Gulf Shores, Alabama. Eleven stories. Eleven journeys. Eleven opportunities to step away from the noise and step into God's presence with fresh expectation.

One of those places may have been prepared for you.

I would be honored to walk beside you as you step into your next chapter.

With love,

Pastor Tonya Harden
Life Coach & Purpose Mentor

BAM TransformHER Retreat
October 8–10, 2026
Gulf Shores, Alabama

Reserve your place today at tonyaharden.com/bam-retreat

Because there is still more in you.

And the woman waiting for you is ready to be met