I wish you could’ve been at my most recent birthday party, tripping back through time, my life in pictures on the screen.  That blonde little tom-girl looking out at the camera, so unsure of herself. That young woman in love with the man of her dreams, holding tight to his arm, happiness oozing out every pore of her body. The tears that fell, seeing all those pictures of my strong, unforgettable Trent, who now lives in heaven. The young widow on stage in front of thousands, learning to breathe, beginning to dance again. The world-travels of a goofball, laughing her way across the world, mugging for the camera on planes and trains, drenched in the ocean, standing on top of mountains.

The seasons of my life flashed before my eyes—the joy, the pain, the mourning, the morning—I wish you could’ve seen it. Because if you could, you’d see how far I’ve come. You’d see how strong I’ve become. You’d know it’s only by God’s grace and power that I stand here. That I do anything at all.

But even before this birthday milestone, I knew I was ready to go there. I knew I was strong enough to lay it all out on the table for the world to hear, to express myself artistically in a whole new way, and to spill open my heart like never before.

Produced by Bernie Herms, Doug Beiden, Stephen Marshall and Brian Steckler, Stronger is nothing short of my testimony. It’s my story. It’s both a peek into my personal journal, as well as a response to what women and girls all over the world have shared with me. Women who are in seemingly impossible situations—adultery, divorce, abuse, trying to start over, trying to conceive, trying to hold on to faith when God seems silent. Stronger is my way of speaking life, saying, ‘Hold on to the truth that God will see you through this circumstance. Embrace all the possibilities of tomorrow, today. I’ve lived through the darkest of hours. I know what the other side looks like. And you can take me at my word. It’s not perfect, but it can still be glorious.