LET THE JOURNEY BEGIN.

You belong here.

OUR MISSION

WE ARE FOR SEEKERS, BELIEVERS, WANDERERS, AND CREATIVES.

Here, at The Way Back to Ourselves, we are committed to making a community where our members can slow down, take a deep breath, and find the way back to who they were always meant to be. And in that self-discovery, be it spiritual or otherwise, we become better people, parents, leaders, and creatives who impact our homes and communities toward a gentler, healthier, and more beautiful tomorrow.

We hope our content points others toward cultivating a quieter more creative life that is rooted in a creator-God who loves us and reveals himself through the divine beauty evident in our relationships, artistic expressions, natural surroundings, existential quandaries, and diverse experiences.

HOW THE JOURNEY BEGAN

Buy Kimberly’s best-selling poetry collection, Of Wings & Dirt, which chronicles her journey through critical illness.

A Beauty from Ashes Story

When I was 22, I was told by my doctor that I likely had something called endometriosis and would struggle to have children. At the time, I was young and seemingly invincible. The news bothered me when I heard it, but it felt like a reality I could control with diet, exercise, and modern science. Besides, I had my whole life ahead of me. I was finishing my bachelors from the University of South Florida at the top of my class in Secondary English Education, had my own thriving business, and was about to marry my high school sweetheart in the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina.

But I was wrong.

In the several short months after Michael and I got married, my endometriosis started stealing from us. It stole our precious moments and opportunities. It stole my fertility, our unborn children, my youth, my health, my ability to walk… And finally, as if that wasn’t enough, it almost stole my life.

Looking over our shoulders now, there is no doubt we were guided through this dark season by the steady hands of God. And though the pain was so much I could not feel him… And though the fear was so strong I could not see him… He ultimately made himself evident in the faces of the ones we loved the most, as our community of friends, family, colleagues, and church members came around us to help us survive this season in our lives. Their love and courage are selfless acts we will never forget.

I want to be honest. There is still so much sadness here. But there is so much JOY. Somehow, despite my disease, I was able to finally give birth to our daughter in 2017—after 12 years of marriage and just before my aggressive Stage 4 Endometriosis became a grenade in my abdomen. Michael and I say we prayed her into existence—and I think we are right.

In 2020, as the world shut down from Covid, I lost my ability to walk and function for the first time. In the course of 12 months, it happened again and again, and I was forced to undergo three aggressive surgeries to restore my mobility. And more horrifyingly, my second surgery gave me sepsis and post-surgical complications. I did not regain my ability to walk and function until several months after my third surgery, at which I had been bedridden on end in my own home as my family and I desperately looked for a cancer-GYN specialist in excision and fistulas who would operate on me. That life-saving surgery happened in July of 2021 because my best friend from high school, a nurse practitioner at a major Tampa Bay hospital, pulled strings for me to be seen. It was truly an ACT OF GOD. In the course of one whirlwind week, I was splayed on the surgeon’s table with a one-foot vertical incision through my abdomen. He took the majority of my disease. He took major organs. He took my ability to have more children. But in return, he gave me my life. And I will forever be grateful.

Unfortunately, after many months of rehab and dashed hopes, my health declined again in 2023, and I had to await more major surgery with a specialist to restore my ability to walk--again. That surgery happened in November of 2023, and I was miraculously healed. My disease is in remission, and we finally have hope!

Today, our daughter is a passionate, creative, quirky, tender-hearted six-year-old. And I am finally WALKING with her and my husband through this life I nearly lost. Yes, I walk with a limp—physically and figuratively. Yes, days are still hard. But in my darkest hours, I found a way to survive. I decided that even though this life is full of suffering, it is STILL WORTH IT. And that love is worth more to me than pain. So, I chose love.

I promised God, laying in my bed—facing down an unknown future—that if he spared me, I would MAKE MY DAYS COUNT. So here I am, humbly laying my life open—in all its tragedy and triumph—so you might find a kernel of hope, inspiration, or faith. For whatever reason, God wasn’t ready to graduate me to Heaven. And it's my journey to learn why.

I think one of those reasons is YOU.

Welcome to this community! I hope you sit and stay a while.

You belong here,

Kimberly

“For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord. Plans to give you hope and a future.”

— Jeremiah 29:11

Meet Our Team

Kimberly Phinney

FOUNDER & EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
Kimberly is a professional helper and artist completing her doctorate in community care and counseling. She is a professor, writer, editor, and counselor. During her critical illness in 2021-2022, she began dreaming about The Way Back to Ourselves and founded it in August of 2022. She is an award-winning and Pushcart Prize Nominated poet, and her writing has been published in Christianity Today, Ekstasis, Fathom, Truly Co, Radix, Calla Press, Humana Obscura, The Dewdrop, and many others. Her debut poetry collection, Of Wings & Dirt, which is inspired by her health journey, infertility, and miraculous motherhood, was published in April 2024 with Wipf & Stock and was a #1 New Release and Best Seller on Amazon. She is also at work on her next poetry collection and a nonfiction book on suffering and healing. She has been featured on Good Morning America and ABC News.
You can find Kimberly on Instagram @thewayback2ourselves and on Substack at thewayback2ourselves.substack.com. She writes about faith, suffering, mental health, community, the writer’s life, and more—all with the call to give authentic hope and encouragement to those who are trying to find their way back, too.
Kimberly Kralovic

ASSISTANT EDITOR & CONTRIBUTOR
Kimberly is a writer and an advocate for mental health and is host of the popular The Mental Fight podcast, featured on the Dawn app. Her previous work includes writing for A Wife Like Me, Dawn, Calla Press, and many others, including The Way Back to Ourselves. Her purpose is to ignite hope in the hearts of others, despite their struggles. She currently resides in Northwest Ohio with her husband.
You can find Kimberly on Instagram @kimberlykralovic, where she is busy writing and sharing beautiful content that points her audience toward God’s love and the perfect hope we have in our Father.
Sarah Steele

ASSISTANT EDITOR & CONTRIBUTOR
Sarah is a poet and lifelong teacher. These days, that looks like leading her four lively redheads in their Michigan homeschool and engaging with students of all ages in poetry workshops, watercolor classes, nature study, and neighborhood book clubs. She thrives on community that goes deep and is grounded on biblical truths. Sarah's poetry book, An Ocean Without, was published in 2024 and was a best seller on Amazon. You can find Sarah’s poems in The Fallow House, Calla Press, The Way Back to Ourselves, and other publications. She has published two alphabet books with her illustrator husband (yes, also a redhead) and is preparing to publish a poetry memoir about boundary-less living, codependency, debilitating anxiety, and the life-changing effect of a gentle counselor.
You can find Sarah’s work on Instagram @bysarahsteele where she shares thoughtful poetry, original watercolors, musings about boundaries, and the occasional song that bubbles up and over.
Ashley Whittemore

ASSISTANT EDITOR & CONTRIBUTOR
Ashley is a writer, poet, and former missionary. After moving back to the United States unexpectedly from a life overseas, she began writing about living in the tension of dreams deferred and hope sustained as a pathway to healing. Her previous work includes writing for Calla Press, Red Tent Living, The Way Back to Ourselves, and many others, including having poems and chapters published in various collaborative books. She currently lives in the Southeast with her husband and three kids. When she is not writing, you can find her triaging the needs of her garden and chickens or reading a good book.
You can find Ashley on Instagram @ash.whittemore where she shares poetry and prose that connects the reader’s heart to the tangible world around us, where God’s goodness is so often found in the simple elements of daily life.
Matt Nash

CONTRIBUTOR & AMBASSADOR
Matt is a writer, spiritual director, and former missionary in Rwanda. Matt has been published in Good Words for the Young: A Children’s Devotional, which is centered around the writings of George MacDonald. He is working on his first book, The Joy of Disruption, which will be published in 2025. Matt spent almost 30 years as a pastor and church planting trainer and recently founded Kardia Community, which provides soul care and spiritual formation for people. Matt has written for Church Planter Magazine and is a current ambassador and writer for Ekstasis Magazine. Matt lives with his wife Jeana and their daughter in San Diego and enjoys reading, traveling, and getting out to nature as much as he can living in the city.
You can find Matt on Instagram @matthewnash1 and on his Substack at aslanonthemove.substack.com. He writes about soul care, grief, mental health, and spiritual formation.
Heather Lobe Johnson

CONTRIBUTOR + INSTRUCTOR
Heather Lobe Johnson is a writer and speaker who believes God can redeem the most broken parts of our stories. She hosts the Take These Ashes podcast, which explores broken relationships, grief, forgiveness, anger, trauma, and how God’s redemption often looks different than what we pray or hope to see. Heather's writing has been published with (in)courage, The Way Back to Ourselves, and elsewhere. She is also founder of Loved Letters, a community on Instagram, which cultivates connection and poetry in our daily lives through prompts and other invitations. Heather also co-teacher the Poetry Cohort here at The Way Back to Ourselves with Kimberly Phinney.
Heather is a mama to two sweet boys, loves the mountains, and is writing one haiku a day this year.
Most of her work can be found on IG, and she’d love to connect with you there (@heatherlobejohnson).
Edward Holmes

CONTRIBUTOR + AMBASSADOR
Edward Holmes is a writer on a mission to spread hope into hearts through the written (and often spoken) word. He has written children's books, devotionals, and poetry collections. He shares new poems weekly through his podcast Life Lines. His writing is hopeful, humorous, and honest—all fueled by black coffee and dark chocolate.
Edward has an affinity with practical theology and biblical apologetics, previously serving as an evangelist and youth minister for seven years in Missouri. He currently resides in Illinois with his wife and kids, living every day with three reasons to keep hope alive.
If you find him online, say "Hi!" He'd love to strike up a conversation with you. You can find him on Instagram @edwardlee_on_ig.
Deidre Braley

CONTRIBUTOR + AMBASSADOR
Deidre Braley is a freelance writer and editor who lives in Maine with her husband, Ethan, and their children, Theodore, Vivian, and Alden. She is author of The Second Cup, a weekly blog on Substack that encourages women to blow past the small talk and get to the good stuff. Deidre serves as the Editorial Content Director at The Truly Co., and has been published in their publication, along with The Joyful Life Magazine, Aletheia Today, The Way Back to Ourselves, and others. Her debut chapbook, The Shape I Take, is out now with Bottlecap Press.
You can find Deidre on Instagram @deidressecondcup and at her website: www.thesecondcup.org.
Nicholas Trandahl

CONTRIBUTOR
Nicholas Trandahl is an award-winning Wyoming poet and author of four poetry collections, such as Mountain Song and All the Color, All the Wind. He was the recipient of the Wyoming Writers Milestone Award and has been repeatedly nominated for the Pushcart Prize. A husband and father, Trandahl draws inspiration from his excursions into the backcountry of the American West, his family, his time as a soldier, and from his search for holiness. Trandahl works as a journalist and serves as Mayor of his community. He’s also the poetry editor for The Dewdrop literary journal and is the chairman of the annual Eugene V. Shea National Poetry Contest.
You can find Nicholas on Instagram @nicholastrandahl where he shares his award-winning poetry and nature photography.
Steve Veasey

CONTRIBUTOR + AMBASSADOR
Steve Veasey is an illustrator and writer-author of the book, Thin Spaces. Steve goes by the moniker “Steve Can Draw” and illustrates and writes about his love for coffee, authenticity, mental health advocacy, and all things in between. He lives in the Okanagan in British Columbia, Canada with his wife and two kids, surrounded by lakes, mountains, and breathtaking landscapes. Steve is also passionate about leadership development and has created leadership training courses that are used in hundreds of retail stores all across Canada.
You can find Steve on Instagram @steve.can.draw and view more of his portfolio at www.stevecandraw.com.
Zaher Alajlani

CONTRIBUTOR
Zaher Alajlani is a Pushcart-nominated Syrian short-story author, editor, researcher, and translator living between Romania and Greece. His work has been featured in various publications, including Agape Review, Ariel Chart, Bandit Fiction, Active Muse, Altered Reality, Revista Echinox, The Way Back to Ourselves, and The Journal of Romanian Literary Studies. In addition to contributing to The Way Back to Ourselves, he is a prose editor for Agape Review and a proofreader for Metacritic Journal for Comparative Studies and Theory. Zaher has a Ph.D. from the Comparative Literature Department of Babes-Bolyai University of Cluj-Napoca. His research focuses on early modern horror fiction, the relationship between science and religion, morality and meaning, and the 19th-century mad scientist prototype. He speaks English, Arabic, Romanian, and Greek. Zaher is a member of the Panhellenic Association of Translators and the Association of Fiction Creators in Romania.