When Your Story Changes
As promised we made it down to Nashville so see JJ and Jamey :)
Every so often, you meet people whose lives hold up a mirror to your own. That’s how we felt talking with JJ and Jamey.
Their story is about coming out later in life, building a blended family, and learning to tell the truth after years of trying to fit a version of themselves that no longer worked. But underneath all of that is a question every one of us faces:
What do you do when your life no longer matches your soul?
You don’t have to be gay to feel that question.
You don’t have to come out to understand it.
You just have to be human.
Most of us eventually wake up to a quiet truth: something about our life, our faith, our identity, or our relationships needs to shift. And we’re afraid to name it because we don’t want to disappoint the people who shaped the earlier version of us. Or the community we came from. Or God or our greater belief.
Sometimes we’re even afraid of disappointing ourselves.
And yet, the story of nearly every adult I know is this:
Change comes for all of us.
Truth comes for all of us.
And when it does, we either hide or we grow.
JJ and Jamey chose growth, even when it meant uncertainty, fear, and starting over. They didn’t get clean answers. They didn’t get an easy path. They got grief, long conversations, therapy sessions, school transitions, slow rebuilding, and a lot of days where they had to ask themselves whether honesty was worth it.
But here’s the part that stays with me:
They also found peace.
They found joy.
And they found a life that finally felt like their own.
Not because it was simple.
But because they stopped pretending.
And this is where their story touches all of us, regardless of who we are or who we love.
Living Your Faith When Life Gets Honest
Many of us grew up with a faith that promised clarity and clean edges.
Then adulthood happened. Loss. Identity shifts. Marriage challenges. Parenting. Jobs that no longer fit. Beliefs that once held steady now feel too small.
Plenty of straight people I know aren’t wrestling with sexuality; they’re wrestling with:
A marriage that feels disconnected
A longing for a different kind of work
A church that no longer reflects their lived experience
A version of spirituality that doesn’t make room for real life
A sense that who they are becoming no longer fits the old script
We avoid naming these things because change feels like betrayal.
Letting go feels like failure.
Telling the truth feels like risking the life we’ve built.
But here’s what I’m learning, both from JJ and Jamie and from my own life:
Faith was never meant to freeze you in place.
Faith is meant to make you honest.
Faith is meant to make you whole.
Whatever faith means to you whether you call it God, Spirit, your greater belief, or a deep inner knowing the point is not to hold the old version of yourself together at all costs.
The point is to listen to the truth rising inside you.
Freedom rarely shows up without cost.
But it does show up with alignment.
The Hardest and Most Honest Work
The hardest part of change isn’t the change itself. It’s the courage to admit what’s real.
JJ and Jamey reminded me that truth-telling is not a single moment.
It’s a lifelong practice. A posture.
A way of honoring your own soul.
You may never walk their path, but you probably know your own version of this:
Where in my life does something no longer fit?
What truth am I afraid to say out loud?
What version of myself am I still trying to protect?
What would freedom look like in my actual life right now?
What is God or my greater belief inviting me to see, release, or trust?
And maybe the deepest question:
What if the spiritual work isn’t proving you’re right, but becoming someone honest enough to grow?
Why Their Story Matters for All of Us
JJ and Jamey didn’t just come out.
They came forward.
Into honesty.
Into alignment.
Into a life they could actually breathe in.
Most of us will never face their exact crossroads.
But all of us eventually face a moment where truth asks something from us.
Maybe that’s the real invitation of their story:
Where is your life asking for honesty, courage, and a deeper kind of freedom?
Because the moment you stop pretending, the moment you allow your story to shift,
the moment you trust God or your greater belief with who you’re becoming…
That’s the moment you finally step into a life that fits.
May you find the courage to keep telling the truth, and the grace to keep becoming.
Thanks for running with us,
Justin and Sarah
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