It’s been a while since my last blog post. First, Happy Holidays and Happy New Year to you all.

The Whole Temple was always meant to be a space where I share what I am learning along my own journey. The entire heart behind this platform is simple. Wholeness matters. Mind, body, and spirit are deeply connected, and what affects one will inevitably affect the others.

My life is no exception.

In full transparency, I’ve been struggling with my mental health for a while now. Longer than I wanted to admit. Long enough that it began impacting my physical health and my spiritual well being.

I’ve found myself fighting exhaustion, overwhelm, anxiety, and depression. And when you’re in that space, it changes how you show up everywhere. It affects how you show up physically, working out, eating nourishing foods, taking care of your body. It affects how you show up spiritually, reading the Word, praying, spending time in God’s presence. It affects how you show up in purpose.

I knew I was dealing with something. I just didn’t realize how deep it had gotten.

If I’m honest, I tried to tuck it away neatly and compensate by going harder spiritually. I poured myself into feeding my spirit and pressing into purpose. And while feeding your spirit is never wrong, we are spirit beings, the reality is that we are housed in bodies and we have souls.

That reality cannot be ignored.

While I was focused on strengthening my spirit, my soul was quietly being neglected.

Our spirit is eternal and central. But while we are here on earth, we are called to steward every part of the temple. Ignoring our mental and emotional health does not make us more spiritual. It makes us fragmented.

And fragmentation eventually shows up.

The things I believe God is calling me to do, the impact, the obedience, the assignments, are all affected by my internal state. When one part of the temple begins to slip, the others eventually feel it. That’s exactly what I am experiencing.

The beautiful thing about God. He is patient. He is kind. He is not harsh while we learn. He is not frustrated while we heal. He is a healer, fully, completely, supernaturally.

I believe in miraculous healing.

I also believe in stewardship.

God can heal your mind and body in a moment. But if we return to the same patterns that contributed to the damage, we undermine the gift. Healing is not just something to receive. It is something to steward.

So in this season, stewardship looks like therapy. It looks like identifying unhealthy patterns. It looks like rest. It looks like boundaries. It looks like learning to care for my soul as intentionally as I care for my spirit.

And what I am holding onto is that I am already healed.

Not because I feel perfect.

Not because everything is resolved.

But because healing is not just an event. It is a covenant promise.

This season is teaching me that tending to the whole temple is not optional. It is obedience.

Scripture tells us in Proverbs 4:23 to guard your heart above all else, for everything you do flows from it. Your heart is not just your feelings. It is your mind, your will, and your emotions. It is the core of your soul. And according to the Word, everything flows from there.

If our heart is overwhelmed, everything flows from overwhelm.

If our heart is anxious, everything flows from anxiety.

If our heart is neglected, what flows will reflect that neglect.

Guarding your heart is not about building walls. It is about stewardship. It is about being intentional with what we allow in, what we rehearse in our minds, what we tolerate in our emotions, and what patterns we permit to remain.

When I neglected tending to my mental and emotional health, I was not guarding my heart well. And because everything flows from it, I saw the impact in my body, in my spiritual discipline, and even in how I carried purpose.

But God, in His kindness, is teaching me how to guard it properly. Not with fear. Not with isolation. But with wisdom, boundaries, healing, and truth.

Take a quiet moment and ask yourself:

Which part of my temple needs attention right now?

Is it my body?

Have I been running on empty, neglecting rest, ignoring signals that I am tired?

Is it my spirit?

Have I drifted from intentional time with God?

Or is it my soul?

Have I avoided emotions, buried disappointment, suppressed grief, or numbed what I did not want to face?

Have I been carrying thoughts that are heavy, anxious, overwhelming?

Invite God into that specific place.

Not the polished version.

Not the strong version.

The honest version.

Wholeness begins with awareness. Healing begins with invitation. Growth begins with humility.

You do not have to fix everything at once. You simply have to be willing to tend to what God highlights.

Ask Him what stewardship looks like in this season. It may look like rest. It may look like prayer. It may look like therapy. It may look like forgiveness. It may look like boundaries.

Whatever He reveals, trust that His grace will meet you there.

Your temple matters.

Every part of it.

And the goal is not perfection.

It is wholeness.