Life can be good again

Posted: 1 year ago

Life can be good again

Life can be good again.

I think we have this idea that a “good” life looks a lot like our old one, the one before the unexpected up-ended everything.

That’s not the good I’m talking about. The good I’m referring to is not getting our life from before back but, instead, life anew.

Several years ago, one of my close friends walked through hell on earth. Recently, I visited her and I was just in awe of the life she has re-built and is building. It’s not what she expected. It’s unexpected. And also, so very her- full of frequent visitors and land and animals and kids. It’s so very good.

Life may never be the same after experiencing the unexpected. But it can be beautiful. It can be full of people. (Perhaps different people than you envisioned). And it can be full of love.

God doesn’t necessarily just take our broken pieces and put them back together. I think oftentimes, He works by adding in new ones. And the result is something different than what we started with. It has familiarity, yes. It has traces of what was. The darker shades remain in this sculpture. But He adds in new vibrant hues, full of new experiences and people, and new purposes, too.

He helps us to rebuild our lives while also rebuilding us in the process. The result is an ever-evolving, harsh and lovely and good creation.

There can be a good life, a new life on the other side of the unexpected.

Thank God for that.
This is the message of my book, ”The Gift of the Unexpected- Discovering Who You were Meant to be When Life Goes off Plan”: https://amzn.to/3Xuejy3 (affiliate)

Jillian Benfield

I used to be a resurrection person

I used to be a resurrection person. I used to want to skip over the messiness of holy week—the betrayal, the trial, the torture. I

Glass art Marriages

My husband and I have been through hell and back. More than once. We were broken for a time, yes. But instead of staying that

You have permission to live at a different pace than what was once required of you

I wonder if you’re someone who has lived life as if it were an emergency…because it was. Perhaps you’re like me and walked the halls

why i wouldn’t takeaway the pain of my past

“If you could go back and take it away- would you?” My husband asked me this question over a fancy dinner this past weekend. After

Speaker Inquiries & Requests

For all media inquiries, please contact

The Gift of the Unexpected

What if the unexpected is the beginning of becoming your truest self?

Jillian Benfield was living life in the spotlight as a TV journalist, but after receiving a life-altering diagnosis for her unborn son, she realized no camera-ready outfit could dress up her grief. Overcoming this unexpected circumstance wasn’t an option. She would have to undergo it instead. In doing so, she discovered who she was and who God wanted her to become.

In this riveting story filled with grit and grace, Jillian helps you break down the false constructs you’ve built around God and your identity. You won’t avoid your pain, but you’ll learn to feel it, in a healing way. And you’ll discover how your internal transformation leads to external purpose.

No matter what you’re going through, you’re invited to open this gift: The Gift of the Unexpected

The book is available on