Today, We Make Room for the Men
October 20, 2026 — Official Release Day
Today, I’m celebrating something that means more to me than seeing my name on another book.
Today, Healing in Broken Places — The Men’s Journey is released.
When we talk about healing, we often talk about women.
We talk about the wounds we carry, the relationships that changed us, the disappointments we survived, and the courage it takes to begin again.
But what about the men?
Who asks the man who has spent his entire life being strong whether he’s tired?
Who asks the father who provided for everyone whether anyone ever provided a safe place for him?
Who asks the husband, the son, the brother, or the grandfather what he’s carrying behind the smile he gives the world?
Some men were raised to believe that strength meant silence.
Don’t cry.
Don’t complain.
Don’t show weakness.
Be a man.
And somewhere along the way, they learned how to survive without ever learning how to heal.
But surviving and healing are not the same thing.
That’s one of the reasons this book matters to me.
Throughout Scripture, we encounter men who struggled with fear, rejection, betrayal, pride, grief, responsibility, and the consequences of their own decisions.
They were fathers, husbands, sons, leaders, servants, and ordinary men trying to understand an extraordinary God.
Some made terrible mistakes.
Some carried burdens nobody understood.
Some lost their way.
And some discovered that their greatest strength wasn’t found in what they could endure, but in their willingness to surrender.
Because healing isn’t a woman’s journey or a man’s journey. It’s a human journey.
Recently, my dad read this book.
And he loved it.
I don’t think I can fully explain what that meant to me.
Because sometimes, when you’re writing, you wonder whether the words will reach the people who need them.
You wonder whether someone will recognize a little of themselves in the stories.
You wonder whether the message will make a difference.
And then someone you love reads your words, and suddenly the work feels even more personal.
My prayer is that this book reaches men who have spent years carrying things they never learned how to put down.
Men who need to forgive.
Men who need to be forgiven.
Men who are trying to rebuild relationships.
Men who are learning that accountability isn’t weakness.
Men who have given everything they knew how to give and still wonder whether it was enough.
And men who simply need to know that God hasn’t finished writing their stories.
I didn’t write this book because I believe I have all the answers.
I wrote it because I believe there are conversations worth having, wounds worth acknowledging, and stories worth telling.
And perhaps somewhere in these pages, a man will discover that he doesn’t have to pretend he’s whole before he begins healing.
Today, I’m grateful.
Grateful for the opportunity to write.
Grateful for the people who have encouraged me.
And grateful that the stories we find in Scripture are still speaking to the broken places in our lives.
To every man who has ever felt that he had to carry everything alone:
You deserve grace, too.
You deserve understanding.
You deserve the opportunity to grow beyond your mistakes.
And you deserve to know that your story isn’t over.
Healing in Broken Places — The Men’s Journey is officially here.
And my hope is that it finds its way into the hands—and hearts—of the men who need it.
Thinking out loud… sometimes the strongest thing a man can do is admit that there’s a part of him that still needs healing.
And perhaps that’s where his journey to wholeness begins. 💙
Valrelyn Heard
Healing in Broken Places — The Men’s Journey
Available October 20, 2026.
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