Back-to-school season always feels like a fresh start. New notebooks, sharpened pencils, and wide-eyed children walking into classrooms remind us that every ending can open into a beginning. For me, that same sense of “new beginnings” came not in a classroom but in an airport, holding a suitcase that carried the fragments of my old life and the seeds of my new one.
When my family and I fled Venezuela, fear and uncertainty weighed heavier than any luggage. A suitcase may hold clothes, documents, and photographs, but how do you pack memories of home? How do you fit your mother’s embrace, the sound of your language in familiar streets, or the faith that has carried you since childhood? Leaving meant loss—but it also meant choosing survival, safety, and hope.
I quickly learned that faith travels light. You don’t need to fit it between your blouses or under your shoes. Faith settles into the heart, reminding you that God goes ahead of you, preparing new paths even when all you can see is the unknown. Hebrews 11:1 became a promise I clung to: “Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.”
Starting over abroad was not easy. I had to rebuild routines, learn new systems, and adapt to unfamiliar cultures. Just like a child walking into a new classroom, I carried the nerves of not knowing if I would belong. But resilience grows in the soil of small, daily choices—choosing to show up, choosing to believe, choosing to trust that tomorrow could be better than yesterday.
Some days, courage looked like learning to navigate a grocery store in a foreign language. Other days, it was watching my daughter step into a new school with bravery I wished I had. Resilience often begins with the decision to keep moving forward, even if the steps are shaky.
There were moments of loneliness, but also moments of grace. I discovered new friends who became family, communities of faith that prayed me through, and opportunities that reminded me God wastes nothing—not even exile. What I thought was an ending became a season of transformation.
In my book, Para Mis Tacones Altos: Manual de Supervivencia by Ileana Rojas, I share these stories of carrying not just a suitcase, but the weight of starting over. And through every page, one truth remains: Jesus was with me in every departure and every arrival.
This back-to-school season, let us remember that new beginnings don’t always arrive wrapped in perfection. Sometimes they look like a suitcase filled with uncertainty. But if faith is packed first, resilience will always find space to grow.
So whether you are sending your child off to school, starting a new job, or navigating a major life change, know this: you don’t walk into that new season alone. God goes before you, and His grace will meet you every step of the way.
