Thirteen days after I arrived at my new Arizona property, around nine inches of rain fell in less than 24 hours.

Water tore through the entrance, washed out part of my driveway, damaged fencing, and carried cactus, trash, livestock debris, and who knows what else onto my land.

When the rain finally stopped, I couldn’t safely drive my SUV out through my own gate.

I had just bought this property as part of a new chapter in my life, and suddenly I was staring at damage that could potentially cost me thousands of dollars.

For a moment, one very uncomfortable thought crossed my mind:

Did I make a huge mistake?

If you’re starting over after 50, you may recognize that feeling.

You make a brave decision. You finally move forward.

And then something goes wrong almost immediately.

The temptation is to believe the problem proves the decision was wrong.

I’m learning that isn’t necessarily true at all.

Finding My Arizona Home Base

I’d been looking for a home base on and off for about four years, and much more seriously during the past year.

Someone I’d met during my travels suggested an area of Arizona that might be worth exploring. I started watching the real estate listings and eventually found a property that caught my attention.

At first, I thought it was more than I wanted to spend.

Still, I booked an Airbnb so I could come to Arizona and see it.

Then, two days before I was supposed to arrive, the property went pending.

I was incredibly disappointed.

But I’d already booked the trip, so I decided to come anyway.

Maybe that property had simply led me to the area and I was supposed to find something else.

I looked at other properties.

Some had old trailers that would require enormous amounts of work. Others were beautiful pieces of raw land, but adding electricity, septic, water, and everything else would have meant starting almost completely from scratch.

And I kept thinking about that original property.

Finally, I asked my realtor a simple question:

Could I submit a backup offer?

She checked.

The answer was yes.

So I did.

The first deal eventually fell through, and my offer was accepted.

I genuinely believe God was guiding that process. The property looked unavailable, but I kept feeling that little nudge to ask anyway.

Sometimes one brave step really is that simple.

Ask the question.

You may have nothing to lose.

Then the Arizona Storm Came

I had only been back on the property for 13 days when the storm hit.

The rain came down hard and kept coming.

Eventually, around nine inches fell in less than 24 hours.

My property sits downhill from other land, so a tremendous amount of water came toward me.

Along with the water came debris — pieces of cholla cactus, trash, livestock waste, and more.

While the storm was happening, there wasn’t much I could do except watch and wait.

Once it finally stopped, I walked outside to see what I was dealing with.

The biggest problem wasn’t the mess scattered across the property.

It was the entrance.

Water had torn apart the area beside my gate badly enough that I couldn’t safely drive my SUV out.

This wasn’t something I could solve with a few shovelfuls of gravel.

The storm had exposed a genuine drainage and access problem.

People who have lived in the area for decades told me storms this severe don’t happen every year, but they happen often enough that I need to prepare for them.

Suddenly, this wasn’t simply about cleaning up after one unusual storm.

I needed to understand how water moves across my land and how to protect my driveway the next time it happens.

The Fear Was Almost Worse Than the Damage

Looking around after the storm, it would have been incredibly easy to decide I’d made the worst mistake of my life.

And yes, that thought went through my mind.

This is one reason community matters so much.

Friends helped encourage me and reminded me not to let fear turn one problem into twenty imaginary problems.

I had to separate what was actually happening from what my mind was telling me might happen.

The reality was simple:

My driveway was damaged.

My fencing needed work.

I needed better drainage protection.

Those were real problems.

But they didn’t automatically mean buying the property had been a mistake.

They meant I had new information.

And I could work with information.

Faith Doesn’t Mean Problems Disappear

I also had to return to something that has carried me through many difficult seasons of my life: my faith.

For me, trusting God doesn’t mean believing He will magically make every problem disappear.

It means trusting that He can give me the wisdom, strength, peace, and people I need to walk through it.

I believed God had led me to this property.

Now I needed to trust Him while dealing with something I hadn’t expected.

And then I needed to do the work.

Faith isn’t ignoring reality.

Sometimes faith is what allows you to look at reality clearly without letting fear control the story.

Fix the Most Important Thing First

One of the biggest lessons from this storm was that I didn’t have to solve everything at once.

I just needed to determine what mattered most.

At that moment, the priority was obvious:

I needed safe access in and out of my own property.

I started by putting stones into the deepest washed-out areas so I could drive across them.

Then I hired someone with a tractor.

In about an hour, he graded the entrance, smoothed the damaged area, and created some initial berming to help redirect water.

The driveway became usable again.

Was everything fixed?

No.

But phase one was complete.

I could get my SUV out.

I could get my camper out.

And I had bought myself time to figure out the bigger solution.

Unexpected Expenses Cost More Than Money

The financial part was difficult too.

Thankfully, I had money set aside for the property.

But in my mind, that money had already been assigned to much more enjoyable things.

Furniture.

Improving the shed.

Creating a comfortable little cabin and workspace.

Suddenly, those plans had to change.

That’s something we don’t always talk about when discussing unexpected expenses.

They don’t just take money.

They take mental space.

You’d already imagined what you were going to do with that money. You may have been excited about it.

Then something more important shows up and requires you to change direction.

Starting over requires flexibility.

Sometimes the brave thing isn’t doing the exciting project you planned.

Sometimes it’s spending the money on drainage.

A Problem Can Also Be Information

The property isn’t perfectly repaired today.

I still need to decide how to protect the driveway long-term.

I have fencing to repair.

I’m looking at possibilities such as berms, drainage improvements, and changes along the fence line.

I need to research options, get prices, and decide what I can realistically afford to do next.

But now I know something I didn’t know before the storm.

I know how water moves across my property during an extreme rain event.

I know where the weak points are.

And knowing those things means I can prepare.

That’s why one of the biggest lessons I’ve taken from this experience is:

A problem is also information.

Not information you necessarily wanted.

Not information delivered in the way you would have chosen.

But information you can use.

Three Lessons I’m Taking With Me

1. Treat the Problem as Information

Instead of immediately asking, “Why is this happening to me?” try asking:

What is this showing me?

The storm showed me exactly where my property was vulnerable.

That information can help me make better decisions going forward.

2. Lean on Your Faith — and Then Do the Work

Trusting God doesn’t mean avoiding the problem.

Pray for wisdom.

Ask for help.

Get good information.

Then start working on what you can control.

3. Take One Useful Step in the Right Direction

Your entire situation does not have to be solved today.

Sometimes success is simply reaching phase one.

My driveway isn’t perfect.

My drainage plan isn’t finished.

But I can safely get in and out of my property again.

That’s progress.

Starting Over Doesn’t Have to Look Perfect

I wish I could end this story by showing you a perfectly repaired driveway, a finished fence line, and a beautiful drainage system ready for the next Arizona monsoon.

That’s not where I am yet.

And maybe there’s something valuable about admitting that.

Real life rarely gives us neat endings.

Sometimes we are still standing right in the middle of the rebuilding.

I couldn’t control how much rain fell on my property.

I could control what I did after it stopped.

And sometimes the next brave step isn’t exciting or glamorous.

Sometimes it’s doing the repair.

Sometimes it’s changing the budget.

Sometimes it’s gathering more information.

And sometimes it’s simply accepting that there’s more work ahead without allowing that fact to steal your peace.

If you’re starting over too, you don’t need to have everything solved today.

Take the problem in front of you.

Figure out what matters most.

Trust God for the wisdom to move forward.

And take one brave step at a time.

Take Your First Brave Step

If you’re in a season of starting over and you’re not sure what to do next, I created Your First Brave Steps to help you slow things down and identify one area of your life you want to change.

Instead of trying to redesign your entire future at once, you’ll choose one next brave step you can actually take.

[ADD YOUR FIRST BRAVE STEPS FREEBIE BUTTON OR LINK HERE]

I’d Love to Hear From You

Has your own fresh start ever been tested much sooner than you expected?

What was your phase one — the first practical thing you did when something unexpected disrupted your plans?

Share your experience in the comments. Someone else reading may need exactly the encouragement you have to offer.

And if you’re starting over after 50 too, I hope you’ll keep joining me as I share what I’m learning about faith, simplicity, courage, and building a more peaceful life — one brave step at a time.