Moving Forward, Not Moving On

There is a phrase that has become significant to Trevor Heyd in the time since losing his wife:

“I have to keep moving forward, not moving on, moving forward.”

Trevor Heyd encountered that distinction through a widowers retreat, and it has become a framework for the way Trevor is learning to live with grief.

Moving forward does not mean forgetting. It does not mean pretending something devastating did not happen. And it certainly does not mean grief suddenly disappears.

Instead, moving forward has meant allowing God to reveal the next faithful step.

In 2025, Trevor Heyd intentionally stepped away from speaking engagements. When invitations began coming again in 2026, Trevor slowly began saying yes.

And in those small acts of obedience, something began happening.

“The reason I’m doing it is that I genuinely have witnessed God leading step by step.”

The speaking invitations provide goals and focus, but Trevor said even the preparation itself has become part of the healing.

“I’m witnessing the Lord really knit my heart back together through even prep work in this.”

What an image.

A God who knits works carefully. Intentionally. Piece by piece.

There may not always be a dramatic moment where everything suddenly makes sense.

Sometimes God’s faithfulness looks like another thread being pulled into place.

Another opportunity.

Another conversation.

Another step.

The Faith Built Before the Valley

One of the most powerful parts of Trevor Heyd’s story isn't simply what Trevor is doing now. It is what God had already built before this season ever arrived.

Trevor spoke honestly about years when spiritual discipline did not necessarily feel exciting.

“Years upon years upon years upon years of dry Bible study, routine of like, ‘I don’t feel anything, but I’m doing it today because I love God.’” 

Those ordinary days mattered.

Staying in church mattered.

Opening Scripture when it felt dry mattered.

Learning the character of God mattered.

Because when Trevor entered a season when there were not always words for what he was carrying, that foundation remained.

“All of that up to this point has been everything I’ve leaned on in my brokenness.” 

And sometimes prayer itself looks different in the valley.

“I understand that God accepts prayers that are just groans, and I’m good with that. Like, I know He knows my heart, so groans are prayers.” 

That may be an encouragement a pastor or ministry leader needs to hear today.

There are seasons when faithfulness feels fruitful, exciting, and alive. There are other seasons when faithfulness is simply opening the Bible again. Going to church again. Praying again. Trusting again.

Do not discount what God is forming in the ordinary.

Today's quiet faithfulness may become tomorrow's foundation.

Trusting God Without Having the Whole Map

Trevor Heyd does not pretend to have every piece of the future figured out.

Instead, Trevor is learning to recognize the smaller openings God places in front of him.

“When He puts these tiny little doorways open, I’m like, ‘All right, I’ll put my foot in there.’” 

Sometimes those doorways have led to speaking opportunities. Sometimes to podcasts and livestreams. Sometimes to people offering practical help as Trevor considers what evangelistic ministry could look like alongside raising his three sons.

Trevor described his posture simply:

“He has what’s best for me. And so I’m walking in that by faith, even though I don’t necessarily have everything spelled out in the future.” 

Isn't that so often what obedience looks like?

We want God to hand us the map.

Instead, sometimes He gives us the next doorway.

And asks whether we trust Him enough to put our foot through it.

Purpose Is Beginning to Return

As Trevor Heyd spoke about what God is doing now, the conversation shifted toward calling, healing, and the future.

And Trevor put words to something particularly significant:

“The vision of it all gives my heart a purpose.”

That vision includes continuing to pursue evangelistic ministry while honoring the life and ministry Trevor once shared with his wife. It also includes the possibility of a writing ministry inspired, in part, by the ministry his wife carried through her own writing.

The story isn't one of leaving grief behind.

It is one of discovering that grief and calling can somehow exist in the same story.

Healing and remembering can coexist.

Missing someone and moving forward can coexist.

And God can remain faithful through all of it.

His First Ministry

But perhaps one of the most important things about what comes next is who will be walking beside Trevor Heyd.

His boys.

As Trevor considers what ministry could look like in the future, he is clear that vocational ministry cannot come at the expense of the three sons entrusted to him.

“They are my first and foremost ministry.” 

That conviction is shaping the future Trevor is trying to build. His hope is for a ministry structure that allows him to remain available to his boys and guide them through the healing and transitions they are walking through together.

Perhaps that, too, is part of moving forward.

Not simply asking, God, how can You use me?

But also asking, God, how do I faithfully care for what You have already placed in my hands?

A Stronger Ending

Trevor Heyd’s story isn't tied up neatly.

And maybe it shouldn't be.

There is still grief. There are still questions. There are still days when strength runs low.

But there is also calling.

There is purpose.

There are open doors.

And there is a God whose faithfulness was being established long before Trevor Heyd knew how desperately he would need to lean on it.

So perhaps moving forward does not require knowing exactly where the road ends.

Perhaps sometimes it sounds more like:

“All right, I’ll put my foot in there.” 

One doorway.

One act of obedience.

One prayer, even when that prayer is only a groan.

One more step.

Not moving on.

Moving forward.