Change comes for every family eventually, a new city, a new school, a new bedroom, a new normal. And while grown-ups can often see the bigger picture, for children a move can feel like the ground is shifting beneath their feet.
Designer-turned-children's-book-authors Jean Stoffer and Grace Start sat down to talk with K-LOVE'S Crystal Thornton about exactly that: how families can walk through transition without fear, and how faith can anchor a home even when everything around it is unfamiliar.
The conversation opened with a question that reframes the whole idea of moving: "What if home isn't a place at all? What if home is something deeper, something rooted in love and ultimately in God?"
That question sits at the heart of their new children's book, "We Are Home When We're Together."
Listen to the entire conversation with Crystal Thornton, Grace Start and Jean Stoffer in the podcast below
A poem born from a move
The book began with an unexpected change in Grace's own family. As she and her husband prepared to relocate with their four children, only about 20 minutes down the road, from town to the country, each child processed it differently. The questions came quickly: Would they still see their friends? What about the yard where they always played? Would school feel different now that it wasn't within walking distance?
Grace felt those questions too. But every time her thoughts started to spiral, she came back to one steady truth: God is with us through change. No matter where we are, we can trust Him, and He has good plans for us.
Out of that mix of worry and faith, a poem began to form, words about a home that wasn't just walls and a roof, but the security of family and the presence of the Lord who goes with them. When Grace shared it with her mom, Jean was moved to tears. She heard in those rhyming lines a message she had lived herself: home is not a place. It's the faithful God who walks with you, and the people He's given you to love.
A faithfulness she had already lived
Jean knew what it meant to leave a life she loved. For decades she had raised her family in a small town outside Chicago, rooted in the same house, the same church, the same friendships and Bible study. Then, in her 50s, God led her to move to Michigan, leaving the familiar behind for the unknown.
On the other side of that transition, she found something she hadn't expected. God had been faithful, enriching her life beyond what she could have imagined.
Years later, when she thought she was simply remodeling a house to sell, financial circumstances led her instead to move into that very home herself. At first, she admits, she wasn't ready. But the Lord prepared her heart, and looking back she can see it was exactly what He had in mind, not just a place to live, but a way to deepen her trust in Him during an uncertain season.
So when Grace's poem landed in her hands, it wasn't just pretty words. It was a story Jean recognized. Together, mother and daughter began shaping it into a book to help other families face change with faith.
"Is that thought true? Is it from God?"
Both women are honest about how deeply children feel disruption. Kids thrive on routine, knowing what happens where and when, and a move upends all of it.
Grace's approach is to make room for her children's feelings without leaving them stuck there. When they worried about a new grocery store, she invited them to look for the fun things they might discover. When they wondered about their new neighborhood, she helped them notice the parks and libraries that might become favorites. "There's always something beautiful to look forward to," she says, "if our eyes are open to it."
When fears run deeper, she listens, then gently asks her children, "Is that thought true? Is it from God?" Together they go back to Scripture to remember what God says is true about them and their situation.
Jean sees that as one of the most important callings a parent has. "I think that's a huge and important job as a parent," she said, "to always teach a child and model to a child how to turn these concerns, sometimes even fears, over to the Lord who knows and cares and has a way forward."
Jean also encourages families to look backward, to remember the ways God has already been faithful. Throughout Scripture, God repeatedly calls His people to recount what He has done, and Jean believes families should do the same. Reminding a child of God's provision in past seasons, even something as simple as a broken arm that healed, helps them trust that the same God will be with them in the next chapter too.
"Change is a beautiful thing"
Asked what she would say to a child who feels scared right now, packing boxes, saying goodbye to a bedroom, facing a new school, Jean's answer was striking.
"Change is a beautiful thing," she said. Change often means growth, and growth is something we all want. Her hope is to shift children from seeing change as only hard and scary toward seeing it as exciting and full of God-given opportunity, especially when they know the Lord is with them.
Grace echoes the encouragement simply: look for the good in the change, and count the blessings that come with it, even the small ones.
Home is not a ZIP code
Professionally, Jean and Grace make their living designing beautiful homes. But their faith gives them a bigger perspective. As much as design and comfort matter, the theme of Scripture, Grace says, is being united with God — and our truest home is communion with Him.
That truth reshapes everything. A house can change. A neighborhood can change. Routines can change. But the presence of God and the love of family remain.
A project that deepened a family
Writing the book didn't just bless other families, it strengthened Jean and Grace's own. Even as the mother of a grown daughter, Jean found herself discovering new dimensions of who Grace was. She had always known Grace was creative and capable, but seeing her gift with words and the heart behind the poem revealed something fresh. The collaboration became its own small picture of the book's message: that home, at its best, is found in the people God gives us to love.
Their prayer is that families will close "We Are Home When We're Together" and say, "Yes, I can trust God with life's changes," and then, simply, "Let's read it again."
Because in the end, home isn't defined by walls or a zip code. It's built on love, family, and the presence of God guiding us every step of the way. Wherever life takes us, we are never walking into the unknown alone.