“Yesterday seems less painful, and I’m no longer afraid of tomorrow” (When Bad Things Happen to Good People, Harold Kushner)

In his 1981 book, When Bad Things Happen to Good People, Harold Kushner explained that humans have a deep need to understand, because understanding brings order to chaos. It helps us make sense of what went wrong, what went right, and it gives us something or someone to hold responsible.

And I get that now, not just intellectually, but personally.

Because in my own life, I have been trying to make sense of things that did not feel familiar, things that did not fit what I thought life was supposed to look like. And in that searching, I began to realize that what I was experiencing required a different language to understand it.

Foreign means something from another place, outside what is familiar to you.

Exchange is the act of giving one thing and receiving another in return.

So foreign exchange is what happens when what you know is traded for something you don’t, when one currency is surrendered for another.

And when I look at my life through that lens, that’s exactly what this feels like.

A literal foreign exchange.

And what I am walking into is not just personal, it is purposeful.

My book release for The Art of Translating Pain: A Restorative Writing Workbook for Healing, Wholeness, and Transformation, releasing 7/16/26, will be just that, a foreign exchange. It is divine and not a coincidence that the place hosting this live author event is called The Foreign Exchange, because that is exactly what is about to take place.

A foreign exchange.

A room full of strippers, prostitutes, trappers, hustlers, ministers, pastors, worlds that do not normally align, but will for this one night, for this foreign exchange.

And it was in that realization that I understood just how heavy this is.

That this is bigger than a book and bigger than me.

This is the moment that shows I am my ancestors’ wildest dreams.

All my life I knew I was special, but not like this.

Because once you realize your purpose, everything shifts. And for me, it is bigger than writing and speaking. I am called.

I am one of the called out ones (1 Peter 2:9, ESV).

I am the change I want to see in this world.

Alice Walker said it best in her book title We Are the Ones We’ve Been Waiting For, because while we are looking for someone to save us, while I was searching, the world was waiting in me. I am the resolve God sent to broken women, because you cannot be called to something you have not experienced. Now my knowing has increased, my discernment has sharpened, and there is wisdom attached to this kind of anointing.

That is why the attack on my life has been so intense. It is because of the weight of what I carry. The enemy does not move unless you become a threat, and the moment you step fully into who you were called to be, he recognizes what has already been decided. I have said it before and I will continue to say it, once you build a covenant with God, once you truly align with Him, there is a knowing the enemy cannot take. It unsettles him, but he does not get the final say.

This knowing is not mine to keep. It is meant to be poured out. It is water to a thirsty world, life to what was once dying. God has called me to be living water.

And God will use me, just as He used Maya Angelou.

I thought I only wanted to be on the New York Times Best Sellers list, but once I understood what this is and who I am, I felt the weight of it. I felt the fear, and then I recognized it for what it was. Not a sign to retreat, but confirmation that I had stepped into something greater than myself. And even in that, I choose to move forward.

Because God found me worthy of such a responsibility.

And now I have a choice.

I can run, scared, with my tail tucked between my legs.

Or I can go to war with everything going to war against this generation (Ephesians 6:12, ESV).

I can use this very book to begin to heal a nation.

Because hurt people hurt people.

But if we understood the hurt, maybe we would stop hurting each other and finally come together.

Like the early church.

All together, in unity, sharing so that no one lacked (Acts 2:44–45, ESV).

Because there is enough space for all of us to find healing.

My name is Tiara Christopher.

And I was born to make hell nervous every day I wake up and get out of bed.

I was born to go to war with the enemy.

I was born to be a trailblazer.

I was born to be a generational curse breaker.

I was born to be a philanthropist.

I was born to be a pioneer.

Do you know who I am.

I am a King’s daughter, and He has born me for such a time as this (Esther 4:14, ESV).

And I understand now that this calling carries weight.

Because when you’re on an airplane, turbulence happens when you are going higher.

In order to go up, there must be friction.

A shaking must occur. Before God blesses you he must first break you. 

And on 4/4/26, at the altar, I prayed a dangerous prayer.

The prayer that everything that can be shaken would be shaken, so that what remains is what is truly of God (Hebrews 12:27, ESV).

Because I am in a season where I cannot afford to be double minded (James 1:8, ESV).

I cannot afford to be surrounded by people with the wrong intentions.

And I have accepted that I am not for everybody.

My message will not resonate with all.

But just like Sarah Jakes Roberts, I believe I am called to a select few.

Because strippers need to know God loves them (Romans 5:8, ESV).

Hustlers need to know salvation is for all (Romans 10:13, ESV).

And society needs to know that I serve a God who does not discriminate.

A God who is available to all who call on Him (Acts 10:34–35, ESV).

And that same truth brings me back to where this all began.

A foreign exchange.

Not just in my life, but in every life this assignment is meant to touch.

Because this is not just about understanding pain.

This is the art of translating pain.