Growth

This has definitely been a long time coming. Over the last 2 years, it has been weighing on me to resume my blogging, in an effort to rebuild community and continue to grow as parent, a wife, and a person. I feel like this is especially critical given the current state of the world; I feel like the need for genuine community has never been more vital. Over the last 2 years in particular, I have spent A LOT of time digging deep, putting the work in to really be the person I believe I am called to be. We can live in fear of what others might think, and perhaps that may always be a lingering feeling, BUT, we can make a choice to use that fear, and that anxiety, for something greater. We can use the mixed up parts of ourselves to create something really special in the form of community and strong ties.

I have always been open and honest about how I believe that becoming a parent made me the person I was called to be. I may have not initially saw it in my plan, but, GOD, and I am so dang glad He did, because I know in my heart, that as a mother, I have the best shot of being the person I am called to be on this earth. With that said, in the last 2 years, especially, I have learned so much more about myself; in fact, the pandemic brought me the gift of having to look deeper inside myself to really make myself whole.

As parents, the moment those babies are handed over to us, perhaps even sooner for some, we are changed. Our hearts grow and we live for these tiny humans that we pray over and put work into, hoping they will become healthy and whole people. It can become very easy to put ourselves on the back burner and to almost wear that like a badge of honor, as if neglecting your own mental and emotional well-being, or physical, (whatever it might be for you), makes you a better parent, because you are modeling sacrifice. If I have learned anything, it is that we are constantly walking a tight-rope, trying to balance truly giving ourselves to our loved ones and serving them wholly, whilst also prioritizing who we are. I am not going to say what self-care needs to look like for you, but I will at some point touch upon what it does look like for me, because I do very much understand and see firsthand how different it looks for so many parents, depending on their circumstances. I myself have experienced firsthand different forms of self-care and what works best for me, so the idea of a “one size fits all,” is completely off base. This post, however, is simply to bring us back, to reintroduce myself and what I hope to accomplish in sharing of my experiences and those shared with me. If you have stories to share or topics to touch upon in your journey as a parent, caretaker, or even friend/supporter to a parent and/or caretaker, please reach out to me, because I would love to walk this journey with you and learn from one another. In that growth, we grow in understanding and love and widen our communities that we so desperately need.