Mom Isn't My Only Title

They call me MOM!!

I am SO grateful for these little people who call me “mama”. I feel blessed beyond measure that the Lord entrusted me to raise them. BUT…. Mom is not my only title.

Actually, before I was a mom, I was a writer, a dreamer, a dancer, a runner, a young woman in love, a wife, an adventurer, a singer, and entrepreneur….AND I AM STILL ALL THOSE THINGS.

The day I became a mother I did not STOP being myself and suddenly morph into “mom” never to be Stephanie again.

No, I’m still me, just in a little different season. While all those things are still inside my, sometimes during this season, those passions and pieces of me have to be put on hold or placed on that back burner; and that’s okay!

But what’s NOT okay is getting so lost in my title of “mom” that I forget who I am and who God made me to be.

Anyone else imagine that motherhood would be a walk in the park? 🙋🏻‍♀️😅 I totally thought it would be like when I babysat or nannied; on big deal! The kids would love me, we'd party and do crafts, eat sugar, and play games. Oh Steph! You're so cute! lol

Instead I feel like motherhood ate me up and spat me out and it wasn't long before I didn't even recognize myself.

Especially during those first few years I felt like I lost myself and who I was before I became a mother. I became so all-consumed by my "duties" as a mother that I lost site of the joy of being a mom.

But slowly- and I mean S L O W L Y, friends, I have been reclaiming the woman that God created me to be. It's been a journey and a process (and I'm nowhere NEAR having it all figured out or any silliness like that), but I'm making progress.

Feeling more like myself and not "lost" anymore. My identity is not in being a mother, that is part of who I am and I'm so grateful for it, but that's not ALL of who I am.

Now I feel like I can recognize the beauty of being a mom, but also not let it define me. I can find joy in the mundane aspects of my day because I know it won't be like this forever. I don't mean that like thank-God-someday-my-kids-will-be-out-of-the-house! But rather that this is a season; the intensity of having small children and babies can feel all-consuming at times. But my children will not always need me to the extent that they do right now. So I'm not "stuck" here, I'm not in a holding pattern until I can "be myself again". I am still the same woman I was before kids, just walking through a focused season of life.

Love,