Dear Diary: My Life Raising Brown Girls

Trusting God with the Gifts He Planted in You Scripture: “For God’s gifts and his call are irrevocable.” — Romans 11:29   Reflection: Motherhood can feel like a pause button on the rest of your life. Dreams go quiet. Talents sit unused. The parts of you that once felt alive through creativity, work, or purpose can begin to feel distant—or even irrelevant. But God does not cancel callings when seasons change.   What He gives, He gives with intention. Callings may shift in expression, slow in pace, or wait in hiddenness—but they are never wasted. The same God who called you before motherhood still sees the whole of who you are becoming now. You are not behind. You are not disqualified. You are not forgotten.   Wellness Insight:   A sense of meaning is essential to emotional and mental health. When purpose is suppressed for long periods, women often experience restlessness, grief, or a quiet sense of loss.   Wellness invites you to hold calling gently—not as press...

  Being Known Beyond Motherhood   Scripture:   “Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their labor: If either of them falls down, one can help the other up.” — Ecclesiastes 4:9–10   Reflection:  Motherhood can quietly narrow your world. Conversations become practical. Relationships shift. Time feels scarce. Even when surrounded by people, it’s possible to feel deeply alone.   You may miss being known for who you are—not just for what you do or who you care for. You may long for connection and, at the same time, crave solitude because you are already so poured out.   God does not call us to constant togetherness or constant isolation. He invites us into rhythm—friendship that supports, solitude that restores, and spiritual community that reminds us we belong.   You were never meant to carry life alone.   Wellness Insight:   Emotional wellness is deeply tied to connection. Safe relation...

Relearning How to Care for What God Calls Holy  Scripture: “Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God?” — 1 Corinthians 6:19 Reflection:  Motherhood can change the way you relate to your body. What once felt personal can begin to feel functional—something to manage, push through, or ignore so you can keep going. Your body becomes a means to an end. A tool for caregiving. A place you inhabit but no longer tend to. Yet Scripture reminds us that your body has never lost its sacredness. It is not valuable because of what it can produce or endure. It is holy because God chose to dwell there. Your body does not need to be fixed before it is honored. It needs to be listened to, rested, and cared for with kindness.   Wellness Insight: When we override hunger, exhaustion, pain, or emotional cues, the body learns it is not safe to speak. Over time, this can lead to disconnection and burnout. Wellness ...

  Tending to the Heart God Entrusted to You Scripture:   “Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it.” — Proverbs 4:23   Reflection:  Sacrifice is often celebrated in motherhood. We praise endurance, selflessness, and the ability to keep going no matter the cost. But over time, constant sacrifice can quietly teach you to ignore your own inner world.   You learn to push past your feelings. You learn to minimize your needs. You learn to survive without being tended to.   Yet God does not ask you to disappear in order to love well. Beneath the responsibilities and routines is still a woman with a heart that feels, hopes, grieves, and longs to be cared for—not corrected, not rushed, but gently healed.   Healing does not mean something is wrong with you. It means something precious has been carrying too much for too long.   Wellness Insight:   Emotional pain that goes unacknowledged do...