A Gift for Mom! 🤍

To the woman who never claimed to be a teacher and is already failing—I see you.

To the woman who still waits to hold her grandchild—I see you.

To the woman whose anxiety was already out of control—I see you.

To the woman who misses happy hour with her best friend—I see you.

To the woman who has lost her baby, but no one is able to come celebrate her life—I see you.

To the woman who holds her WIC vouchers while staring at empty shelves—I see you.

To the woman who feels desperately lonely in the middle of a noisy house—I see you.

To the woman who doesn’t know how to cook, but now has no choice—I see you.

To the woman who feels weary while everyone else is championing silver linings—I see you.

RELATED: In Times Like These, It’s OK To Cry

To the woman turning to screen time, again—I see you.

To the woman canceling her babymoon—I see you.

To the woman staring at her fridge, certain that she cannot cook another meal—I see you.

To the woman losing out on her graduation—I see you.

To the woman scared to leave her house—I see you.

To the woman stocking the shelves while everyone else is going crazy—I see you.

To the woman who lost her job—I see you.

To the woman who said goodbye to her dream vacation—I see you.

To the woman untouched by anyone except a nurse—I see you.

To the woman with the lists and the schedules and the meal prep—I see you.

To the woman who has lost her chance for a championship ring—I see you.

To the woman headed back to the hospital to work another 12-hour shift—I see you.

To the woman holding a newborn baby, wondering when anyone will meet them—I see you.

To the woman questioning the perfection on social media while her own home feels desperately suffocating—I see you.

To the woman holding her wedding dress, canceling vendors and venues—I see you.

To the women closing the doors to her small business—I see you.

To the woman who lost her precious mama, but the funeral home is empty—I see you.

To the woman canceling her kid’s birthday parties and dedications—I see you.

To the woman desperate for an hour to yourself—I see you.

RELATED: It’s Our Job As Parents To Carry the Weight of the World So Our Kids Don’t Have To

To the woman unsure how to handle so much time with the people she’s supposed to love most—I see you.

To the woman wondering if God is actually near—I see you.

To the woman who already feels her hope unraveling—I see you.

To the woman choosing joy, because anything else will leave her lost—I see you.

To the woman who is certain that this is not the way it is supposed to be—I see you.

RELATED: To the Mom Carrying the Weight of the World: You’re Strong Enough

Did you know that? That someone sees you? That even though right now there are millions of us women, millions of stories—your story, your joys, your sorrows—where you are right now, all of it matters? It’d be so very easy to feel so lost right now. I can almost guarantee that you will, at one point or another, as each of us weathers this storm.

But you need to know this. All of us, we need to know this: whatever your pains, whatever your losses, whatever your sadness, big or small—all of them matter. And you are seen.

So God Made a Grandmother book by Leslie Means

If you liked this, you'll love our book, SO GOD MADE A GRANDMA

Order Now!

Lo Mansfield

Lo is a labor RN who left her patients for her own babies when her first daughter was born and her own mama died. She loves her baby girls and she loved her patients --> right now, she's living in the truth that she can't do both and that is 100% okay. She lives in Denver with her husband and two daughters, writing, mom-ing, grieving, running, and (maybe) figuring it out. You can follow her mama heart musings at The Mama Harbor and at her Instagram

My Mom Was Just 13 When I Was Born. Now That I’m a Mother, I See Her Differently.

In: Living
Young girl and teenage mother

There are only 13 years and 11 months between us. I can’t imagine how hard that must have been—how lonely it must have felt at times. A childhood cut short, replaced with responsibilities that were night and day. Confusion and love, all wrapped into one. Growing up, it felt like I had a big sister beside me. A friend I loved with everything in me. But she wasn’t just a friend. She was my mother. I relied on her for guidance, for reassurance, for someone to look up to. And now I find myself wondering, how could she give me...

Keep Reading

Why Don’t We Talk About Jonah’s Mother?

In: Faith, Living, Motherhood
Woman standing over water

Praying for My Son Send a storm to stop him; Let his friends throw him out. May he drop to the deeps, But gently, please, Stubborn though he may be. If it could only take three days, How my mother’s heart would Rejoice in praise.  From the hell you allow him, Let him cry to you. Is not Nineveh and mercy Exactly what he knows He needs— A mercy on enemies He fears You will concede? Please let all the shade wither If his is an angry soul; Humble him and help him follow Where you would have his purpose...

Keep Reading

I Never Got to Meet My Grandmother on This Side of Heaven

In: Living
Old black and white family photo

Grandmother, I never met you this side of Heaven, but I feel as though I have. Your pictures, scattered throughout my mother’s home, tell your story. Born to a woman who came to this country alone when she was just 16, you would be the youngest of four, with two sisters and a brother. Your short, dark, straight hair clings to your little face, a line of bangs neatly combed high on your forehead. You couldn’t be more than three years old as you sit on a stool at your sister’s First Holy Communion. The black and white photo makes...

Keep Reading

The Hardest Part of Divorce Is Being Away from My Kids

In: Living, Marriage, Motherhood
Woman in driver's seat

I’ve written several times about how divorce has allowed me to find myself again, and how that version is even better than the one I was before I was married. All of that is still true. I am happier than I’ve ever been. More confident and sure of myself. I understand my emotions and how to handle myself when things get tough or scary. I am more grounded and calm than I’ve ever been. Truly, I have come out on top. I’ve received comments about how happy I look, how I’m “living my best life with kids only half the...

Keep Reading

My Dad Gave Us Something Money Never Could

In: Living
Family smiling in posed photo

I was talking with my dad the other day about an upcoming Disney trip with our kids. I told him all we planned to do while we were there and how excited the kids were. He sat and listened, taking it all in. And then he said something that put a lump in my throat. “I’m so glad you’re able to give your kids the life that I couldn’t.” He went on to say he still carries some guilt–that he wishes he could have done more, taken us on trips, given us experiences he couldn’t. Hearing that broke my heart....

Keep Reading

Dear Daddy, I Wish You Could See Yourself As We Do

In: Living, Marriage
father with two young children

The side of my husband who is hardest on himself usually shows up late at night. The house is quiet, the kids are finally asleep, and the day has done what it always does—taken everything it could from both of us. That’s usually when it comes out. The voice in his head that tells him he’s not doing enough as a father. Not present enough. Not patient enough. Not good enough. He doesn’t say it lightly. He says it like someone confessing a truth he wishes wasn’t true. Like he’s already measured himself against some invisible standard of fatherhood and...

Keep Reading

Mothers and Stepmothers: Who’s on First?

In: Living
Little girl looking through fingers

The roles. The expectations. The unspoken, undefined rules. The hurt feelings no one wants to talk about. It could be a scene from an old Abbott and Costello routine: “Who’s on first?” Motherhood is rarely clear-cut. And if you’ve ever tried to navigate life alongside a stepmother—or as one—you know how quickly things can become complicated. Add a stepmother to the mix, and suddenly it’s a relay race where no one’s quite sure who’s holding the baton, or if anyone wants it. This isn’t a story about winners and losers or choosing sides. It isn’t about who is right or...

Keep Reading

Do We Really Want a ’90s Summer?

In: Living
Girl holding popsicle

The year is 2026: we’re inviting thousands of strangers to get ready with us, threatening our own deaths on a lot of different hills and, if you’re a millennial mom, determined to have a ’90s summer. Some top to-dos on the ’90s mom summer checklist? Lots of outside play, limited screens, less hustle, more simplicity. Overall, evoking the “carefree” summers of the 1990s. But did anyone ever ask the real ‘90s moms if summers back then were all we’re cracking them up to be? If my own memory serves me right, my parents talked a whole lot about summers in...

Keep Reading

To the Woman Who Was Betrayed

In: Living, Marriage
Woman looking off to the fog

He promised you a lifetime, a family, safety, and security. You carried life and brought it into this world for him. Even still, in the trenches of postpartum, he betrayed you. It was never your fault. This is something I’ve fought to tell myself every single day since the day I discovered my marriage was never meant to last. Because the truth is, betrayal is never about you; it’s about them, and the character flaws deep within they’d rather bury than face. He watched as you fought for your life after delivery while your tiny, premature newborn spent the first...

Keep Reading

5 Things I’m Learning about 50

In: Living
birthday balloons

When my dad turned 80, he—and we, by default—celebrated all year. My sister made a fantastic, larger-than-life sign of him posing in front of his friend’s antique car, with beautiful calligraphy that trumpeted, “Cheers to you, celebrating 80 years of life!” The sign welcomed his closest friends and family into a private room at a steakhouse, where we toasted his 80 years—and the grandkids toasted his steady presence in their lives. The sign moved from the swanky steakhouse to the second-floor banister in my parents’ house. When you walked in, it greeted you—a feel-good conversation starter and a reminder to...

Keep Reading