Wow! November already? I am sure most of you reading can relate when I say that all I have done is blinked and this year has come and gone!

Out of all the months on the calendar, November stands out for me for two reasons. The main reason being that it is Crohn’s Disease Awareness Month, and being a young lady who has battled chronic intestine pain due to Crohn’s Disease for going on nine years now, it hits home. The second reason being that my platform EveryBODY is Beautiful was born three years ago in November.

Now, I am not going to come to you just to inform you about Chronic Illness, instead I am going to stress to you just how important it is to have a positive self-image and what it means to love every aspect of yourself.

Growing up, when I rolled out of bed, I would look at myself in my full-length mirror and it wasn’t a difficult task to point out at least ten things I disliked about myself, and I am sure those of you can relate when I say that I would also find myself wishing that I was the model that was posted on that month’s issue of Vogue.

Then a reality check came.

Due to fighting an excessive battle with Crohn’s with no relief in sight, I made the decision to have an ostomy placed in attempt to get my symptoms under control. When I received my ostomy, I had excessive output which resulted in an early take-down. Taking the ostomy down early only lead to horrible consequences such as an intestinal leak, intubation, sepsis, a hospital stay that exceeded 40 days, and a second ostomy.

After some adjustments and trials, I had the second ostomy taken down, I had a successful re-hook, resulting in me going home for good.

When I arrived back home I went to my room and I stood in front of that full-length mirror as I had done for years prior. Only this time, something felt different. I raised my shirt up and I was overwhelmed with emotion. Instead of seeing these scars as something that would plague my life, I saw them as something that would pave the way for my future. Not only my future, but the future of others.

I began to make a serious lifestyle change and my platform EveryBODY is Beautiful was born. When I woke up in the morning, instead of pointing out ten things I hated about myself, I would point out ten things I loved. I would make it a goal to compliment at least ten people through the day and whenever I passed a mirror and saw myself, I would always smile.

My scars make me who I am. They not only remind me that I am an awesome woman, but they remind me that I fought to become this awesome woman, and that is the best part.

Spoiler alert: When I saw myself in a better light, I began to see others in a better light too. I truly believe that you must love yourself before you can love someone else because after I started to point out all the positives in myself, it lead to me only seeing the positives in those around me. Some things that irked me in relationships I had with others literally seemed to fade away. Most days I would sit down and seriously feel like all the negative was gone, and let me just say, it was so refreshing.

In closing, I want to challenge my readers to look in the mirror daily and point out at least ten positive things about yourself, then share that challenge with someone else that you know. Great things can come from something as simple as seeing yourself in a positive light.

So God Made a Mother book by Leslie Means

If you liked this, you'll love our book, SO GOD MADE A MOTHER available now!

Order Now

Check out our new Keepsake Companion Journal that pairs with our So God Made a Mother book!

Order Now
So God Made a Mother's Story Keepsake Journal

Makenzie Craft

I am a woman who tries to always see the glass half-full as I face Crohn's Disease, relationships, and even the daily tasks that can seem overwhelming at times. I run on three key things: fashion trends, coffee, and faith. With my border collie by my side, I am on a journey with the sole goal to help and inspire others and I can't wait to see where the journey takes me.

Mom Showed Me What It Means to Be a Caregiver

In: Grief, Grown Children, Loss
Grown woman with her mother smiling, color photo

My mother is an extraordinary woman. She inspires me to be a better person. She has spent seven years selflessly caring for my father after a horrific battle with Stage IV tongue cancer. During this time she would laugh with me, cry with me, and express her fears and frustrations with me. My mother is the definition of strength and courage while surrounded by heartbreak and human suffering. During the time my mother was taking care of my father she had her own health issues. Her colon perforated in 2012 making her critically ill. It’s nothing short of a miracle...

Keep Reading

Mom May Never See Our Home, but Her Love Lives Here

In: Grief, Loss
Cute and quaint house, color photo

To the average person, it was a typical Wisconsin Friday in October—wet, dreary, and a bit nippy. To my wife and me, it was a day of both elation and sadness. We put in an offer on a house we both loved. My wife spotted it a few days beforehand; we toured it alongside a couple of other options, and just knew it was the one. And we did it without our mothers. Her mother died seven and a half years before. At the end of October was the three-year anniversary of my mother’s death. There’s something to be said...

Keep Reading

This is How to Support Miscarriage Moms

In: Grief, Loss, Motherhood
Woman with arm around another woman sitting in field

When you hear the term miscarriage, what do you think? My initial thought was the loss of an unborn child, but have you ever really wondered what truly happens when you are having a miscarriage? Our first miscarriage occurred immediately after our wedding in 2019, we had a chemical pregnancy after conceiving while on our honeymoon. This means we had a positive pregnancy test, but by the time we got to our OB/GYN, I had the heaviest period of my life, resulting in a negative serum pregnancy test. That was hard enough to go through but was nothing compared to...

Keep Reading

To the Family with a Loved One in Jail

In: Grief, Living
Woman with head in hands

At first, I wanted to hide. I didn’t want to face people anywhere, not at the grocery store, not at work, not even at church. I was ashamed, hurt, and humiliated. It was after that day not so long ago when one of my sisters called me, sobbing so hard I could barely understand the awful message she was telling me. He’s been arrested, she was saying. We need to go tell Mom. Oh, God, no. Please, please, no. How can this even be real? But it was real. RELATED: Tragedy Changes You, But it Doesn’t Have To Ruin You...

Keep Reading

My Daddy Is In the Arms of Jesus

In: Grief, Loss
Grown daughter walking with older father

My daddy went home to the arms of Jesus just a few short days before Christmas. My family was given the greatest gift of time with him individually to speak the words they needed him to hear and to listen to the words he wanted to say. It was a gift we are beyond grateful for because we know not everyone has that time with their loved ones before they go, especially now. So, yes, I am grateful, but I miss him. I awoke this morning with a dance happening in my heart. The dance of grief and joy. I...

Keep Reading

Even Though You Left Too Soon, You Gave Me Hope

In: Grief, Loss, Motherhood
Early sonogram image

This was the fifth time I’d seen those two pink lines letting me know that a baby was on the way, but I only had one child to show for it, so I’d learned to damper my happiness and excitement. Each miscarriage brought its own unique flavor—one was marked by anxiety, another anger, deep sadness, and then apathy. I’d learned not to get too close to a pregnancy, but this time I leaned into it in a way I hadn’t before. There was a tender and growing elation, and I felt immediate love and gratitude. Sure, there was no telling...

Keep Reading

We Picked up Our Daughter’s Ashes Yesterday

In: Grief, Loss, Motherhood
Mother holding decorative urn in baby's room, color photo

We picked up her ashes yesterday . . . our daughter’s ashes. Though the funeral home was only about an hour away, the trip felt like an eternity. I stared blankly out the window for most of the drive, somewhat calmed by the cocktail of medications I had been placed on and was brought back to reality only by the occasional pain searing through my abdomen. When we arrived, the parking lot was completely empty. Snow lined the edges of the lot, and the sun shone all too brightly. We had assumed the funeral director would be there to greet...

Keep Reading

The Hardest Prayer I Ever Prayed

In: Cancer, Grief, Loss, Motherhood
Bald-headed little girl in hospital bed with her mama, color photo

Trigger warning: Child loss I had a plan for summertime fun with my children. We had just returned from a week-long road trip to the Grand Canyon. I intentionally planned to fill the rest of the summer with activities that would chase away boredom. Craft supplies had been purchased, day trips had been planned, and we were just beginning a week of Vacation Bible School. Excitement was in the air! Yet a tiny nagging fear kept resurfacing: Was there something wrong with my 2-year-old? Ever since she turned two back in the fall, she had become fussy. Our healthy, happy...

Keep Reading

My Mom Passed away and I Don’t Know Who I Am Anymore

In: Grief, Loss
Mother and daughter on a carousel ride, older color photo

For the last sixteen months of her life, I was one of my mother’s primary caregivers, and now that she’s gone, I feel lost. My beautiful, strong, hilarious, and fun-loving mom not only survived but thrived after a heart attack and open-heart surgery at age 67. So 10 years later, we were all surprised to learn that the aortic aneurysm with which she had lived for over a decade had expanded to dangerous territory. We were told she would soon die without another risky open-heart surgery. The one thing my mother feared more than going into surgery was death. Her...

Keep Reading

Dear Dad, I Pray for Our Healing

In: Faith, Grief, Grown Children
Back shot of woman on bench alone

You are on my mind today. But that’s not unusual. It’s crazy how after 13 years, it doesn’t feel that long since I last saw you. It’s also crazy that I spend far less time thinking about that final day and how awful it was and spend the majority of the time replaying the good memories from all the years before it. But even in the comfort of remembering, I know I made the right decision. Even now, 13 years later, the mix of happy times with the most confusing and painful moments leaves me grasping for answers I have...

Keep Reading