Welcome to The Village Initiative

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Finding Yourself Again in a Season of Family, Gratitude, and Grace 

We are approaching busy kitchens, hands at the ready cooking, wrapping gifts, and hugging. The season of thanksgiving, family gatherings, and priceless moments are reminders of what matters most. I feel called to open a conversation many mothers carry silently: 

What happens when we spend so much time tending to everyone else that we forget to tend to ourselves? 

When the late part of the year approaches, the holidays have this effect of wonderful blessings and lingering burdens. There is a weight of crafting meals, maintaining traditions, kids, familial expectations, while the world reminds us to be grateful, cheerful, and present in the moment. And yes – we are grateful. Deeply.  

However, sometimes being grateful and tired co-exist within the same exhaled breath. 

As mom/mommy/mama, you can love your family in every action and affectionate moment that you perform and still feel like you lose yourself in the daily grind. At times, you can be surrounded by people and sense the disconnection from the parts of you that were present before motherhood or the version of you that you hope to become in motherhood.  

This is why The Village Initiative was created. 

This is not a parenting guide. This is not a series on perfect pinterest-style routines. This is a place for real women, mothers, and their very real moments. A place of comfort and safety, to talk honestly about identity, hobbies, mental health, faith, and the parts of us that quietly fade when our days become consumed with caring for others.  

Mothers deserve a village too.  

A place to be held, restored, inspired, and reminded that we are so much more than our responsibilities. I want to offer a new kind of thanksgiving this season: 

Thank you for continuing to show up, even when you’re tired. 

Thank you for giving love so freely, even when you feel empty. 

Thank you for holding families together, even while holding your own emotions with trembling hands. 

And thank you for still dreaming – quietly, boldly, or somewhere in between. 

The Village Initiative is a written place of fellowship. Where we rediscover our dreams. It’s where we make room for ourselves to find hobbies, joy, creativity, and mental restoration – even in limited pockets of time.  

It’s a place we remember that God did not create us to live exhausted, overwhelmed, or forgotten. He created us with a purpose, identity, spirit, and gifts that still matter even as we care for others. Psalm 139:13-16 tells us how we are carefully crafted by God, our identities are given and seen in its deepest forms. We are intentionally knitted to be fearfully and wonderfully made. 

Over the next posts, we’ll explore: 

• Finding hobbies again 

• Rebuilding passion 

• Supporting our mental and emotional health 

• Giving ourselves grace 

• And creating a life where motherhood and identity coexist – not clash 

For today, though, I want to welcome you with warmth and comfort.  

Welcome to The Village Initiative. 

A place where mothers can breathe again. 

A place where you don’t have to choose between your family and yourself. 

A place where you can finally say, “I’m ready to find me again," and know you’re not saying it alone.  

You’re here. 

You’re seen. 

And you belong in this village.