10/16/2026
YOUR STORY DOESN’T END WHERE YOUR STRUGGLE BEGAN:
This picture is me at 16 years old.
I was a junior in high school, and my son was only five months old. I had him 3 months before I turned 16.
When I look at this picture today, I see a scared young girl who was still growing up while learning how to be a mother. Life had already taken me into a chapter that required me to grow, mature, and face responsibilities at a young age.
I didn’t know everything I know today and I couldn’t see the woman I would eventually become. I didn’t know all the experiences, lessons, and challenges life would bring my way.
BUT, MY STORY DIDN’T END AT 15 WHEN I HAD MY SON!
Sis, maybe your life didn’t turn out the way you planned. Maybe you became a mother earlier than you expected. Maybe you made decisions you wish you could change. Maybe life placed responsibilities on your shoulders before you felt ready to carry them.
Or maybe you spent years taking care of everybody else while losing pieces of yourself along the way.
I want you to know something today: WHERE YOU STARTED DOES NOT HAVE TO DETERMINE WHERE YOU FINISH!
You are not disqualified because of your past. You are not too old to rediscover yourself. You are not too far behind to begin again. And you are not required to remain the woman your circumstances forced you to become.
God still has purpose for your life!
Taking your life back doesn’t mean pretending your past never happened.
It means recognizing that your past is part of your story, but it does not have to write every chapter that follows.
Today, I encourage you to give yourself permission to grow, heal, rediscover who you are, and embrace the woman you are becoming.
REBUILD your foundation.
REDISCOVER your identity.
RECLAIM your purpose.
That is what Taking My Life Back is all about!
I look at this 16-year-old girl and realize she had so much more life to live. And so do YOU!
Your past may explain some of your journey, but it does not have to define your destiny.
What would you tell the younger version of yourself if you could sit down and talk with her today?
Share your words in the comments.
Your encouragement may be exactly what another woman needs to hear.