...it doesn't matter what label you put on me, my heart is the same. It's what's on the INSIDE that counts. This truth was passed down from my great grandmothers & my mama spoke these words on repeat my whole life : "Pretty is as pretty does." Despite growing up in a divorced home with a dad who struggled with alcohol, and spending most of my childhood playing "mom" to my younger sister and brother while my mom worked her tail off going back to school & working 3 jobs to take care of us, there were plenty of struggles to say the least. 

I wanted something bold for my life.  Something bigger. Something different. I believed there was something special inside of me that I could share with the world. I just didn't know what it was. But lucky for me I had enough family and friends who believed in me and reminded me of who I was despite my circumstances. I BECAME that woman in my soul before anything about my life changed. 

I experienced a whole new world with infinite possibilities. My mindset shifted to not just imagining things were possible, but to actually discover what it took to make things happen.  During my last year at college I happened to fall for the best man in my friend's wedding (where I happened to be the maid of honor). It was a story for the books, since, in true fairy tale fashion, he was a handsome soldier. But who knew what military life had in store?! 6 moves, 2 babies, 13 deployments, and plenty of animals  to be exact. It took me YEARS of craziness to step back into the identity & truth that was in me all along.

Your circumstances do not determine the level of your success. YOU ARE the creator of your life. 

After reinventing myself to try and be successful in six different cities, in the midst of multiple deployments, after losing my brother to drugs, and then my dad to the same, I learned one powerful truth. Problems are inevitable. Knowing who you are will help you write the story that may only exist in your mind. 

You are not your circumstance. Your problems are not new. They have been around for many years. But there will only ever be one YOU. And you, my friend, have the power to overcome anything you want to. Your true identity, not the one defined by a situation, but the REAL you is waiting to come out. The one who is CONFIDENT and CAPABLE. The one who is an OVERCOMER. Owning who you are will give you the power to impact so many others and create the life you've always imagined. Don't sit around waiting on your circumstances to change. Create the life you want now. 

One of my girls