Recently, I observed behavior from someone that really concerned me. I watched as they harshly interacted with someone, taking offense to something that was completely innocent, and in that moment, it became clear to me that they were still responding from a place of trauma. You can often tell where someone is in their healing by how they respond. When healing hasn’t taken place, trauma will speak for you. Scripture reminds us in Matthew 12:34 that “out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks.” In other words, your words will eventually reveal what your heart is trying to conceal. The truth is, you can’t hide what hasn’t been healed, especially not from someone who walks with the Holy Spirit. He reveals what we try to cover. And that’s why it’s better to be honest about where you are in your healing process than to pretend you’re whole while still bleeding on others. Here’s the hard truth, Sis: your purpose will wait for you, but people won’t. People are not called to stand in the line of fire of your unhealed wounds while you chase purpose. Healing is not optional, it’s necessary. Because when you pursue purpose without securing your identity, your trauma responses will expose you, and your behavior will push people away before your purpose ever has the chance to impact them. I'm not trying to change you or judge you, I'm just offereing you wisdom. Don’t rush into purpose while neglecting healing. Take the time to become whole. Because when your identity is secure and your heart is healed, your purpose won’t just be something you do, it will be something you can sustain without hurting the very people you’re called to help. #Tianastea☕️ #itsteatime Tiana's Tea and Tiana's Tea Public Access

In Genesis 27, we see what happens when identity is unclear. people start striving for what was already assigned. But when you truly know who you are, you don’t have to lie, scheme, manipulate, or perform to receive what God has already placed on your life. Favor is not something you hustle for, it’s something you walk in when you are aligned. There is a grace, a commanded blessing, that comes with living in agreement with God’s purpose. Not a counterfeit version of you. Not a watered down version to be accepted. But the real you, the one God designed before the world ever shaped its opinions. And this is where many women are struggling. You don’t know who you are, so you start borrowing identities. You start performing. You start shrinking in some places and exaggerating in others just to fit expectations. You become who people applaud, who men desire, who culture celebrates, but somewhere in the process, you lose the woman God created. And here’s the truth you may not want to hear: God’s blessing is not attached to who you pretend to be. It is assigned to who you were created to be. So when you operate in a false identity, you may attract attention, but you will not sustain God’s favor. Because favor flows where there is alignment, not performance. Listen, Sis if you want the man God has for you, you cannot become a version of yourself that God never ordained just to keep him. The right man is not attracted to your mask, he is assigned to you authenticity. Stop striving. Stop performing. Stop negotiating your identity for acceptance. Because the moment you become who God called you to be, you won’t have to chase what’s yours, what’s yours will recognize you. #tianastea☕️ #itsteatime #KnowWhoYouAre #BiblicalIdentity #WalkInPurpose #WomenOfGod

Another powerful topic we discussed in She Rises Academy with Dr. Tami Robinson was how trauma doesn’t just affect one generation, it can echo through generations.This is where the concept of epigenetics comes in. Epigenetics is the study of how experience, especially stress and trauma, can influence the way our genes are expressed. In simple terms, traumatic experiences can leave biological “imprints” on the body that may be passed down to the next generation. Researchers have found that the children of people who experienced significant trauma, such as war, abuse, severe stress, or generational hardship, often show heightened stress responses, anxiety patterns, and emotional sensitivities even if they themselves never experienced the original trauma. In other words, trauma can become embedded in the nervous system of a family line. That means an unhealed wound in one generation can quietly influence the next.And this is why healing is so important... Because even the most loving parents, parents who deeply want to protect their children, can unintentionally pass down trauma if their own wounds remain unresolved. It may not always show up in obvious ways. Sometimes it shows up through: • heightened anxiety in the home • emotional reactivity or withdrawal • difficulty expressing affection • overprotection or fear-based parenting • relational patterns children learn simply by observing Children don’t just inherit DNA. They inherit emotional environments, coping patterns, belief systems, and nervous system responses. So even when parents try to shield their children from certain environments, the internal patterns of unresolved trauma can still be transmitted. And this happens not only biologically and psychologically, but spiritually as well. Spiritually, trauma can create cycles of fear, rejection, mistrust, and broken identity that continue through family lines. Scripture often refers to these as generational patterns or strongholds, ways of thinking and behaving that become normalized across generations.

Sometimes God allows us to be beautifully broken, so the masterpiece He creates can reveal the full power of His healing, His deliverance, and His restoration. To be beautifully broken… I know what it means to walk through divorce.To struggle financially.To have a car repossessed and be evicted.I know the heartbreak of losing a child.I know the trauma of physical and sexual assault.I know what it feels like to be lied on, talked about, slandered, and misjudged. I know what it feels like to pray for everyone else’s children while your own child is fighting addiction and perversion.I know what it feels like to stand on the edge of suicide, barely holding on.I know what it feels like to lose a father—the steady voice who shaped your life.I know the sting of rejection, betrayal, abandonment, and being dropped by the very people who said they loved you.I know the weight of fear and anxiety when it squeezes you in a chokehold. And yet… After all of this, I now understand what it means to be beautifully broken. I know what it looks like when a loving, sovereign God picks up shattered pieces and fits them together with divine precision.I know what it feels like to be held together by His unfailing love.I know the peace that settles over you when it should’ve been impossible.I know the tender touch of a God who wipes tears you never thought would stop falling.I know what it means for Him to snatch you from the grip of death and breathe new life into your lungs. I now know deeply, fully, undeniably, what it means to be beautifully broken. Because broken in His hands is never the end of the story.It’s the beginning of the masterpiece.

Tonight was indescribable but necessary. If you missed class, you can re listen here for the next 14 days...