Let me just say something out loud that not enough people say: Feeling lost doesn't mean you're failing. It means you're human. If you're a single parent and you've looked in the mirror lately — past the tired eyes and the hair you barely had time to fix — and thought, "I don't even know who I am anymore"... you're not alone. Not even close. That feeling? It's more common than anyone lets on. And today I want to talk about why it happens, why it's okay, and what you can actually do about it. Why Single Parents Lose Themselves Here's the truth nobody puts on a greeting card: when you become a parent — especially when you're doing it alone — your whole identity shifts overnight. One day you're a person with dreams, opinions, hobbies, maybe even a sense of humor. And then suddenly you're just... Mom. Or Dad. The one who makes the lunches, pays the bills, handles the tantrums, holds it together at 2am when the baby won't sleep and you haven't slept in three days. There's no room left for the question "Who am I?" because you're too busy answering "What does everyone else need?" And over time, that question gets buried. You forget it was even there. Until one day — usually in a quiet moment, maybe in the car after drop-off — it shows back up. And it hits different. The Weight of "Just Getting Through It" Single parenting often means survival mode becomes your default setting. You're not thriving, you're managing. Not because you're weak — but because the load is genuinely heavy. And here's what nobody talks about: when you spend months or years in survival mode, you can lose your sense of self without even realizing it. You stop knowing what you like. What you want. What makes you feel alive outside of your kids. That's not a character flaw. That's what happens when one person carries what two people — or a whole village — were meant to carry. "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest." — Matthew 11:28 I love this verse because Jesus wasn't talking to people who had it together. He was talking to people who were exhausted. Worn out. Lost, even. And His answer wasn't "try harder." It was come. Just come.

According to the Culture Translator by Axis this week, we get some interesting information about Fathers! What it is: Millennial dads are spending a record-setting amount of time with their young children. Why it’s nuanced: According to the Pew Research Center, 85% of fathers say that parenthood is one of the most important aspects of their identity, and they’re spending more minutes doing “primary caregiving” in the early years of their kids’ lives. This is good news for moms, as child-rearing increasingly happens without community support, and fathers who share the childcare load are a game-changer. But there’s one big caveat here: a dad’s ability to be engaged on a day-to-day level with kids often requires having a flexible schedule, which tends to require a higher level of education. In other words, who gets to show up most often as a dad isn’t necessarily a reflection of which dads care the most. As we close in on Father’s Day, we’d like to shout out the dads who are showing up in every way they can, even when economic and logistical constraints make them feel like that isn’t enough.

Let me just say something out loud that not enough people say: Feeling lost doesn't mean you're failing. It means you're human. If you're a single parent and you've looked in the mirror lately — past the tired eyes and the hair you barely had time to fix — and thought, "I don't even know who I am anymore"... you're not alone. Not even close. That feeling? It's more common than anyone lets on. And today I want to talk about why it happens, why it's okay, and what you can actually do about it. Why Single Parents Lose Themselves Here's the truth nobody puts on a greeting card: when you become a parent — especially when you're doing it alone — your whole identity shifts overnight. One day you're a person with dreams, opinions, hobbies, maybe even a sense of humor. And then suddenly you're just... Mom. Or Dad. The one who makes the lunches, pays the bills, handles the tantrums, holds it together at 2am when the baby won't sleep and you haven't slept in three days. There's no room left for the question "Who am I?" because you're too busy answering "What does everyone else need?" And over time, that question gets buried. You forget it was even there. Until one day — usually in a quiet moment, maybe in the car after drop-off — it shows back up. And it hits different. The Weight of "Just Getting Through It" Single parenting often means survival mode becomes your default setting. You're not thriving, you're managing. Not because you're weak — but because the load is genuinely heavy. And here's what nobody talks about: when you spend months or years in survival mode, you can lose your sense of self without even realizing it. You stop knowing what you like. What you want. What makes you feel alive outside of your kids. That's not a character flaw. That's what happens when one person carries what two people — or a whole village — were meant to carry. "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest." — Matthew 11:28 I love this verse because Jesus wasn't talking to people who had it together. He was talking to people who were exhausted. Worn out. Lost, even. And His answer wasn't "try harder." It was come. Just come.

I was struggling with this topic of forgiveness the other day. May 2nd, 2026 was supposed to be my 40th wedding anniversary in a perfect world. My marriage didn't exist in that perfect world. Because of the death of that marriage, my children and I really suffered. It was so emotional for all of us. My grown kids are now 36 to 45. Now that I can talk to them as battle scarred adults, I have been crying more about it now, now that they can tell me with adult words, full sentences and some life experiences behind them, how certain events affected them. It's heart breaking. On May 2nd, 2026, after having a long conversation with my only son, I realized that I had been mourning so deeply for two things. One was the future we had planned so intentionally (that I would never taste or see) and for the apology. That is never going to happen (unless God does a huge miracle). So I decided to write some thoughts about that in a few ways. I posted a couple of blogs on my website that you might find interesting. I'd love some feedback... have you gone through some forgiveness hotspots? I knew that if I didn't free myself, I'd never get anything moving for my own life. So here we go! When the Apology Never Comes — Forgiving What Was Never Made Right – The Happy Store The Hardest Person to Forgive Is Usually the One in the Mirror – The Happy Store The Grudge You're Carrying Is Heavier Than God Intended – The Happy Store