Navigating Life as Single Mom

   No matter how you feel about your life as a single mother you really are not in Wonderland where time has been suspended. You may see only a daze of duties that you trudge through day to day. Time is passing, children are growing and you are merely existing through it all. Perhaps you are bewildered or hurting—anxious and confused. But you are not losing your senses. There may be times when you feel like Alice, wishing you could shrink yourself in order to hide from the overwhelming responsibilities your are facing. Or you may think your life is absurd, wondering as Alice did, if you are the same person as you were yesterday. You may be wondering if you are the same person you were before your husband died, or left, or before you voluntarily stepped into the complicated world of motherhood without a spouse. It is easy to lose yourself but not so easy to find you again. As Alice put it, “I don’t feel ME any more. I wonder if I’m somebody else after all.” Have you ever felt like Alice, wondering who you actually were? Often single mothers lose the sense of self they need to lead their children forward to self assured adulthood. If you threw away your dreams to be a wife and mother, or if you quit your job to be a homemaker you did an honorable thing. However, your personality may have suffered. The source of resentment results from being out of touch with your true self, the self God created you to be. You may love your family but wonder why the internal frustration continues. If like Alice, you are wondering if you are indeed yourself, a look at your G.P.S. (God-given Personality Style) will lead you out of Wondering Land.

Gail holds a degree from Lamar University in Speech and a Master’s from the University of Texas. She married Sam after raising three children as a single mother. She was an educator in regular and special education for eighteen years, finishing her professional career as a Braille teacher. In 2007 She founded SMORE for Women. SMORE is a nonprofit association whose goal is Single Moms, Overjoyed, Rejuvenated, & Empowered. She is a Women’s Transition Coach and her stories have been published in several Christian books and magazines.