Momspirational Life

The final post in the Lost in the Detours Series. To catch up, you can read Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, and Part 4

There are seasons where you look in the mirror and do not recognize the person looking back at you. Over time, I did not recognize the woman, wife, and mother in that reflection. She did not look like the same Tabitha I once knew. She looked tired. Perhaps defeated.

I did not know it then, but losing the version of myself I expected to be was the very same place where God began shaping the woman He intended me to become.

When Roles Become Identity

I tried so hard to keep up with everything.
Wife.
Mom.
Homemaker.
Support system.
The list felt endless, and somewhere along the way, I felt small and unseen.

I remember days when I felt like I was failing at all of it. The gentle version of myself I admired was buried under exhaustion, comparison, and the quiet ache of wondering if I was doing any of it right.

What I could not see then was that I was losing a version of myself that was never meant to carry the whole weight of my world.

The Quiet Nudge I Could Not Ignore

Even in the overwhelm, there was a tug in my spirit that would not leave.
A whisper while folding laundry.
A nudge while journaling my prayers.
A stirring when I would read Scripture and feel something almost alive move inside me.

I began to notice how the Holy Spirit would meet me in ordinary moments. Words would come to mind, and I would feel led to write them down. Sometimes it was messy. Sometimes unfinished. But, it felt sacred. It felt like God was doing something in the parts of me that felt the most lost.

Confronting the Lies Along the Way

Over time, I had to confront a quiet lie that tried to follow me into every new season.

The lie said that anything I wrote would go unnoticed because others would see me as a simple housewife with a hobby. The lie told me that my voice was small, that my words were ordinary, and that no one would ever see what I poured out. I cannot tell you how many times I hesitated to publish each post in the years past.

But God kept reminding me of something far greater. He reminded me that my value is not found in the number of people who see the words, but in the One who gave them to me in the first place.

He reminded me that if only five people ever read what I wrote, then those five people were the exact ones He intended to reach. He reminded me that obedience is never wasted. That nothing surrendered to Him is ever unnoticed.

And that purpose is measured in faithfulness, not visibility.

Losing Myself Became an Invitation

I used to think losing myself was a sign of weakness.
Now I understand it was an invitation.

When I lost the expectations of who I believed I should be as a wife, a mom, and a woman, God began revealing who I truly was in Him.
Not perfect.
Not put together.
Just willing.

And from that place He began shaping a calling I never thought I was qualified to hold.

Found In What I Thought Was Gone

I did not know it then, but every overwhelmed day was preparing me to write to women who feel the same. Every prayer whispered in tired moments was training me for ministry I could not yet see.

God took the parts of me that felt empty and turned them into purpose.
The pieces I mourned became the message I will now carry.
And the calling to write was born right in the middle of the feelings that convinced me I had nothing left to offer.

I learned that anything I build apart from Him will fade, but anything He builds in me will last.

The Found Place

I am not who I used to be, but I am not lost anymore.
I am being shaped, refined, and called for His glory.
And every word I write now is simply a reflection of what He has already restored.

This series began in the detours, but it ends here, in the knowing that nothing surrendered to God is ever truly lost.

Love,
Tabitha

P.S.
This series was the result of many heart-to-heart conversations I have had with God over the past year. In the middle of trials, uncertainty, and seasons that stretched me deeply, He gently reminded me of something I had delayed for a long time. I needed to say yes to writing the way He asked me to nearly ten years ago. Not for recognition. Not for outcome. Simply for obedience.

_{If you are looking for good devotional reads, one book I read over again as well as recommend is The Best Yes by Lysa TerKeurst (click on book title to check it out). I first read it about 12-13 years ago when we were living in Ohio. That changed my perspective to how I say yes and no to different people or things. Note- the link in “The Best Yes” is an Amazon affiliate link; this is no extra to you while it supports my family.}