Unfolding Dreams

There is a known formula to success for church members: praying to God, reading your scriptures, helping others, and regularly attending church. There is a power in the things you believe, that allows them to anchor, guide, help, and inspire you. Christian women, even those who are going through separation and divorce can benefit from these powerful tools. Sometimes separated and divorced women, such as I, may also need additional support for their struggles that not all members may understand or need. For example, a break from callings and receiving counseling services.  But one thing that is important and needed, but often missing is support from their fellow members. This “missing” feeling of support is not due to someone being intentionally unkind. It is because of things that fall out of the ideal of society, religion, or culture like divorce, members do not speak about enough. As a Christian church, understandably we spend time talking about the Godly marriages we desire to...

Valentine’s Day is just another day, right? Well, until it isn’t. Let me explain. As a separated mama, I can, unfortunately, remember my last three Valentine’s Days as I began my journey to single motherhood. They were emotionally rough. Valentine’s Day among many things served as a painful reminder of all I was losing.   THE BEGINNING OF THE END On the first Valentine’s Day (2020), I was already making painful decisions to separate from my children’s father. It should have been a happy time given that we had reached a milestone of 11 years of marriage. Sadly, our relationship continued to struggle, and we became roommates for 4 months and 10 days before our second and final separation began. It hurt to see all the romantic social media posts of carefully scripted messages to significant others and photoshopped collages of smiling faces. I cried at the unfairness.   9 MONTHS SEPARATED… On the second Valentine’s Day (2021), I found myself a separated mama of three c...

  I am the author of this Endometriosis blog (endometriosismom.blogspot.com) and I’ve been writing about my Endometriosis diagnosis and motherhood journey since 2013.  Thank you all for your support and for coming with me on this journey over the years.    I have been married for almost 14.5 years and living as a separated mom for 3 years. I’m unfortunately in the process of divorce. Because of these big and recent changes, I’m revamping my blog.  I will be writing about a whole new season of life.   But don’t worry, I haven’t deleted any old content about Trying to Conceive. I’ll slowly tie those things my blog is known for into this new version. In the meantime, I hope you laugh, learn, and grow with me as I present a new perspective and content. Last Edited: June 20, 2023

Photo by Kimberly Farmer on Unsplash        I have noticed that there are a number of Christian women, especially in the Latter-Day Saint culture * who often postpone their educations or careers to stay at home with their children that find themselves facing big educational and employment decisions after separating and/or divorcing a partner. Often wondering if pursuing an education in their new life as a divorced woman and mother is worth it? After reflecting on my own experiences in these roles, I  believe it is worth pursuing an education, whether a woman is a married stay-at-home mom, a separated mama trying to find her way, or beginning life as a divorced mother.   - The Married Stay At Home Mom -   I was a stay-at-home mom (20-28 years old) until my third child was around a year old during my marriage, but I continued to pursue my education. It was a slow and steady success. My degrees should have taken me 4-6 years * under ideal circumstanc...