Connect What is the most rewarding part of being a mom?

Watching my kids beat the odds. They're biracial in a predominantly white community and continue to show up for their friends, as well as their siblings-We have an abusive, extremely racist neighbor who yells vulgarities daily and a Dad who is completely MIA in their lives and they are killing it anyway. They're kind. They pray. They have hope and dreams, and they WILL accomplish them. Watching them turn into amazing humans who love their neighbors and make God and their mom proud!

What is the biggest lesson motherhood has taught you?

That I can do this by myself. I don't need a man to be my partner or husband. Jesus is my bridegroom and as long as I put my trust in Him, I will never be parenting alone. Christ is my co-parent! My motherhood journey will be completely different than my own Mom's experience and even though we have been abandoned by the man we trust and loved, I've realized I can be Mom and Dad for all 8 of them BY MY DANG SELF.

What would you do with $20,000?

I wish I had something more exciting to say. I would probably pay my lawyers. I owe them $170,000 after a gnarly 4 year legal battle and have been drowning trying to make ends meet. With 8 kids in elite sports, birthdays, holidays, rounds and rounds of new shoes and orthodontics, and dog sitting to survive, I am underwater financially. The court and my former spouse have crippled me and I need to either pay my mortgage so we don't foreclose, or pay my lawyers so they don't drop me. Sucks.