4214 Put the Mask Down
Create Your Now with Kristianne Wargo
Pretending takes so much more energy than people realize. It’s not just one lie — it’s a thousand tiny adjustments every single day. You’ve been carrying it for a while now, haven’t you? That careful smile. That practiced answer — I’m good, I’m fine, everything’s great. And maybe you’ve gotten so good at wearing it that even you’ve started to believe it. But it’s time to put the mask down because you’re finally ready to be whole. Otherwise, you find youself adjusting your voice and your posture. You rearrange your face before you walk into the room. You swallow the...
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4213 The Weight of What-If
Create Your Now with Kristianne Wargo
You've done it before: lying awake at night replaying a conversation that hasn't happened yet, mapping out every worst-case scenario before getting out of bed. You've carried the weight of what-if, and you didn't even realize how heavy it was until you couldn't stand up straight anymore. Fear-based thinking doesn't always look like panic. Sometimes it looks like planning. What a concept! Desire to be supported and encouraged by other like-minded women? Join us at the . #MindsetMonday #CreateYourNow #PersonalDevelopment It's the mental rehearsal of everything that could go wrong —...
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4212 Before You Say A Word
Create Your Now with Kristianne Wargo
You know that moment right before the words leave your mouth — your pulse is up, your thoughts are racing, and everything in you wants to say the thing. To set the record straight. To be heard. To fire back. But before you say a word, what if the most powerful thing you could do in that moment is nothing at all? What if the gap between the feeling and the speaking is actually one of the wisest places God has given you to stand? Desire to be supported and encouraged by other like-minded women? Join us at the . #SweetSpirit #CreateYourNow #SoulfulSunday We live in a world that...
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4211 The Power of "I See You"
Create Your Now with Kristianne Wargo
Something powerful happens in a marriage when one person turns to the other and says, with quiet, deliberate presence — I see you. The power of “I see you” is not about fixing anything, solving a problem, or checking something off a list. It is about pausing long enough to notice the human being standing right in front of you. The one who shows up day after day, doing the things no one claps for. The one who carries burdens they have not fully named. When was the last time you looked at your spouse and let them know that who they are matters to you? Desire to be supported and...
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4210 The Myth of the Empty Vessel
Create Your Now with Kristianne Wargo
Somewhere along the way, somebody decided that the holiest version of motherhood looks like a woman who has nothing left. Pour out. Give more. Skip the meal. Skip the rest. Run yourself completely dry and call it faithfulness. And if you've ever whispered a prayer through clenched teeth because you had nothing left to give — then you've already bumped into the myth of the empty vessel. But today, you're dismantling it — because that myth was never God's design for you. Desire to be supported and encouraged by other like-minded women? Join us at the . #ConfessionsOfAnUpsetMama...
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4209 Release What You Buried
Create Your Now with Kristianne Wargo
There comes a point in every season where you have to stop and take an honest look at what you've been carrying. Not everything that weighed you down was meant to travel this far with you. And today, right here, right now — it's time to release what buried you. But some of what pressed you into the ground was soil. God placed it there with purpose. It was the covering you needed, so the seed inside you could crack open, stretch its roots, and begin to grow into something only He could design. Yet some of it was never soil at all. It was just weight. Dead weight. And you've been dragging it...
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4208 Tending What's Tender
Create Your Now with Kristianne Wargo
In every garden, the gardeners watch carefully for the first buds to appear. Not the full bloom. Not the sturdy stem. But the bud. It's the plant's most vulnerable part because it hasn't hardened yet. It's new and exposed, full of potential, yet not strong enough to withstand a late frost or a careless hand. And if you've been doing the interior work lately — pulling up old roots, tilling hard ground, planting seeds of faith in places that used to grow nothing but fear — then you may be approaching a season of tending what's tender. Because what's beginning to emerge in you right now...
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4207 Refuse the Verdict
Create Your Now with Kristianne Wargo
You woke up this morning, and before your feet even hit the floor, there was already noise. Not the alarm. Not the kids. Something deeper, quieter, meaner — a thought that slid in before you had the chance to decide what kind of day this was going to be. And if you're not careful, that thought will try to run the whole show. But you don't have to let it. Today is your invitation to refuse the verdict, because you were named before the noise ever began. WOW!! Sit with that for a minute. Desire to be supported and encouraged by other like-minded women? Join us at the . #Inspiration...
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4206 The Lies That Feel Like Home
Create Your Now with Kristianne Wargo
Some lies announce themselves. They crash into your day with a voice so sharp you know immediately something is wrong. But the most dangerous lies aren't shouted out loud. They whisper. They've been whispering so long you stopped recognizing them as anything other than your own voice — and that is exactly what makes the lies that feel like home so hard to leave behind. You know the ones. I'm not enough. It's too late for me. Everyone else has it figured out. They don't feel like attacks. They feel like facts. Desire to be supported and encouraged by other like-minded women? Join us at the . ...
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4205 The Company You Keep
Create Your Now with Kristianne Wargo
There's an old saying that you become like the five people you spend the most time with. And while that might sound like something from a self-help book on a clearance rack, there's actually deep, biblical truth tucked inside it. The company you keep matters more than most of us are willing to admit. And it's not because the people around us define us, but because they shape the atmosphere we breathe, the thoughts we entertain, and the steps we're willing to take. And if we're serious about walking in wisdom, we have to be honest about who's walking beside us. Desire to be supported and...
info_outlineIt's not that unheard of to want to explain everything to your children. We carry decades of life behind us, and we think if we can just say the right thing at the right time, we can spare them the pain. But regardless of their age and stage of life, what they need is your presence. Not your lecture. Not your five-point plan. Your presence; listening is love.
You don't have to have all the answers. You don't have to be the problem-solver every single time. What they need from you is ears to hear.
Desire to be supported and encouraged by other like-minded women? Join us at the Kairos FREE Online Community. https://createyournow.com
#ConfessionsOfAnUpsetMama #CreateYourNow #TodaysParent
Proverbs 18:13 tells us, "To answer before listening — that is folly and shame."
And yet how often do we jump in before they've even finished their sentence?
Maybe you've been the mama who interrupts. The mama who hears the first three words and thinks she already knows the rest. The mama who turns a conversation into a coaching session nobody signed up for. And every time you do, you watch your child pull back just a little. Not because they don't love you, but because they don't feel heard.
Your child doesn't need you to fix it. They need you to sit with them in it.
When they come to you with something heavy, something confusing, something that doesn't even seem like a big deal to you but is their whole world right now — the most loving response isn't an answer. It's attention.
James 1:19 says, "Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry."
Quick to listen. That means listening comes first. Before the advice, before the correction, before the "well, when I was your age" — we listen.
Please hear your child.
The K.I.S.S. ~ H.E.A.R. your child!
How do you interact with your children typically now?
So how do we get better at this? How do we shift from fixing mode to listening mode?
H — HOLD space without filling it. When your child comes to you, resist the urge to immediately respond. Let there be silence. Let them gather their thoughts. Your quiet presence tells them, "You are safe here, and what you have to say matters." Hold the space open even when it feels uncomfortable.
E — ENGAGE with eye contact and full attention. Put the phone down. Close the laptop. Turn your body toward them. These small physical shifts communicate something words never could — that they are your priority in this moment. Engagement is not passive; it is an intentional act of love.
A — ACKNOWLEDGE their feelings before offering perspective. Before you say a single word of advice, name what you see. "That sounds really frustrating." "I can tell this matters to you." "That must have been hard." Acknowledgment doesn't mean agreement — it means you see them. And being seen is one of the deepest needs of the human heart.
R — RESPOND with questions, not solutions. Instead of jumping to "here's what you should do," try "what do you think you want to do?" or "how did that make you feel?" Questions invite them deeper into their own process. They build critical thinking, confidence, and trust — and they keep the door open for more conversations to come.
Mama, I know it's hard. Every part of you wants to jump in and shield them from the hurt. But some of the most powerful moments in your child's life will be the ones where you said nothing at all — and they felt everything.
Your children are not looking for a perfect parent. They are looking for a present one. One who shows up, sits down, and says with everything in her, "I'm here. I'm listening. And I love you."
"Be present. Be incredible. Be YOU!!!"
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Cover Art by Jenny Hamson
Photo by Canva.com
Music by Mandisa - Overcomer
http://www.mandisaofficial.com
Song ID: 68209
Song Title: Overcomer
Writer(s): Ben Glover, Chris Stevens, David Garcia
Copyright © 2013 Meaux Mercy (BMI) Moody Producer Music (BMI)
One Songs (ASCAP) Ariose Music (ASCAP) Universal Music -
Brentwood Benson Publ. (ASCAP) D Soul Music (ASCAP) (adm. at CapitolCMGPublishing.com) All rights reserved. Used by permission.