At 27, the day my husband and I discovered that a little life was growing within me became one of the most precious moments of my life. Even now, years later, that memory remains vivid, a quiet, sacred turning point that marked the beginning of a journey I never truly understood until I lived it.
I didn’t know what pregnancy and motherhood could do to a woman until I walked through each phase myself. My pregnancy was high-risk, layered with chronic health issues and the constant pressure placed on both my mind and body. There were days of fear, days of surrender, and days where I held on only through faith.
But today, when I look at the woman I have grown into, I feel nothing but gratitude. All glory to God alone. I am now a blessed mother to a joyful five-year-old who has become my greatest inspiration.
In these five years, I have authored and self-published two children’s books designed to support early childhood development. Writing them was never just about producing books, it was about stepping into something I had no experience in. As a first-time mother with no background in early childhood education, turning an idea into reality felt daunting. But it was also deeply fulfilling.
Every page I wrote was shaped by the desire to give my child something meaningful, something that would support growth in simple yet powerful ways. As I explored resources to help my child at different developmental stages, I learned how even the smallest everyday moments could be turned into opportunities for learning. I observed, read, experimented, and kept refining my understanding of how to bring out the best in a child using the simplest tools.
This curiosity eventually led to the creation and illustration of my story-led pre-writing workbook series. Two books in this series are now published on Amazon. These workbooks are not just practice sheets or tracing pages. They are guided by a character who leads the child through a story, encouraging imagination, conversation, creativity, and the foundational skill of writing. Each page is designed to instill gentle virtues while helping children build confidence in expressing themselves.
It is a blend of storytelling, early literacy, and emotional development, all born from my own motherhood journey.
Motherhood inspires me every day to become a better version of myself. I have realized that nothing can put a mother down. She is a little cub turned into a fierce warrior in the battlefield of life. Every stage she walks through, pregnancy, birth, sleepless nights, identity shifts, career pauses, and personal rediscovery, shapes her into someone stronger and bolder.
From the many shifts and folds in my life and career since that 27th year, to now figuring out what comes next, this is where I stand. I am not fully established. I am still learning. I am still becoming. But I am proud of who I am growing into, with full confidence in God’s timing and guidance.
Transitioning from a full-time onsite role as a food technologist to being a stay-at-home mother brought immense pressure. It was a shift that challenged my identity, my routine, and my sense of purpose. But as the saying goes, pressure creates diamonds out of carbon. I am learning to polish what is within me, discovering hidden strengths, nurturing creativity, and embracing the slow but steady unfolding of who I am meant to be.
Motherhood has not limited me; it has expanded me. It has pushed me to explore new paths, create new things, and believe in possibilities I never imagined for myself.
I stand today as a mother, a writer, a creator, and a woman still growing, and I am grateful for every part of the journey.
Mabel Jacob wrote this essay for the November 2026 issue of Mothered Magazine.
