Breathe, Girl. You Don’t Have to Carry It All.

You ever just sit in your car…
doors locked, music off, hands on the steering wheel…
and think, “I can’t do this today”?

Not in a dramatic way. Not in a “fall-apart” way.
Just in a deeply real way.

Like…
If one more person needs something from me,
If I have to smile when I don’t feel like it,
If I have to “power through” one more thing…
I just might quietly shut down.

And no one would even notice.
Because I’m the one who “has it all together,” right?
The strong one. The steady one. The one who always figures it out.

When Strength Starts to Feel Like a Burden
For the woman who’s tired of being the “strong one.”

Let me say something out loud that you might not feel safe saying:
You’re tired.
Not just physically.
But emotionally. Mentally. Spiritually.

And even though you're still showing up -
you're running on fumes.

Here’s the thing nobody tells us:
Strong women break down, too.
Just usually… in private.
Because we feel like we can’t afford to fall apart.
Not with everything we’re holding.

The Silent Assignment You Never Signed Up For
You picked up the weight… but it was never yours to carry.

Somewhere along the way, you picked up this belief - maybe without even realizing it -that if you don’t hold it all together, it’ll all fall apart.

So you carry it.
All of it.

Their expectations.
Your kids’ needs.
Your job, your marriage, your ministry.
Your grief that you haven’t had time to process.
Your own needs that keep getting pushed to the bottom of the list.

But girl, listen…
That’s not strength. That’s survival.
And God didn’t call you to survive your life.

This Is Not What God Meant by Faithful
Holding it all together isn’t the same as trusting Him.

Let’s cut through the noise for a second.
Let’s get back to truth.

You were never created to carry everything.
Not even the stuff you care about.
Not even the stuff that feels urgent and holy.

You don’t have to be the solution to everyone else’s problem.
You don’t have to keep pretending you’re fine when you’re not.

You’re not God.
And He never asked you to be.

That’s not failure. That’s freedom.

“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.”
(Matthew 11:28)

That’s not just a verse we slap on mugs.
That’s an invitation.
To stop performing.
To stop pushing past your limit.
To stop being everything to everyone.

You Don’t Have to Be Everything to Everyone
That pressure? It’s not holy - it’s heavy.

Let me offer a few shifts that have helped me exhale when I’ve felt like I was drowning:

• You can be strong and still say, “This is too much.”
  You’re not weak for needing help. You’re wise for recognizing your capacity.
  

• Rest is holy.
  It’s not lazy. It’s not selfish. It’s alignment.
  You rest because you trust that God keeps the world spinning  -  not you.
  

• You don’t hold the weight of the world  -  He does.
  You’re not holding your people together. God is.
  You’re allowed to pause. To let go. To not be “on” all the time.
  

Come Sit in the Middle With Me
You don’t need a fix. You just need a moment.

So maybe today…
You don’t finish the list.
Maybe you let the dishes sit.
Maybe you close the laptop, cancel the thing, let the call go to voicemail.

Maybe you crawl into bed early with zero guilt.
Maybe you breathe.
Maybe you finally let God hold you, too.

And if you need a space to land -  a soft, sacred pause in the middle of all the “stuff”  -
Meet Me in the Middle is for you.

It’s not a workbook.
Not a checklist.
Not another thing to “do.”

It’s just a space to sit with your honest thoughts,
to be fully seen,
and to let God meet you right in the messy middle -  not after you “get it together.”

You don’t have to carry it all, sis.
You really don’t.

And just because you can doesn’t mean you have to.

So today?
Let that be enough.
Let yourself breathe.
You are still loved, still held, still chosen.

Even when your hands are empty. 

Deanna

— Rooted Woman