When Motherhood Feels Lonely | Grace for the Mom Who Doesn’t Have It All Together | Part 2When Motherhood Feels Lonely | Grace for the Mom Who Doesn’t Have It All Together | Part 2
Love&BLoved with Lena Cebula
Lena Cebula and Stacey A. Shannon talk about the hidden weight of motherhood, from school forms to health struggles, and how faith and grace can meet mums in the middle of the chaos. The conversation focuses on anxiety, advocacy, community, and learning to be gentle with oneself while trusting God through messy, real-life parenting seasons.
28:42•23 Sept 2026
Grace for the Overwhelmed Mum: The Hidden Mental Load of Motherhood
Episode Overview
- The invisible mental load includes all the unseen tasks and worries mums carry, from school forms to health concerns.
- Trusting God and taking practical action can work together, through prayer for wisdom, research, and advocacy for children.
- Grace at home looks like asking “What’s going on?” instead of reacting harshly when children or spouses struggle.
- Community support, even through small online groups or quick messages, helps mums remember they are not alone.
- Mums are encouraged to show themselves the same grace God offers, taking small moments of rest without guilt.
“If God is gently leading us, if God is giving us grace and he knows that this is a hard season, then we need to be gentle with ourselves and give ourselves grace as well.”
What emotional and inspiring tales of recovery are out there? This conversation between host Lena Cebula and guest Stacey A. Shannon zooms in on a different kind of struggle: the quiet, exhausting weight of motherhood that nobody else sees. Aimed at Christian mums who feel like they’re barely holding things together, this episode focuses on the “invisible mental load” – the forms, appointments, homework, laundry, health issues and constant worries that pile up in a mum’s head.
Stacey shares honestly about advocating for her dyslexic son, supporting her daughter through ongoing pelvic pain, and carrying all of that while still trying to keep a home running. As she puts it, motherhood is often “all of the things that I notice and I carry that nobody else does.” Faith is woven through the chat in a very down‑to‑earth way.
Stacey talks about praying for wisdom before emailing school staff, seeing God’s hand in providing the right teacher at the right time, and learning to actually hand anxieties to God instead of praying and then picking them back up again. Lena adds her own experiences with neurodivergent children and a child’s battle with depression, highlighting how hard it can be when emotional pain hides behind “bad behaviour”. The tone stays warm, funny in places, and deeply relatable.
There’s practical talk about setting boundaries, finding community in small, realistic ways (like quick texts and online groups), and keeping home a place of safety and laughter rather than perfection. Grace is a major theme – grace for children, grace for husbands who forget to fill the car with petrol, and grace for mums who are simply exhausted.
If motherhood feels lonely, messy, and nothing like the Instagram version, this episode gently reminds mums they’re not alone and that God “gently leads those that have young.” Maybe it’s time to ask: where could a bit more grace lighten your load today?
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