It's ironic to me how everyone talks about how much their life "changed" when they had kids. Call me crazy, but I don't think anything changed. In reality, having children simply made me discover who I was meant to be all along.

You see, as a child myself, I was always the kind of awkward one. I had friends, but I never really fit into any group. I just sort of wandered aimlessly trying to find a purpose. I was always happy, but never whole. I was always smiling, but secretly dying inside struggling with who I was supposed to be.

Amidst the chaos that was my childhood, at sixteen I became pregnant. Everyone assured me that my life was over and that I would never amount to anything. I was scared beyond belief that they were right. But I've always been a believer in the idea that everything happens for a reason, and ten years later- I owe every single good thing in my life to that "mistake."

From the minute that my son was born, everything around me started to make sense. I stopped living for the approval of everyone around me and started seeing life with that purpose that I had always longed for. This little boy WAS my purpose and every single decision that I made was based solely on the betterment of his life. As young as I was, it felt right and for the first time ever I felt like I knew who I was supposed to be and failure was never an option.

From the twelve hour night shifts to sleeping in my car between college classes. From every sleepless night to every priceless smile- I finally found meaning in my life as a mother. He never saw me as a teen mom struggling to keep us afloat. To him, I have always been his mom and that has always been enough.

Here I am, ten years, a husband, and two more kids later and not a day goes by that I don't understand my purpose. I know why I was put on this Earth and I know what I was meant to do. My life hasn't changed at all since I had my kids, because with them is just where it began.