The Hidden Weight Strong Women Carry

We're often told that strong women can handle anything.

And many do.

They show up.
Keep going.
Carry the responsibility.
Encourage everyone around them.

But what nobody talks about enough is the hidden weight they're carrying while they do it.

The grief nobody sees.
The unanswered prayers they still bring before God.
The questions they quietly wrestle with.
The exhaustion that settles deep into their soul.
The struggle to trust when life doesn't make sense.

In this episode, we explore the hidden burdens so many women carry while continuing to show up for everyone else ... and the beautiful healing that can happen when we stop pretending we're fine and bring those burdens to God.

Because strength isn't the absence of struggle.

And healing doesn't mean the weight was never there.

If you've been feeling tired, overwhelmed, discouraged, or like you're carrying more than anyone realizes, this conversation is for you. 🤍

✨ Mentioned in this episode:

7 Days to Breathe Again (Complimentary)

A free 7-day experience designed to help you slow down, reconnect with God and yourself, and create space for what matters most.

To receive your complimentary copy, simply email:

📧 susandcrum@gmail.com

with BREATHE in the subject line.

I'll personally send it your way. 🤍

Tapestry of Faith with Susan D. Crum

Real conversations about faith, life, and the stories God is still weaving.

Connect with Susan:

📧 susandcrum@gmail.com

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God is still weaving. 🤍

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Hi everyone, welcome back to Tapestry of Faith. I'm Susan D. Crumb, and today I want to talk about something that I think many of us carry, but rarely talk about. The hidden weight, the things people don't see, the things we quietly hold while continuing to show up. Because if there's one thing I've learned over the years, it's that the strongest people in the room are often carrying the heaviest things. You know, we don't talk enough about how tired strong people get. And I'm not talking physically tired, although sometimes it's that too. I'm talking about the kind of tired that settles into your soul. The tired that comes from being the one everyone depends on, the one who keeps showing up, who keeps encouraging, who keeps holding everything together, and eventually that gets heavy. And then there's grief. Not just the grief of losing someone, but the grief of seasons, the grief of dreams, of expectations, the grief of things that never happened, the grief of things that changed, the grief of who we used to be. And what fascinates me about grief is how often it walks beside us while we're still functioning, still working, still smiling, still serving, still showing up. Nobody sees it, but it's there. And then there are the seasons where life simply doesn't make sense. The seasons where you prayed, you trusted, you tried to do the right thing, and yet you still don't understand what God is doing. Those seasons can be incredibly lonely because sometimes we feel pressure to act like we're okay, pressure to have answers, pressure to make everything sound spiritual, when the truth is sometimes faith looks less like certainty and more like trust. And let's talk about something else people don't always talk about. The prayers that haven't been answered. Or maybe they were answered, just not the way we hoped. I think most of us have at least one prayer we've carried for a long time. One thing we've asked God for, one thing we've waited for, one thing we don't fully understand. And if we're honest, those unanswered prayers, they can create questions. And not necessarily about God's goodness, but about his timing, his ways, his plans. But here's what I've been thinking about this week. What if the story doesn't end there? What if exhaustion isn't the whole story? What if grief isn't the whole story? What if confusion isn't the whole story? What if waiting isn't the whole story? Because healing deserves a place in this conversation too. Not instant healing, not perfect healing, not Instagram healing, real healing. The kind that happens slowly, the kind that often goes unnoticed. The kind that looks a little more peace, a little more trust, a little more freedom, a little more breathing room. The kind of healing that doesn't erase the past, but changes how we carry it. And you know what? Maybe that's what I've been noticing lately. Healing isn't always dramatic. Sometimes it's realizing that something that used to consume your thoughts doesn't have the same grip on you anymore. Sometimes it's recognizing you've stopped rehearsing the hurt. Sometimes it's discovering that God has been working even when you couldn't see it. And maybe that's why I love the tapestry metaphor so much. Because when we're living through difficult seasons, all we can see are loose threads, knots, tanglements, things that don't seem to fit. But God, God sees the whole picture. And often the very things we wish weren't part of our story becomes part of the beauty He creates. So if you're tired today, if you're grieving something, if life does not make sense, if you're carrying prayers that still feel unanswered, I want you to hear this. God is not absent from any of it. Not the grief, not the waiting, not the confusion, not the exhaustion. And just because the healing isn't finished doesn't mean it isn't happening. Sometimes the most beautiful work God does happens quietly beneath the surface in places nobody else can see, including us. And one day, you may look back and realize he was healing more than you knew. And if you're feeling weary, overwhelmed, or like you've been carrying more than you were meant to carry, I'd love to send you my complimentary resource, Seven Days to Breathe Again. A gentle seven-day experience designed to help you slow down, connect with God, and create space for what matters most. Simply email me at Susan D Crum C R U M at gmail.com and in the subject line just put the word breathe. I'll personally send it your way.