Shea Mathis
Her life’s work lies in raising five children on five acres with a slew of animals all while her husband serves in the military. And as if that wasn’t enough, Shea Mathis is opening a coffee shop to keep serving her community.
What keeps you up at night?
Honestly, not much keeps me up at night. I’m fairly accomplished at sleeping. But if there were an area of stress, it would be navigating the torrents of parenting. Along with all the usual trials of parenting, my five creative and unique kids all have dyslexia. I do not. So, it was no small struggle to teach them to read. It was even harder to not take their struggle personally, especially before I understood their diagnoses.
What makes you feel proud?
I am the most proud when my children or husband chose the hard path. To know them is to know their struggles, and when I get to witness them taking the road less traveled anyway, my eyes swell with tears and my heart soars. When they experience victory in said challenge, there aren’t words to describe my joy.
“To know them (my family) is to know their struggles, and when I get to witness them taking the road less traveled anyway, my eyes swell with tears and my heart soars.”
One year from today, how do you hope you’re different?
One year from today, I would like to be more comfy in my own skin, flowing in the truth that stress is not required for success and conquering my chronic procrastination that stifles my creative outlets.
What’s been the biggest obstacle in your life so far?
Learning to love well has been my greatest challenge. A childhood framed by frequent cross-country moves left insecurities, which lead to relationship-sabotaging habits and beliefs. My husband and I married young, and I made the mistake of placing all my hopes for security and the absence of loneliness on him. When he inevitably failed to be everything that God is meant to be, I had to learn how to be whole and love even when I felt unloved.
Shea is one of 100 women we have featured in the inaugural issue of Hundred Magazine. To learn more about her and the other 99 women, buy the issue.
