Today we’d like to introduce you to Miranda Browning.
Miranda, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
Life is made up of stories strung together. As a good friend of mine taught me, the significance of those stories is to find the theme that weaves them all together. I’m not sure that I’ve totally figured out that theme yet, but I’m getting closer every day. I was raised in Fort Worth and lived here until I left for college at East Texas Baptist University in Marshall, Texas. During college, I met my husband and had our daughter a year and a half later. After I graduated, we moved our small family to California for six months. Though I am grateful to have developed relationships with my husband’s family, living in California was the most trying time of our relationship. We dealt with struggles involving drugs and alcohol and rarely spoke with each other. It wasn’t until moving back to the metroplex that we encountered Jesus and community – the catalysts that changed our family and relationship completely. Shortly after, in November of 2015, we were married.
Fast forward through a few other stories and I found myself 26, not knowing what my purpose was, and feeling totally lost as a mother to two little girls and a wife. Though I am extremely happy to have taken on those roles, I was consumed by them. I felt defined by them. When I saw other women at church, the conversation was short. “Your babies are so cute”, “how old is she”, and “you’re Mychal’s wife, right” are just a few I can recall. I remember crying because I wanted so badly to make friends but I didn’t know-how. It took hearing my pastor suggest that if anyone is missing connection the best thing they could do was serve. So, I did. Since then, I’ve felt more community than I ever have. I’ve made friends that will come over just to have our children be crazy together. I’ve made friends that have become my workout partners. I’ve met women that inspire me to be the best version of myself. That is how I’ve come to running my fitness and lifestyle blog, Designed In Full (www.designedinfull.com). I want to encourage women of all walks of life and make them feel heard and understood. I want to let women know they are not alone, no matter where they are in their journey. I want them to know they are purposed and designed to be exactly who God made them be.
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc. – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
It’s definitely not been a smooth road and it still isn’t. My biggest struggle is believing that what I have to offer is significant. Feeling like your work or passions don’t matter is debilitating. This world can make you feel so small, that’s why it’s so important to be big even when you don’t feel it. Fill the world and take up space with your ideas, words, and passions.
Please tell us more about what you do, what you are currently focused on and most proud of.
I’m a blogger. A new blogger. But a good one. Designed In Full is a fitness and lifestyle blog that bloomed out of two things: my desire to share my journey to health to encourage other women on their journeys and to create solidarity within a community of women so that no woman feels invisible or undervalued. I’m most proud when I get messages from people who have been encouraged by my stories and journey. If I can help even one person with something I share, it’s worth it. I think what sets me apart is that instead of focusing on topics and content, I’m more focused on creating a community through those things. I don’t write for the sake of writing. I only write things that I believe will add to the lives of others, and in the current hype of gaining followers, I think that is a valuable thing.
What were you like growing up?
I was a total tomboy. With awful curled bangs at one point. I loved playing with my friends outdoors and building “clubhouses” in the trees behind the houses on my street. I also loved roller skating. Really, I don’t have a ton of childhood memories before my parents separated. And after that, I had to grow up pretty quickly. But for the things I do remember, outside is where all the fun happened!
Contact Info:
- Website: www.designedinfull.com
- Email: designedinfull@gmail.com
- Instagram: @designedinfull
- Facebook: @designedinfull
- Twitter: @designedinfull
Image Credit:
Nicole Ann Photography
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