About Me
Hey friend — I’m Amanda. I live in Picayune, Mississippi with my husband, Stanley, and our kids, Malachi and Makayla. I’m a homeschool mama, a storyteller at heart, and a woman who has learned that God teaches His best lessons right in the thick of everyday chaos.
I’ve been writing since I was a little girl — journals, poems, songs, whatever my heart needed to get out. I didn’t always know it would turn into books or a blog, but writing has always been the place where God meets me. It’s where He untangles my thoughts, steadies my heart, and reminds me who I am.
My writing blends Southern warmth, humor, and heartfelt faith because that’s the world I live in. Real life. Real kids. Real mess. Real grace. I’m passionate about helping others recognize the lies the enemy whispers and replace them with the truth of who God says they are.
My first children’s book, Uniquely Me: Becoming Who God Created Me to Be, reached #1 in several Amazon categories — something I still see as a sweet reminder that God can use even the smallest offering when we place it in His hands. That book opened the door for me to share my heart for helping young readers understand their identity in Christ. I’ve also written Christian spoken word pieces and worship songs, but YA fiction has become my favorite space to explore purpose, belonging, and the journey of growing up with God’s voice at the center. Much of that inspiration comes from my daughter — and my desire to give her something wholesome, funny, and faith‑rooted to read.
I co‑lead a life group for 6th–8th grade girls, and those girls continually remind me why stories matter. They’re the reason I write with honesty, humor, and hope. They’re the reason I believe legacy matters.
This blog is where I share the lessons God weaves into my everyday life — the messy, the funny, the unexpected, and the holy. My prayer is that as you read, you’ll feel seen, encouraged, and reminded that God is working in your story too.
I’m so glad you’re here. So pull up a chair and stay awhile.
In the South, sweet tea is more than a drink — it’s a staple, right up there with front porches, porch swings, and conversations that last longer than you planned. At our house, we go through about a gallon a day… more when my son is home from college. Sweet tea is part of our rhythm, part of our comfort, part of our story.
But I didn’t know it would become part of my daughter’s story too.
When she was younger, she walked through a season where she struggled to fit in. At home, she was full of life — funny, loud, creative — but around others, she grew quiet and unsure. As a mama, watching that ache in her was hard. I prayed for a way to show her her worth in a way a ten‑year‑old girl could truly understand.
That’s when the Lord gave me the story that became Uniquely Me. And with it, He gave me a metaphor I’ll never forget.
He showed me how my daughter was like a glass of sweet tea — something with its own flavor, its own sweetness, its own strength. Some people like their tea sweet. Some like it unsweet. Some don’t like tea at all. But none of that changes the value of the tea itself. It just means different people have different tastes.
As she began to understand that she was created to be different — created intentionally, created uniquely — something shifted in her. She realized she didn’t have to be a copy of anyone else. She didn’t have to change herself to belong. She didn’t have to blend in to be loved.
She was a sweet tea original.
And that phrase… it stayed with me.
Over time, I realized it wasn’t just a message for my daughter.
It was a message for every girl, every mama, every woman who has ever felt like she wasn’t enough, or too much, or somehow the wrong kind of different.
It became the heartbeat of everything I write.
Uniquely Me was the beginning — the story that helped my daughter find her voice.
Now I write for older girls too, carrying the same message of identity, belonging, and God’s gentle voice in the middle of our everyday mess.
A Sweet Tea Original became the banner over every story He gives me — the children’s books, the YA fiction, the spoken word pieces, the songs, and the blogs written in the quiet moments when the Lord whispered, “Just write.”
My hope is simple: that as you read, you’ll discover that you’re an original too.
Created on purpose.
Loved without condition.
Designed by a God who doesn’t make mistakes.
The Story Behind the name
Born In The Middle of the Mess
How It All Began
A Sweet Tea Original began in the thick of motherhood — in the days when I was learning who God was, who I was, and how to raise kids who would grow up knowing both. What started as a journal to God slowly became a place where I processed the chaos, the beauty, and the lessons He kept teaching me right in the middle of real life.
This blog is my space — a place where I share the freedom, revelation, and truth God has walked me through. But part of my calling as a mama is training my girl up in that same truth. And as she grows, she’s discovering her own voice, her own faith, and her own way of seeing the world. She’s already written a couple of pieces that carry a sweetness and honesty all their own.
That’s why you’ll see Makayla’s Corner here — a small space where she can share when she feels led. Not because she needs a platform, but because legacy starts early. Because revelation isn’t reserved for adults. And because freedom belongs to every generation.
So while most of what you read here will come from me, you’ll occasionally find her voice tucked in too — a reminder that God speaks to all of us, no matter our age, and that raising girls in truth means giving them room to grow in it.
Welcome to A Sweet Tea Original — where life is messy, faith is real, and a mama and her girl are learning to walk in freedom together.