A JOURNEY OF COURAGE, CREATIVITY, AND THE CALLING OF A MOTHER’S HEART

In every city, there are stories that rise quietly, shaped not by fame or fortune but by faith, resilience, and the fierce love of a mother. The story of Christina Leonard is one such light. A self-taught Indian artist, a mother of two young boys, and a woman who rebuilt her world piece by piece, she stands today as a testament to the truth that destiny bends for those who choose not to break.

Christina came to Dubai in 2008, building her life here with her husband, dreaming simple dreams of stability, joy, and a future for their children. But when the pandemic shook the world, it shook hers the hardest. Her husband’s salary was cut in half, freelance art work was not enough to sustain the family, and the only choice she had left was a painful one – to leave Dubai with her children and return to India while her husband stayed behind to support them.

The taxi ride to the airport remains one of her most unforgettable memories. Watching the city pass by – the roads, the buildings, the places that held years of moments – she felt her dreams slipping away. “I cried my way to the airport,” she says. “Leaving without my husband felt like breaking the promise we made to never separate for money.” Yet even through the tears, she felt a strange, insistent voice whispering that Dubai was not done with her – that she would return.

Back in India, life became even harder. The family was separated into three different homes. Christina stayed with her in-laws, while her sons stayed with her sisters. Those months of distance carved a new strength into her. Sleeping without her children, hearing them breathe in the same city but not in the same home, pushed her to rebuild from the ground up. She began learning new skills online, training herself, and preparing for a second chance if it ever came.

The miracle came faster than she imagined. Just before her visa was due to expire, she made a final visit to Dubai, holding on to hope despite the uncertainty ahead. Just a day after she reached India, she received an email for an online interview, the result of a CV she had casually shared at a dinner in Dubai two days before leaving. Three interview rounds later, she was selected. A job in Dubai, offered to her while she was thousands of miles away.

Five days later, she walked through the same airport she had left with tears. This time, she walked in with determination. Her children’s visas had expired, and she had to return alone. But she carried a plan and a promise: to finish her probation, earn their school fee discounts, and bring her boys home.

She worked without taking a single leave for nine months. She decorated the Christmas tree in December 2021 and left gifts under it, vowing not to pack it away until her children came back to unwrap them. Every morning as she walked to work, she looked at the tree and whispered, “They’re coming home.”

In April 2022, after six long months, they did. Christina still remembers hiding behind a pillar at the airport, watching her sons walk out with their father, before stepping out to give the family the hug they had been deprived of for too long. Back at home, the Christmas song played as her boys opened the gifts they were meant to open months before.

Even after their reunion, financial struggles continued, but Christina refused to let that dim her spirit. She joined art groups, participated in exhibitions, and brought her work into the public eye. When a teacher forwarded her CV for a better opportunity, she was initially rejected for lack of an art degree—but destiny intervened again. She was called for an art-based role in the Inclusion Department, teaching art and craft to students of determination. That role changed her life. It taught her to embrace imperfection, celebrate small wins, and design meaningful art that brought joy and progress to her students.

Her creativity blossomed further when she invested in a Holistic Integrated Creative Art Therapy Practitioner course, using money gifted by her parents. She feared spending on herself, but the course transformed her mindset. It taught her self-worth, self-love, and the truth that healing the self allows one to uplift others. She began reading, writing, creating, and thinking like a new person.

Her sustainable art projects brought her recognition across the UAE. From live painting at breast cancer awareness events to tote bag workshops and coffee painting sessions, she used art not just as expression, but as contribution. Her sustainable soy wax painting being accepted by H.E. Claudia Pinto felt like divine validation — “like living a dream,” she recalls.

Through every high and low, her husband remained her anchor. Her biggest supporter, her friend, the one who lifted her up when she felt she couldn’t go on. Her children, too, played their part — through handwritten gratitude cards, bedtime prayers, and home-cooked meals that reminded her she was never alone.

Today, Christina balances motherhood, teaching, exhibitions, creative therapy, and her artistry with grace. She learned to take life one day at a time, to honor each role without overwhelming herself. She carries a small tattoo on her hand that reads “You can” — a constant reminder of the fire within her.

When asked what she would tell mothers who feel forced to sacrifice their dreams, she says, “If we don’t plan our life, life will plan it for us. Challenges prepare us for the dream we are meant to reach.”

Looking at her journey now, Christina feels her greatest accomplishment is not a single award or achievement, but the quiet certainty that she is exactly where she is meant to be — living a life of purpose, using her God-given gift to support her family, her school, and her community.

She says her life has been like scattered puzzle pieces, each year adding one more piece. Today, the picture is finally taking shape.

And in the center of it is her purpose — to give the best of herself so she can give the best to her family.

A mother. An artist. A teacher. A healer.
This is the story of Christina Leonard — a story of faith, grit, and the art of rising again.

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