Ciara embraces all visions of beauty and grace on the May cover of Essence.

Celebrating life in music and motherhood, the 30-year-old, Grammy-winning singer reveals the bliss and growth of being a woman. “I’d always wanted to have my own family,” she told the magazine. “My pregnancy was planned when I was at a point in my life when I was finally ready to take on the responsibility.” Delivering her son nearly two years ago, the public break-up with her finacé and rapper at the time, Future, almost discouraged Ciara from her childhood dreams of a “picture-perfect family.”

“That wasn’t necessarily part of my vision,” she recalled. “But the moment I realized I was going to be a single mother, I had to reflect and reorganize my thoughts. I decided to trust that God had a plan for me, and move forward one day at a time.”

Less than a year later, Ciara’s hopes to complete her family came in the form of Seattle Seahawks quarterback, Russell Wilson.

“I remember telling my friend the kind of guy I wanted: a God-fearing man with a very fun spirit who loves kids and would really, truly care for me. I was very specific because I do believe you can have it all.”

Now engaged and continuing to climb the charts with one hit after another, Ciara seems to have manifested her vision of real love to life.

Read the entire interview and pick up a copy of the Mother’s Day May issue on newsstands now.