Related Episodes: Marriage Marriage the Priority in Motherhood with Glori Winder, Being a Special Mom of Special Needs Kids with Julie Holmquist, Surviving as a Single Mom with Annie Quinnell, Restoring Joy in Motherhood with Winfree Brisley, The No Judgment Zone: Honest Motherhood with Becky Kopitzke, Anchored Motherhood with Tina Smith, The Fight for Relationships, Jesus: The Rest in our Busy, Identity: What You’re Not, Identity: Unveiled

Merritt Onsa’s journey to motherhood was unconventional. After bouts of infertility, she and her husband decided to pursue embryo adoption (check out an episode here on this as well). Like many mothers who have been through infertility, she entered this part of her life with expectations and hopes of how motherhood would look. Of course, it hasn’t quite gone that way. Like all women, and especially moms, she has learned that she needs to work on finding her true identity as well as identify her idols in motherhood. God has been so gracious in that and reminded her that she doesn’t have to measure her motherhood by anyone else’s. God has His own plan for hers and yours.

Merritt is passionate about helping women find their God-shaped dreams. Please note: she does not say God SIZED but God SHAPED. That includes finding our identity, God’s purpose in our lives, and help give us the tools to achieve them. Merritt believes in you and loves to remind you that God promises to finish the work that He began in us. Look below for her resources!

Zephaniah 3:17 – The Lord your God is with you,
    the Mighty Warrior who saves.
He will take great delight in you;
    in his love he will no longer rebuke you,
    but will rejoice over you with singing.

Resources:
Website: https://www.merrittonsa.com/
Podcast: The Devoted Dreamers Podcast
Facebook: @merritonsa
Instagram: @merrittjo

Related Episodes: Being a Special Mom of Special Needs Kids with Julie Holmquist, Surviving as a Single Mom with Annie Quinnell, Restoring Joy in Motherhood with Winfree Brisley, The No Judgment Zone: Honest Motherhood with Becky Kopitzke, Anchored Motherhood with Tina Smith, The Fight for Relationships , Jesus: The Rest in our Busy , Identity: What You’re Not , Identity: Unveiled

It’s always easy to get distracted by our motherhood with all of the needs, expectations, and time that our children take. For those of us that are married with children though, we need to make sure that we are keeping our husbands above our children (even though this may not be the easiest or most popular opinion). Glori Winders is no stranger to the struggle of juggling marriage with her motherhood. After the real estate crash in 2008, Glori and Tim Winders went from having everything to almost losing all of it. However, because marriage was always the highest on their priority list, they were able to build tools and a strong foundation for God to work with even in this stressful time. Glori shares some of these tactics as well as her own struggles in her motherhood journey, reminding us that God truly does love us and care about us, and loves to lavish His blessings on us.

Psalms 23, The “Glorified” version:

You are my shepherd and friend. With you as my friend, there is nothing that I could possibly lack.

You invite me to sit down with you in the green grass and rest beside the rippling brook which is a place of complete peace and fulfillment. There we can talk and you can teach and advise me in the right paths to take.

You give me right thoughts and help to ease my mind. You love me so completely that past hurts don’t even have an effect on me. They pale in comparison. You help me to drop all burdens and weights into the brook that carries them away from me forever.

Even when I am not at the brook with you and I must walk through life, you are still beside me. Protecting me, guiding me and, carrying me when needed. So, I have not one thing to fear.

Your love and protection is a continual feast for me. I can see your love’s effect on my life on a daily basis as you lavish your goodness on me. I am marked by your favor on my life that even my enemies can see and know that I am yours.

Because you have chosen to honor me by flooding my life with your anointing, my cup brims over with blessings onto all those around me. I am blessed to be a blessing.

Your goodness and mercy hunt me down and take me over because your word over my life can not return void. And, most importantly I have an honored place in your family & kingdom for now and eternity.

Resources:
Instagram: @the31woman
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/liveglorified
Website: https://liveglorified.com/

Being a special needs mom is one of the absolute hardest and most rewarding jobs in the world. Julie Holmquist and I have a lot in common with our struggles in being moms of special needs sons, ranging from our dreams of cleaner houses to our identity issues in this journey. One major thing that helps in that is remembering the story from John chapter 9 where Jesus healed the blind man. When asked if he or his parents sinned, Jesus responded with “This happened so the power of God could be seen in him” (verse 3). Remembering that having a special needs child isn’t a punishment to either the parents or the child is key to our perspective and changes the way that we see our situations. Special needs moms also struggle with embarrassment/shame and isolation, we want to remind all of you mamas that you are not alone! We don’t know about the future of our typical kids any more than we know about our special needs kids. And it is so very clear that God placed them in our families to be a blessing and be blessed by us, and only He can give us the strength to do that.

Isaiah 40:11 He tends his flock like a shepherd: He gathers the lambs in his arms and carries them close to his heart; he gently leads those that have young.

Resources:
Website: www.stuffofheaven.com
Podcast: Kairos Moments
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/julie.holmquist1
Facebook Group: Stuff of Heaven
Instagram: @julie_e_holmquist
Podcast Instagram: @kairosmomentspodcast

Relate Episodes: Restoring Joy in Motherhood with Winfree Brisley, The No Judgment Zone: Honest Motherhood with Becky Kopitzke, Anchored Motherhood with Tina Smith, The Fight for Relationships , Jesus: The Rest in our Busy , Identity: What You’re Not , Identity: Unveiled

Annie had what she thought was a good life: married with two beautiful girls, until one day “a bomb went off” in her soul. After her husband left, Annie struggled with trying to adjust to life as a single mom. Her biggest torments were juggling time (in attempts to do the tasks of two people) and financial issues. While part of her longed to feel valued and loved by another man, she learned that you can’t get your value from a person, you have to get it from within, knowing who you are in Christ. After surviving through the teen years, learning how to do things one step at a time, her daughter suggested how she had a lot to give in terms of helping other single moms get through. That conversation ignited her passion to mentor other single moms, to make sure they truly believe that they don’t have to do this alone. All of her wisdom comes from the God who gave her the gift of children, and her heart’s desire is to honor God with the gifts He gave her.

Romans 8:28 – And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.

Resources:
Website: www.themamamentor.com
Podcast: The Unstoppable Solo Mom
Facebook: The Mama Mentor

Related Episodes: Created to Create with Austin Jaquith, You’ve got Talent, Here I am Send Me, God Made the Bridge

Michael Card was born into a musical family, but never expected to become a professional musician himself. What started off as using his guitar merely as a means to impress girls, he was unexpectedly requested and expected to use those skills write a chorus for his mentor’s next sermon. That is how his music career began: reluctantly but with the guidance and confidence of someone God used immensely in his life.
What Michael really wanted to do with his life was become a scholar, to teach the Bible and dig deep into theology. He claims though that “God always gives you the life you should have asked for,” and concedes that this likely would not have been good for his ego.
Instead, Michael found a beautiful marriage between his talent for music and his love for scripture: through what he calls the lyrical life of Jesus. In his new book, The Nazarene, Michael Card writes 40 devotions to help connect our head and our heart to the beauty and love of found in the life of Jesus. His life’s passion is to know as much as he possibly can about Jesus, and to use his creativity “like romance, it’s always a response to the beloved, the one who makes your heart resonate.”
Listen as we discuss the beautiful truths Michael has found in his journey to know Jesus well, what some of his future projects may be, and how God empowers all of us to follow the “burning in our bones” to the assignment that God calls each of us.

Luke 6:35-36: But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. Then your reward will be great, and you will be children of the Most High, because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked.  Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.

Resources:
Website: www.michaelcard.com
Book: The Nazarene: Forty Devotionals on the Lyrical Life of Jesus

Related Episodes: The No Judgment Zone: Honest Motherhood with Becky Kopitzke, Anchored Motherhood with Tina Smith The Fight for Relationships , Jesus: The Rest in our Busy , Identity: What You’re Not , Identity: Unveiled

Winfree Brisley is the editor for www.risenmotherhood.com , a resource dedicated to equip and encourage moms through the hard journey of motherhood. Winfree is no stranger to motherhood struggles. To be honest, her biggest battle is dying to herself in order to serve her family, because that’s the example Jesus gave on how to lead. She has found immense peace in the fact that we are promised that we don’t have to do it alone! As a performance based mom who had an incredibly difficult newborn stage, she knew she needed to redefine and restore joy in her life. How does she define it now? Joy is more of a recognition of God and goodness, satisfaction in Him; not on circumstances like how well her kids behave or having expectations met. Even when God’s answer to her prayers were the exact opposite of what she asked for, He still proved His faithfulness, and that His answers are never wrong.

2 Corinthians 9:8 – And God is able to bless you abundantly, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work.

Resources:
Website: Risen Motherhood
Instagram: @risenmotherhood

Related Episodes: The Next Right Thing, Facing the Red Sea, Is God Still Faithful in the Valley, Is God Still Faithful in Politics? with Glen Duerr, Thrown Off Script: Michael Domeny, Waiting in the Shepherd’s Field, Infertility is Never the End of the Story, Abundant Life in Loss with Ashlee Filby, In Due Time with Caroine Harries, Life After Infertility with Sarah Sisson-Rollandini, Mini Episode: Waves of Hope, Mini Episode: Is it OK to Question God?

If there’s something we’ve gotten to practice a lot lately, it’s disappointment. In the past few months, I bet all of us have prayed for something that did not turn out the way we expected. It’s easy to focus on what we didn’t get: our definition of healing, a certain job situation, a certain virus being done by now. When the answers don’t come as we want or expect, does that mean God isn’t faithful? Does it mean that God has forgotten about us and our needs? Does it mean that God doesn’t care? Absolutely not! Michelle Watson from the Pantry Podcast is learning that when God’s answer to our prayer is “no,” it actually means that it’s a “yes” to something better! Listen as she discusses situations where God didn’t answer prayers the way that she wanted Him to (her conversation about naps changed my whole attitude at home), how she uses emotions as a smoke detector and not a GPS, and how God has directed her path in better and more exciting ways than she could have ever dreamt up herself.

Proverbs 3:25-26 Have no fear of sudden disaster or of the ruin that overtakes the wicked, for the Lord will be at your side and will keep your foot from being snared.

Resources:
Michelle’s Podcast: The Pantry Podcast
Michelle’s business: Thirtyone25 and shop.thirtyone25.com

Related Episodes: Infertility is Never the End of the Story, From Trial to Triumph with Elizabeth Meyers, Life After Infertility with Sarah Sisson-Rollandini, In Due Time with Caroline Harries, Embryo Adoption with Maria Lancaster, Waiting in the Shepherd’s Field, Trust and Faithfulness, Patient Endurance, Peace Be Still, Is God Still Faithful in the Valley, Facing the Red Sea, Identity: What You’re Not, Identity: Unveiled, Ebenezer: Marking God’s Victory in my Story

In the last episode of the Infertility Series, Ashlee Filby discusses her story of failed fertility treatments, miscarriages, and finally her miracle baby who has had his own share of challenges. After losing five babies, John and Ashlee were blessed with Knox, who was born with an omphalocele and heart defect. An omphalocele is a congenital anomaly where abdominal organs are born outside of his body, requiring months in the NICU and several surgeries. After 10 months in the hospital, they made the hard decision to bring him home with a trach to help him breathe. Shortly after he came home, they had yet another miscarriage. Finally, in May of this year, they lost their baby girl at 13 weeks. Despite all of this, all of the trials, all of the pain, Ashlee is still determined to declare God’s faithfulness. She looks at all of her struggles and can recount all of the places she saw God with her. She also credits them for helping her become the best mom for Knox. In God’ poetic timing, this episode is releasing the week that she was scheduled for a C-section with her baby girl. Instead of delivering a baby, she is delivering a legacy of hope for those dealing with loss and disappointment. Her closing verse is what she used on the shirts to raise money for Ronald McDonald House in honor of Knox. She chooses to focus on the second half: that despite Satan’s attempts to disrupt their lives, they have faith that God is giving them an abundant life despite the loss. That is the hope that I am so excited to leave you with at the end of 2020.

John 10:10 – The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.

Related episodes: Infertility is Never the End of the Story, Life After Infertility with Sarah Sisson-Rollandini, In Due Time with Caroline Harries, Embryo Adoption with Maria Lancaster, Waiting in the Shepherd’s Field, Trust and Faithfulness, Patient Endurance, Peace Be Still, Is God Still Faithful in the Valley, Facing the Red Sea, Identity: What You’re Not, Identity: Unveiled, Ebenezer: Marking God’s Victory in my Story

While traveling in her second trimester, Elizabeth lost her son Timothy. This was the last straw that led to a lot of anxiety and depression and she began to have a lot of questions: Why would a good God let this happen? Where is God in all of this? Is God even real? Despite her wrestling, Elizabeth decided to “believe anyway,” and encourage others to do the same along the way. Through this journey, she’s learned that it’s ok to be upset with God, He’s heard it all before. However, in every situation, God has proven above and beyond how faithful He is and how He blesses our faithfulness in return. Above all, there is always hope.

Elizabeth is a Christian author, blogger, and speaker who is passionate about sharing important truths in relatable ways and putting big ideas into common language. Several years ago when her son died, her faith and reality collided leaving her broken, discouraged, and doubting everything she thought she knew. Going through and growing from that painful experience have taught her many things. A burden weighs heavy on her heart to reach out to other struggling sojourners like herself and offer them encouragement, support, and, most of all, hope.

Romans 8:37 – No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.

Resources:
Her book Undefeated: From Trial to Triumph; How to Stop Fighting the Wrong Battles and Start Living Victoriously

Her Prayer Guide

Her podcast: Resilient Life Hacks

All her resources can be found on her website

Related Episodes: Infertility is Never the End of the Story, In Due Time with Caroline Harries, Embryo Adoption with Maria Lancaster, Waiting in the Shepherd’s Field, Trust and Faithfulness, Patient Endurance, Peace Be Still, Is God Still Faithful in the Valley, Facing the Red Sea, Identity: What You’re Not, Identity: Unveiled, Ebenezer: Marking God’s Victory in my Story

Sarah had a 10-year journey with infertility that included waiting, miscarriages, tubal pregnancies, and failed IVF. These circumstances brought lots of questions like Where are you, God? Are you Good? and What do I do next? Her book Life After Infertility documents her hurting, her humor, and her hope as she learned to see life through God’s dreams and not her own. Infertility was painful and hard, but she wouldn’t change a thing as she looks back to recognize God’s faithfulness and foresight in bringing her three beautiful children: two through adoption and one through surrogacy.

“I learned that God doesn’t close doors to open windows so much as smash the whole place to smithereens to make way for new dreams, His dreams for us.  That is my story.  After years of chronic grief that followed me around like a black cloud, I said yes to a new idea of family. Would you believe me if I told you that you are not alone? That God cares even more about the child you are waiting for than you do?  My book, Life After Infertility: A Story of Hope for Those Who Wait, launched into the world on May 2, 2020.  My deepest desire is that you will count me as a friend in your struggle as you hold my story in your hands and read the truth in its pages”

Jeremiah 29:11 For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.

Resources:
Check out Sarah’s Website here.
Her book: Life After Infertility