Unlock the transformative journey of thriving as a Christian mom after adoption, filled with strategic insight and holistic healing. Imagine navigating post-adoption complexities with a tailored roadmap, built from a unique blend of legal savvy, therapeutic insight, and faith-centered guidance. Embrace a message of hope that validates your pain and triumphs while promoting spiritual renewal, empowering you to turn every challenge into a testimony of God’s grace. Dive into actionable steps that not only restore confidence and strengthen marriages but also rebirth a flourishing identity as the mother you are called to be. Discover how to partner with someone who understands your path and is ready to walk this life-changing journey with you.Navigating the intricate path of post-adoption life as a Christian mom can feel overwhelming, with its blend of unexpected challenges and profound joys that test the very core of family dynamics. Imagine discovering practical strategies that combine faith-centered guidance with real-world insights to help you protect your family's wellbeing and foster healing amidst the chaos. You'll find encouragement in learning how to turn obstacles into testimonies of grace, validating your experiences while building a roadmap for renewal and resilience. As you explore these truths, you'll uncover ways to strengthen your marriage and reclaim your sense of purpose, all grounded in the unwavering hope that faith over fear brings. This journey isn't meant to be walked alone, and there's so much more waiting to inspire you within these pages.

🎧 Listen to episode - Apple🎧 Listen to episode - SpotifyIf your adopted child has no memories or very limited memories about their life prior to coming to live with you, does that mean that

🎧 Listen to episode - Apple🎧 Listen to episode - SpotifyIn this introductory episode of my new series about what I’m describing as “planting seeds” in our adoptive families, I want to go over some of the obstacles you may face as an adoptive mom: obstacles to planting the good seeds, seeds of love, seeds of learning, and seeds of growth. You’ve probably seen and heard me say over and over again to keep learning, keep growing, and keep loving” and that’s as much an encouragement I want to give to you as it is a reminder and encouragement to myself. I wanted to dedicate this series of episodes to these three topics. So as we get into this series, I decided to first talk about the seven obstacles to planting good seeds in this introductory episode.

🎧 Listen to episode - Apple🎧 Listen to episode - Spotify“BECAUSE I CANNN…!!”I vividly remember those words coming from my teenage daughter as I questioned her about her motivation for something she had done. Not the words of someone who is open to a reflective dialog or reasoned conversation. And that was that. 

🎧 Listen to episode - Apple🎧 Listen to episode - SpotifyEMBRACING FREEDOM FROM UNNECESSARY DRAMA: THE POWER OF SELF-CONTROL FOR ADOPTIVE MOMSToday I’m introducing the second simple but powerful shift of our three-part series focusing on transformative Unilateral Shifts you can make in your role as an adoptive mom. The last couple of episodes were parts one & two of Unilateral Shift #1 about embracing a lens of acceptance over accountability for a new view on patterns of challenging behaviors. If you missed those episodes you might want to go back and listen to them. Today’s focus is Unilateral Shift #2 —FORGING FREEDOM FROM UNNECESSARY DRAMA. 

🎧 Listen to episode - Apple🎧 Listen to episode - Spotify{part 2}Last episode covered part one of this unilateral shift, the first in a series of three shifts that I’m talking about throughout this month of April when I’m recording these episodes, so if you have not yet heard part one, you might wanna go back and listen to that episode and otherwise, let’s dive in where we left off…ACCEPTANCE OVER ACCOUNTABILITYOne of the most transformative shifts a Christian mother can make is moving away from the conventional lens of personally holding our teens accountable for their problem behaviors towards a stance of acceptance. Acceptance doesn’t mean you like or agree with their choices, or approve problem behaviors. 

🎧 Listen to episode - Apple🎧 Listen to episode - SpotifyUNILATERAL SHIFT #1 of 3 — NEW VIEW ON PROBLEM BEHAVIORSDiscover how a shift toward an acceptance lens vs an accountability lens can change the way you view problem behaviors.A NEW BEGINNING: EMBRACING ACCEPTANCE FOR A MORE BALANCED, PEACEFUL HOMEDealing with Defiance… Disrespect…Dangerous & Destructive behaviors?Adoptive moms often find ourselves navigating an intricate maze of emotions and behaviors that can leave us feeling overwhelmed and overstressed…and seeking solutions to manage all of this, often through lenses of accountability and control/counter-control.

AS HUMANS WE OFTEN ENCOUNTER MISPERCEPTIONS AND MISUNDERSTANDINGS. People are naturally skeptical of things that are different. Even prior to adopting you’ve likely faced misunderstanding and misperceptions due to your Christian beliefs or in other contexts. In our adoptive families, there is often lots of fuel for the fires of skepticism, leading to flames of misperceptions and misunderstandings.  These can even grow into a raging wildfire threatening to overtake the entire structure of the family. 

🎧 Listen to episodeToday we’re talking about acceptance.Acceptance may seem like a given in your family; of course you accept your children!  You accept all your children — your bio kids, your adopted kids, your step kids —  that should just be a given…right? Let’s look at the example of marriage.