[[bpstrwcotob]]

Explore our content

Foster Care & Adoption, Contentment Caroline Saunders Foster Care & Adoption, Contentment Caroline Saunders

The Slow Fruit of the Adoption Process

“My good-natured and ravenous son rolls out of bed each morning chanting, ‘I want oatmeal!’ Within a minute or two, I have his bowl of morning oatmeal ready. He takes the bowl in his chubby hands and says, ‘Thank you, Mommy!’

This early morning interaction is both a sweet, steady gift and a jarring deviation from other elements of my life.

My husband and I began the adoption process when our oatmeal aficionado was barely one, when all he could shriek upon waking was ‘OHMA!’ Now his third birthday has come and gone. Now his sentences have a subject and a verb. Now he’s not a baby, nor is his older sister. There’s no baby in this house, just the distinct feeling that someone is missing.

Growing a family through adoption is not the stuff of microwaves and morning oatmeal. There are no buttons I can push, no clock that counts down the time, no quick satisfaction. Instead, there’s paperwork, and there’s waiting.

The waiting feels volatile and fruitless.

...Ultimately waiting is a crucial element for God-ordained growth. Waiting is not a forgotten, fruitless place but an intentional, ordered place to which God draws us, that we might remember him and practice our faith. It’s not a lifeless place but a place of life underground. In the waiting, below the surface, seeds are undone and roots are nourished. One day there will be fruit, but for now, there is vital work, work that cannot be microwaved.

In the seemly out-of-control waiting of the adoption process, though our hearts yearn for instant satisfaction, we must remember that God isn’t a God of instant oatmeal but the Creator of precious fruit. We must take one faithful step after the other, keeping our eyes on him like the Israelites followed the pillar of fire in the dark wilderness nights. We must be patient, knowing the true work is done underground where we can’t see, soaking up every drop of the rains that come to nourish the dry soil. We must establish our hearts by resting in who God has shown himself to be in scripture: steadfast, kind, and in control.”

Read More
Work Autumn Kern Work Autumn Kern

Dishes and Desk Work: All Moms Work for the Glory of God

Whether you’re doing dishes or doing desk work, God has called all moms into the service of Christ within the context of their particular families. No matter what kinds of work we do, we can reflect the image of God who is always at work in the world and in our lives.


Read More

Where to Next?

We podcast too

You don’t have to live with fear in motherhood.

Tune into our Fear mini-series, where we discuss the hope the gospel gives when motherhood feels scary.

All the freebies, just for you.

Ready to be intentional in your prayer life? 

Get our free prayer resource with thirty days of prayer prompts for mom and fun activities to teach your children too.

We’re a nonprofit

All our content is free because of moms like you!

Want to help Risen Motherhood keep creating the content you know and love? Give now.