When God allows adoption to be a part of our family’s story, there can be hopeful anticipation alongside waiting and sorrow. How can we hold the beauty and hardship of it with grace? In this episode, Emily and Laura chat with author and adoptive mom Jen Oshman on her own experience with adoption, and the tension that parents hold when bringing a child out of his or her birth family and into their own. Jen also shares a word of encouragement to adoptive moms, as well as what to consider before pursuing adoption. As we seek to love our children well in the midst of hard circumstances, we can trust that our God whose heart is for the fatherless (Ps. 68:5) supplies our every need.

Nearly 35 percent of women experience a traumatic birth and most women take at least 12 months to acknowledge or realize the true affects of what happened to them. In today's episode, Laura is sharing her story of a traumatic birth with her firstborn. Sharing her feelings of inadequacy, anger, shame, blame and comparison, Laura talks through what happened and how she healed from a traumatic birth, finding hope in the gospel. Whether you experienced a traumatic birth in the past, or just feel discouraged that your birth that didn't live up to your expectations, today's show will help you process and recover, turning a disappointing birth story into one filled with meaning and hope.

A number of scenarios can lead to disappointment after childbirth, especially when you compare your real-life experience to your carefully-crafted plans. You're grateful for the sweet baby in your arms, but sometimes, that doesn't completely silence the lurking questions you have about your childbirth. "Could it have gone better? Should I have made different choices? Did I do something wrong?" In today's episode, Emily and Laura discuss their own disappointments in childbirth and how hoping in God's good plans helped them find peace. Freedom comes when we realize we are not defined by our birth story, but our Savior.

With labor on the horizon, we want to do everything we can to prepare for a safe, healthy and stress-free delivery. But what starts as good desires for well-laid plans, can quickly become an unhealthy idol of control. We start to think that if we just get the right method, the right classes, the right scents, the right sounds, the right environment and the right helpers, then we are nearly guaranteed the birth of our dreams. In this episode, Emily and Laura share their high expectations from previous pregnancies, seeking to understand how our good desires intersect with hope in God's good plans. Because ultimately, our identities aren't wrapped up in how we gave birth, but to whom we belong.