In this episode, Jen Evangelista welcomes to the podcast special guest, Somer Colbert. Somer shares her personal journey as a mother and how it has shaped her ministry and purpose in life. She reflects on her nearly 17 years of experience as a mom and acknowledges the lessons she has learned along the way. Be ready to be encouraged by this conversation!

Tune in today and discover:

1. The Challenges of Motherhood:

Somer acknowledges the internal struggles she faced upon becoming a mother and how it revealed her own insecurities and shortcomings.

2. Parenting as a Journey:

How Somer's experiences as a mother have influenced her perspective on ministry and her understanding of God's purpose in her life. The bittersweet joy of letting children follow God's path, the universal experience of mom regrets, and the practice of grace in parenting.

3. Empowering Families:

Somer's passion for supporting families shines through as she discusses her work in the adoption and foster care ministry. She emphasizes the importance of living life on mission and sharing Jesus in every season.

Somer Colbert shares with us the journey of parenting and how everyday she still learns with it, even with her first child born 17 years ago.

Being pregnant with her firstborn, she had a desire to write, to do ministry, to do big things for God. At the same time, she was resentful when she couldn't do those big things that she felt really mattered for God.

 When, all the while, she had this incredible assignment right in front of her: her first baby.

For her, the Lord took her on a journey little by little and had to walk through the battles of Mom's regrets and being frustrated with herself over what she didn't know. And then the Lord continued to grow her family and her second child came four years later. Shortly thereafter, the Lord started to place on their hearts about adoption.

The process of adoption wasn’t easy, but the Lord has really used those situations to reveal His sovereignty to her, to open her eyes and her heart to a bigger plan than she had for herself. Also, to force her to release control because Somer really struggled with control as a mom and life in general.

“That has just been a huge part of my testimony and what I do as a ministry -  trying to encourage women that where you are is exactly where God has you for a reason. He has lessons for you and he has beautiful experiences for you, even through the hard, because it results in a closer relationship with him, which is ultimately our goal.” - Somer Colbert

We have to trust God with our children. As Jen and Somer acknowledged that all mothers, regardless of birthing or adopting their children, experience regrets. And the opportunity to practice grace when faced with regrets, both in showing grace to children and remembering the grace received.

We all have the overarching purpose of advancing the kingdom and glorifying God, but we all have specific purposes depending on our stage in life.

For the woman who's listening and struggling with thinking you are not doing enough, If you are this person, you need to understand you are a daughter of the king. Before you drew your first breath, you were enough. Because He chose you, and scripture tells us that. We have a God who’s not asking us to be frantic doers all the time. We have been conditioned as a society to prove our worth and to prove our value, and when we allow those messages to be louder in our lives than the voice of God, we're gonna question what we're not doing,

 The Lord really has given us what we have right now in our present circumstances for good reason. And mundane does not mean that it's not ministry. Motherhood is to teach our children character and the love of God and what it is to model healthy relationships and security in your home.

There are opportunities to love people every single day in every space that you're in. And it doesn't have to look a certain way. So if you're not able to teach a Bible study right now, that's okay. Lean into the scriptures and solidify your understanding of it, because if God has planted that in you, he's gonna give you the opportunity for it at some point in his time.

God’s timing is always right and good.  Focus on the fact that you were chosen, you were loved, and God doesn't ask you to do anything but cling to him and be obedient to the situations and the opportunities that he gives you, and to love the people that he has placed in your life. 

We hope you leave this episode with a sense of hope and encouragement as you navigate your own motherhood journeys.

Meet our Guest

Somer Colbert is a writer, speaker and host of the Love Where You Are podcast on the Christian Parenting Podcast Network. She is the Director of Adoption and Foster Care Ministry at Crosschurch and Connected Champion with the Arkansas Baptist Children and Family Ministries where she creates support, awareness and advocacy for families seeking to serve in the areas of adoption and foster care. She creates weekly podcast episodes and resources to equip and empower Christian families to identify their influence for the gospel in every season, live life on mission and share Jesus right where they are. Somer is passionate about equipping spiritually healthy families and seeing a movement of God's people step into confidence in their ability to change the world around them through the way they love! 

She resides in Arkansas with her husband, three kids and three dogs. She's obsessed with British docudramas and cooking shows and can always be found with a cup of hot tea in hand. Her life has been forever changed by the love of Jesus, marriage to her favorite person, parenting her crazy crew and walking multiple adoption journeys. 

Connect with Somer on Facebook and Instagram and check out the Love Where You Are podcast on your favorite listening platform!

Sign up to receive weekly emails and resources from Somer HERE!