hello
Welcome
Speaker
I’m not claiming to speak without a southern drawl, or to be the next Beth Moore, but God has put a fire in my heart for the hearts of women and men, and I cannot stay silent. I would love the opportunity to speak to your women and men, inviting them deeper into the heart of the Father. I am passionate about these topics in the light of the Gospel:
Adoption, Embracing Suffering, Grace in the Waiting, Finding Intimacy with the Father, Overcoming Lies, Nothing is Wasted.
Author
Trying to conceive? Grab my book!
Partnering With Heaven is a 28 Day Devotional for Women Trying to Conceive.
This book was birthed from my journal in a season where I partnered with heaven over my fertility. The book is written for women who are trying to conceive but it’s really all about intercession. Listening to the Great Intercessor Himself, and agreeing with every word He says.
The Garden
The vision of our ministry is to connect women on the broken road of motherhood to healing and wholeness, but the heartbeat of our ministry is to raise up women who understand their identity as a daughter, and good daughters make really good mothers.
Essentially, God has called The Garden to a movement of motherhood.
about Jessica
Jessica has been wrecked by the love of a beautiful Father. She has known the intimacy of Papa God in the midst of the heartbreak of abuse, infertility, and child loss. Because she’s known Him in the fellowship of His sufferings, she’s also known Him in the power of His resurrection. She writes on her popular blog, Grace While We Wait, and is the author of, Partnering With Heaven, her first book. She is the founder of a ministry called The Garden, that connects women on the broken road to motherhood to the Healer. Wife to her life-crush, Brandon, and mama to four (one who now lives with Jesus) through the miracle of adoption and a miracle in her womb. Her days aren’t busy, but rather, full, the very best kind. You can find her curled up on the couch with good coffee and her family or speaking to groups of women all over the nation. Both are amazing, but home is where her heart is.
Speaking Topics
Featured Posts
Aida’s Birth Story
Brandon and I had the incredible honor to be in the room when Selah and Micah were born. I was with their birth mom as she labored with them and I'll never forget the weight of the moment when they each took their first breath. It's carved into my memory, and the...
Partnering With Heaven
I’m in the last days of this miracle pregnancy and I’m still overwhelmed when I feel my little girl moving around inside me. My belly that’s held her these last nine months is contracting even as my fingers hit these familiar keys. My heart is holding both the joy of...
Popular Posts
When You Say Yes to an Older Child
“What is it like adopting an older child? Should we break birth order? Do you have any words of wisdom for bringing an older child into our home?...
My Sacrifice of Praise
I was seven days late.
It’s only happened twice in my life. The other time was three years ago. The week before our foster son came home.
I woke up every morning, believing the “in due time” had finally come. That after all of these years, it was our turn. I was certainly going to see my belly start swelling in the next few weeks. I had calculated the due date and thought through every way I would tell my husband, family, and dear friends. I had imagined the look on their faces, like the ones standing around Lazarus’s grave.
Even after all the hoping and all the disappointment, I knew this new season our family has stepped in, has looked so different from the old ones. He’s doing a new thing in us, something He’s never done before. And hope never puts us to shame (Romans 5:5), so I wasn’t afraid to hope. Because my hope isn’t in a miracle, it’s a person, my Jesus.
This was the third test I took that week. All the other ones said the same results. But I wasn’t going to believe it wasn’t true, until I knew. And I knew on day eight.
Right before we looked at the test, Brandon said to me, “You know this doesn’t change a word out of God’s mouth about this.” And I knew that. Still do.
Families Don’t Have to Match
I glanced in the mirror one night when I was putting by children to bed and suddenly remembered that I didn’t grow them in my belly when I saw our reflection staring back at us. It might sound weird that I forget that my children are adopted, but I do.
Because to me, they’re just my children.
Infertility Gave Me You
Our stories, they both started with brokenness.
Mine looked like month after month, year after year of negative pregnancy tests. It’s all I ever wanted to be, a mama. So when doctors and my flat belly told me it wouldn’t happen, it was a deep pain, probably the deepest of my life. It wasn’t suppose to be this way. My body is designed to conceive and carry babies.
I don’t like to think of your story as painful. It tears my heart in half to think of you being in pain. But the truth is, in a perfect world, before the fall, God intended mommies to carry their babies. Your birth mama, she loved you so deep, she knew she couldn’t give you what you needed. So she made a brave choice, and chose life for you, a life she couldn’t give.
Dear Husband, I Loved You First.
But often, you get the last of me.
I remember you picking me up for our first date. I spent a whole hour getting ready for you. Making sure every hair was in place and my make-up was perfect. When you see me now, at the end of the day, the make-up that is left on my face is smeared. My hair is more than likely in a pony tail or some rat’s nest on the top of my head. And my outfit, 100% has someone’s bodily fluids smeared somewhere.
But there were days when we would lay in bed and binge watch Netflix. They were my favorite. The thought of being with you for the whole weekend, got me through the week. We’d run down the street to our favorite Mexican place, eat until we were stuffed, grab some ice cream, and watch Chuck until we fell asleep. We’d laugh until we cried. And we wouldn’t wake up the next morning until we felt like it.
Remember all those Saturday’s we’d hop in the car and drive? Anywhere. Or we’d call up a few friends and ask them to meet us downtown in like thirty minutes? We didn’t have to be home at a certain time. If we stayed out late, it was fine because we could take a nap the next day. We went on lots of adventures, didn’t we?
And you got all of me. The very best parts.
Dear Foster Mom,
You do hard things. You stand in the gap for little ones in the hardest days of their lives. You're the middle mom, filling the space between...
A Few of My
favorite things
Read My Book
This book was birthed from my journal in a season where I partnered with heaven over my fertility. The book is written for women who are trying to conceive but it’s really all about intercession.
Message Me
There’s nothing special to see here, just imperfection and brokenness. I’m a person just like you. What I hope you’ll find though, is through the pages of my story, you’ll find hope for yours.