Raising foster and/or adopted children is a special calling with unique circumstances to navigate. Today’s guest, Matt Lawson, was given up for adoption soon after Roe vs. Wade was legalized. His adoptive parents brought Matt home from the hospital - a long-awaited answer to prayers for a child. Never knowing his birth parents, Matt considered his adopted mom and dad his parents. His story is a picture of the grace of God in the redemptive story of adoption.

In this episode, Matt talks about

• The fears of abandonment

• What it looked like to grieve the death of his adopted dad at the age of 21

• Practical tips for fatherless young men who grieve the loss of their dad

• The importance of godly mentors, including men who step in years later

• Wisdom for adopted children

Matt is the Executive Pastor of First Baptist Woodstock and the Founding Pastor of Story City Church in Burbank, CA. He is the author of a book on leadership as well as a contributing author to four other books. Before starting Story City, Matt  served in student ministry for 14 years at First Baptist Woodstock. Matt graduated  from Clemson University with a degree in Accounting as well as a Master of Divinity from Southeastern Seminary. He has been married to his wife for 18 years and they have three children.

Mom, you are not alone!

Join our private Facebook group for more encouragement and community: https://bit.ly/widowmom

For more information and helpful resources, check our website: PerspectiveMinistries.org & follow us on Instagram @PerspectiveMinistries.

When your dad, the one who should be your protector, becomes your perpetrator, many layers are added to grief. Forgiveness is messy but necessary for freedom from ongoing destruction. And forgiveness is a choice. Understanding the Gospel and the forgiveness offered to each one of us is the model we must follow.

In part two of Whitney’s story, she poignantly discusses:

• Acknowledging the depth an offense that requires forgiveness

• Practical steps of forgiving

• What it looks like to wrestle to a place of rest

• Accepting God’s sovereignty, knowing that He could have stopped or kept us from circumstances of suffering

Other resources:

From Ashes to Beauty Episode 121 with Whitney Van Matre Part 1

Forgiving What You Can’t Forget by Lysa TerKeurst

Dark Clouds Deep Mercy by Mark Vroegop

Whitney Van Matre is a wife, and mother, and is actively involved in her church. She enjoys encouraging women who are walking through loss, infertility, and adoption. Whitney’s life is a story of how God turns ashes into beauty through full surrender.

Mom, you are not alone!

Join our private Facebook group for more encouragement and community: https://bit.ly/widowmom

Some of the most amazing stories are those where beauty rises out of ashes. Isaiah 61:3 gives this hope to those in the midst of suffering. Our guest today shares her story of God’s faithfulness in using what the enemy meant for evil for good in her life when death at the hand of her father was planned.

In this episode, Whitney Van Matre talks about

• God’s protection in public devastation with Dad in prison

• The billowing role of grief. It is messy, uncomfortable, and often delayed but yields great fruit.

• Provision and the power of the body of Christ

• The coexistence of joy and sorrow and the promise of Psalm 126:5-6, “Those who sow in tears shall reap with shouts of joy (Psalm 126:5-6 ESV)!

• Practical tips for mothers raising adopted children

Whitney Van Matre is a wife, and mother, and is actively involved in her church. She enjoys encouraging women who are walking through loss, infertility, and adoption. Whitney’s life is a story of how God turns ashes into beauty through full surrender.

Mom, you are not alone!

Join our private Facebook group for more encouragement and community: https://bit.ly/widowmom

For more information and helpful resources, check our website: PerspectiveMinistries.org & follow us on Instagram @PerspectiveMinistries.