Dear friends,

By now you may have heard the news: After nearly a decade doing ministry at Risen Motherhood, Emily and I, along with our board of directors have decided to close the ministry next year, in May 2025. I’m sure this comes as quite the shock for many of you—even if you’re not a mom, or someone who regularly tunes into my work there. For the full story, your best bet is to head over to this page to read a letter from Emily and me, and/or tune into the podcast on the RM feed, where Emily and I share about how we came to this decision and what’s next for RM.

While it would seem a decision like this would be hard, it really wasn’t. Emily and I were on a family vacation in Cross Lake, Minnesota when I leaned over to her and said nonchalantly, “I’m ready to be done with RM, I think.” She turned to me without hesitation and said, “Me too.” I looked over at my other sister-in-law, Becca, who serves as our Finance Director at the ministry and she said with a smile, “I’ve just been waiting for you guys to be done!”

We had a good laugh, and then immediately started strategizing about what it would look like to end the ministry well. You see, over the years of RM, both Emily and I each had times where we wanted to stop or felt burned out by the ministry, but we never once, not in all the years, ever had a time where we had those feelings at the same time. One would encourage the other to stay the course, make adjustments, or take a short break then come back. That day on the lake I was merely prospecting for where Emily was at, and I one hundred percent did not expect that to be her answer. I was honestly floored.

Of course, we still had a long way to go to figure out all the details, and we took time to seek confirmation from our husbands, our board, and other wise people in our lives, but overall, it was really quite uneventful. To be clear, the ministry is fully funded, Emily and I have a great relationship, and we’re not burned out. In fact, we both might just be in the most healthy place we’ve ever been with work and family, so we’re not closing the ministry because of some secret alarm.

Knowing all that, I think the most common question people ask is, “Why walk away from something so successful?” And I’ve thought about that a lot. We could have brought on new voices, or been absorbed by a bigger nonprofit and just played a smaller role that would have allowed us more freedom for our families or careers or whatever else. Those were valid options we put on the table for about two minutes.

Ending anything is hard. And in today’s culture, a platform like Risen Motherhood equals power and influence, which I suppose is surprising to walk away from. But platforms are also fleeting. Loved today, hated the next. And if it becomes part of your identity or a source of joy, it’s a prison, no matter how it performs. Too often I have seen people limp worldly success along, hoping to squeeze out every last dreg until their soul has slipped out too. Thankfully, in His kindness, I believe God protected Emily and me from that. We’ve always held the ministry loosely and our deep desire has always been to be women who say “yes” to God, even when it’s costly or misunderstood. We never want to be afraid to walk away from something good, in order to be given something better.

And what is that better thing? It’s who I’m becoming. The character the Lord is shaping in me to become more like Him. At the end of my life, I’m fairly certain no one I love in real life will talk about my book sales, podcast listens, or global reach. Instead, I hope, it’s my children and others up there, talking about me as mother, daughter, aunt, neighbor, and maybe even grandmother. I want my best energy to go to those relationships. Can God shape me even with the stage? He sure can. But right now, I can feel Him opening a new chapter. I’m not sure what it will include, except for one thing: More of Him.

Friends, let me tell you what I’ve always known: The ministry of Risen Motherhood was never about Emily and Laura. It was never the team or the board, or articles, or books, or resource round ups, or the hundreds of podcasts we produced. It was always, only about Jesus and making His goodness and love for moms known in every corner of the universe we could possibly reach. I’m not saying we did it perfectly or always had humble hearts to the core, but overall, this was our mission. That’s because Risen Motherhood isn’t a digital ministry, it’s a way to live your life. Anyone can live a risen motherhood—mothers yes, but also fathers, grandparents, singles, and children. Living risen motherhood is living a life sold out for Jesus, walking in freedom because you know who you are in Him.

So I keep wondering, does Risen Motherhood ever really end? Of course, in many ways that answer is yes. But in so many other ways, it continues on. Through me. Through you. Through all of us trusting God and applying the gospel to our everyday lives.

What an incredible thought.

Love you all; thanks for walking this journey alongside me.

Laura