DawnCheré Wilkerson Offers Hope for Long Seasons of Waiting in New Book ‘Slow Burn’
On the outside, things seemed to look great for DawnCheré Wilkerson. DawnCheré is the co-pastor with her husband, Rich, in Miami, Florida, and leads one of the fastest-growing churches in the country. DawnCheré also seemed to have it all together. However, on the inside, DawnCheré was waiting on God to answer her prayer of being a mother after eight failed fertility tries. In her new book, Slowburn, DawnCheré wants to take the reader into the process and wonder why waiting on God is always to our advantage.
Crosswalk Headlines: Where were you when you decided to write a book on patience and waiting on God?
DawnCheré Wilkerson: In the middle of an eight-year infertility journey. It set a light in my heart. I really had this slow burn in my heart over a decade ago, and there have been many moments over the last 10 years that I've thought of writing a book entitled Slow Burn, and I just never really felt like it was the right time. Two years ago, I really felt like it was God who brought the right people alongside me to partner with. A publisher had written to me, and when I received the letter, it resonated with my heart. I would find out that weekend that I was pregnant with my fourth child, by the way.
CWH: What did you want the readers to get out of the book?
DW: I wanted the reader to relate to the everyday journey, not just a highlight reel but really the story of waiting on God. He invites them into the ordinary moments of their lives, to be aware of His presence and to watch as he transforms those moments into the foundation for everything that he's going to do for the rest of the journey.
CWH: Is the book written for men, too?
DWH: It's written to both; I get that when it comes to infertility, oftentimes, the messaging can be geared toward women. The focus is the faithfulness of God in the waiting season. My husband walked through that season with me. I find that we wait for something, and then when we receive what we've been waiting on, it transfers to the next thing we're waiting on. Everyone around the world is waiting for something.
CWH: You mention in the book that darkness gives way to fruit growing. Can you please explain that?
DWH: In waiting seasons, oftentimes we go through brokenness, and God uses that brokenness to build beauty; I knew that with every tear that hit my journal, as I wrote out my prayers to God in our eight years of infertility, that God promises me that those who sow in tears are going to reap with shouts of joy. Oftentimes, we think that our tears are wasted, that they fall on our blue jeans, they fall on the red carpet at the alter church, that they fall on the journal, that we wipe them away and they disintegrate, and that's the end of that tears journey, but not so with the loving God that we serve. I'm told that he keeps our tears in a bottle and that our tears are actually seeds.
If they're entrusted to God, they're a worthy sacrifice to surrender to the hands of our good Father, and that he doesn't just hold those tears, but he sows them, and that they bring a harvest of joy in the future if we entrust them to our creator.
When you study agriculture, it's mind blowing because it's proven that some crops grow best in darkness.
CWH: Why should we have a space for waiting?
DW: I think that we live in a world full of distractions. We can fill our hearts just like we fill our homes. Some of our hearts are hoarding, and we can't find peace because there's no room for peace. We've jammed our hearts full of distractions and junk. The more we can focus on what really matters, be single-minded, be focused on where God is calling us to, and be able to lay aside every weight, the more we can be able to find peace, and the more we make space for what God wants to do. Sometimes, when I'm trying to think of a new thought, I need to get into a new space. So it is with our heart that we have to make room. Jesus says I knock at the door. If you open, I'll come in and sit with you.
Photo Credit: ©Instagram/@dawnchere
Originally published June 24, 2025.
