54 results for author: Ashlee Schmidt

Links for Hope Moms: April Edition

We want to share with you links to posts, videos, and resources from around the web to uplift, help, and encourage you in your walk with the Lord as you grieve.   {Mother's Day and miscarriages: An Interview with Jessalyn Hutto} // "Initially, the most important thing I want to convey to a woman who has miscarried is that her pain has merit. What I mean by this is that I want her to know that what has happened to her truly is as terrible as it feels. I don’t want her to feel burdened to 'get over' her loss quickly simply because it is hard for those around her to understand." {Talk to Your Tears, by John Piper} // "Sowing is simply ...

Ebone’s Story

Approximately two years ago I found myself instantly initiated into a sorority, if you will, that I had not applied to nor that I desired to be apart of.  I went to a regular OB appointment one day before my due date; I was excited because I knew the baby would be coming any day. I even joked that he would be born on Christmas because I found out that I was pregnant on Good Friday. However, when my midwife looked into my eyes with tears forming in her eyes and told me that my baby had passed away, my world shifted, my reality changed, and everything I knew to be Ebone was no longer true. I then had to decide, Do I stick with my original plan to ...

Testimony Tuesday {Courtney’s Testimony}

"It doesn't get any easier, does it?" You meet kindred spirits in some of the strangest places sometimes. As I nervously stood in line at my local drugstore I dreaded what I was about to do. I knew I needed the medicine in order to have some form of closure and to complete the miscarriage, but something felt so wrong about it all. Deep within my soul I wanted to scream to all who were around me: "I'm not having an abortion. I promise. I was pregnant. I wanted this baby!" Thankfully I didn't have to. But that didn't make the situation any less uncomfortable for me. As the pharmacist asked me the obligatory "are you pregnant?" (which is ...

Rhiannon’s Story

My husband Steve and I started our journey for a family in December 2013.  We’d only been married 9 months, but we knew we wanted children (at least 3!) and felt like the timing was right.    I found out I was pregnant only 3 short months later, and we were in happy bliss dreaming of the family we would have.  For a month we called him or her by our funny nickname, made sure I did everything exactly by the book, and eagerly waited for my first appointment.  We never dreamed our journey would be anything but perfect, so the news at my 8 week OB appointment that there was no heartbeat took us by complete devastating surprise.  There is no ...

Testimony Tuesday {He Didn’t Heal My Daughter, God Is So Good}

I’m sure you’ve not heard that phrase posted on many a Facebook status. We are great  (I am great) at declaring God’s goodness when He does something for us, when He shows up in the way we had prayed for and hoped. When He provides, when He heals. I heard a story of a man who was reading his Bible on a train when it crashed and killed many. He told a reporter, “I don’t know why I didn’t die, why I’m still alive…God is so good.”  While I do not disagree with his statement, nor do I think we shouldn’t declare God’s goodness when He spares our lives, heals, provides, I just couldn’t help but think of the questions that may ...

Lauren’s Story

My husband and I and our three small children moved from Nevada to Texas in the summer of 2014. Soon after, we were thrilled to learn I was pregnant with our fourth child. Our other three pregnancies and births had been so straightforward and we had no reason to think this one would be any different. On November 14, 2014, my husband and I went to our 20-week anatomy scan.  During the scan, my husband and I happily chattered away, totally oblivious to how long the doctor was looking at our daughter’s brain and heart.  After the doctor finished the anatomy scan, she first told us our baby was measuring small.  We absorbed the news, but even ...

Joy Rising in Pregnancy After Loss

Sometimes I wake up and feel the stillness, I wonder if I’m empty again. I wait, trying just to breath when everything feels too quiet. And then I feel her. She moves so deep within me. That pulse inside—the universe shifts—I feel her intertwined with my body and blood, nestled deep inside, everything that I am is protecting her. And yet I am completely out of control, this seed growing and growing takes no thought from myself. I don’t knit her together. I don’t form her blinking eyes, curling fingers or kicking feet. Yahweh does—the One who has always been the Creator and always will be. She is a seed I pressed down eager and hopeful ...

Nelly’s Story

“God doesn’t make mistakes” was a simple comment written on Facebook to offer condolences for the loss of our firstborn son, Corbin. I struggled to understand that. How can a good God allow this to happen? I reverently questioned, Why? How could this happen? But God…I prayed for this baby. I met the love of my life and about one year after dating we were married. He is my best friend, my partner in life, and the one that God made for me. We prayed about the best time to start trying to conceive. In our hearts, we felt like enjoying our marriage for one year would be best, then we would try to conceive shortly after. Then one day, it ...

Links for Hope Moms: March Edition

{"Today Would Have Been Our Daughter's First Birthday," by Jackie Gibson via The Gospel Coalition}// "Today should have been our daughter’s first birthday. The great enemy—death—has stolen something precious from us. Robert L. Dabney, who lost two sons, described death as a 'cruel destroyer.' In a letter to his brother, he wrote: 'Ah! When the mighty wings of the angel of death nestles over your heart’s treasures, and his black shadow broods over your home, it shakes the heart with a shuddering terror and a horror of great darkness.' [...] And yet today was never going to be Leila’s first birthday. " {"Giving God Glory in the ...

Kristen’s Story

Shortly after our oldest son, Kason, turned a year old my husband and I began planning to expand our little family. After struggling with unexplained infertility with Kason, we did not know if it would take months or even years to become pregnant again. But in May of 2014, I became pregnant with our daughter. My pregnancy was perfect! It wasn’t until a week before our due date that any worry invaded my mind. It was a Friday and I had noticed that I was not feeling her move as she normally did. I kept trying to convince myself that all was fine and that there was nothing to worry about. I thought maybe she was just running out of room and didn’t ...