54 results for author: Ashlee Schmidt

Testimony Tuesday: Courtney’s Testimony

I’ve thought a lot about the experience of suffering and the Bible’s response to our suffering this past year. Before our miscarriage and infertility I quickly passed over passages on suffering, not because I didn’t see them as important, but I just didn’t relate to them. I had faced trials before, but nothing that really made me wrestle with God’s good plan for my life in the way I have recently. I don’t doubt His goodness; I just need to understand it more than ever before. While difficult, that is a good result of our suffering. It causes us to lean hard into Him and desperately seek His face because without His presence in our lives we ...

Jean’s Story

Memories can be triggered by sights, sounds, or smells. Every time I see a Hershey's bar, I think of my dad. He loved them! A good memory – along with the pain of the loss. We never know when a memory will be brought to mind. A recent memory was triggered by a place. This memory goes back 33 years. A friend had been on bed rest due to bleeding and early contractions at 24.5 weeks. We got the news (amazing how with social media and texting you hear about things as they are happening!) that her water broke and she would deliver that day – at 27 weeks. We were still at a church ministry event when my friend's Oma (German for grandmother) ...

Testimony Tuesday {Julie’s Retreat Experience}

I came to the Hope Mommies retreat in 2015 as a mom who was grieving “well.” I was surrounded by a supportive community who had been caring for my family faithfully for the past 10 months. I had allowed my suffering to push me closer to the Lord and though I wrestled with Him, I trusted Him. My husband and I spent many evenings talking, processing and encouraging one another in the Lord. I had read many devotionals, commentaries and books on suffering as I sought after Jesus. I was truly in a good place with my grief. Don’t get me wrong, I missed my daughter terribly and my heart ached beyond belief. So when I learned of the Hope Mommies retreat ...

Testimony {Rhiannon’s Retreat Experience}

When I first heard about the Hope Mommies retreat, I felt in my heart that I had to go.  I wanted to connect with other moms like me, to hear that I wasn’t alone in my grief.  But I will admit, as the time got closer, and especially in the week leading up to the retreat, I was a bit afraid of how much it would hurt being there. I was only 5 months out from losing our daughter at 35 weeks after 2 years of trying and 2 previous miscarriages, and I had just found out that I would be walking through secondary infertility. I wasn’t sure if it would be too painful to dredge all that up for an entire weekend; I worried I would leave just feeling sad ...