1104 results for author: Ashlee Schmidt

In the Word: Father of Mercies

Welcome to Hope Mommies In the Word devotionals. Over the next several weeks, we will be meditating on 2 Corinthians 1:3-11. As we study the truths found in these verses together, we’d love you to use the comments as a place to dialogue with us about what you are learning and share your answers to the questions below. We pray that you hearts will be encouraged as you dig into God's Word each week with us! “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort."  2 Corinthians 1:5 READ: The old Swedish hymn, Day by Day, was written in 1865 by Lina Sandell after she witnessed the death of ...

Dear Simeon: A Letter to My Hope Baby

Simeon, How can I even begin to tell you how grateful I am to be your mother? You are so loved and so missed. My heart aches at the thought of the many, many moments I have longed to share with you on this side of eternity. Your absence is felt every day—in every family picture, on every vacation, throughout each holiday. How I long to look into your beautiful eyes, see your smile, hear the sound of your laughter, wrap you all up in my arms. Someday, my sweet boy. Someday. Looking in at our household full of boys, I am sure some might assume that one more boy added into all this rumpus and chaos wouldn't really change the dynamic of our home. But ...

Where Security Begins

It was just a few months after losing our second daughter when my husband and I sat across from a friend talking through our grief. I remember him saying to me, “Lindsey, what would it look like for you to rest in the safety of God’s arms right now?” I cringed at the thought. “Safe?” God surely didn’t feel safe to me at that moment. My first daughter had died over 14 months earlier, and then we had walked through virtually the same situation with our second daughter. I could grasp that, somewhere, in all of this pain, God was good, God was at work, and God was even loving, but none of that had translated into Him being a place of safety ...

In the Word: Leaning on Mercy

Welcome to Hope Mommies In the Word devotionals. Over the next few weeks, we will be meditating on themes of God's mercy. As we study these truths together, we’d love you to use the comments as a place to dialogue with us about what you are learning and share your answers to the questions below. We pray that you hearts will be encouraged as you dig into God's Word each week with us!  "I have told the glad news of deliverance in the great congregation; behold, I have not restrained my lips, as you know, O LORD. I have not hidden your deliverance within my heart; I have spoken of your faithfulness and your salvation; I have not ...

Dear Noah + Isabelle: A Letter to My Hope Babies

My Precious Babies, Can you believe it has been six years since we lost you, Noah, and five years since we lost you, Isabelle? Sometimes, I don’t know where the time has gone, but I do know that I have spent a lot of that time missing you so very deeply. I have wanted to be a mama as far back as I remember. Anytime I played house growing up, I was the mom. I dreamed about getting married and having kids one day, so once your dad and I got married, we could not wait to have a baby! Noah, when I found out I was pregnant with you, I was home alone because dad was at work, and I cried tears of joy. We decided not to wait to announce I was pregnant, so ...

A Song for My Soul: Blessings

Music has the ability to speak into the deepest recesses of our hearts. God often uses songs to speak hope and encouragement to our souls. In this series, Hope Moms share songs that have pointed them to the hope of Christ in the midst of their grief. Is there a song that has comforted you in your grief? We'd love to have you share your story here. Music is such an amazing gift. Songs have a way of speaking to our soul and ministering to our mind. The first time I heard the song “Blessings” by Laura Story was two months after losing Kinley. I remember tears just pouring down my cheeks. The song captured the emotions I felt, yet grounded ...

Whitney’s Story

"May this be your experience; may you feel that the Hand which inflicts the wound supplies the balm, and that He who has emptied your heart has filled the void with Himself." - Hudson Taylor, missionary to China  If I'd written my own life story a hundred different times in a hundred different ways, I never would have included this chapter: Our Second Miscarriage. Back in January, Shawn and I were elated to read an instantly positive pregnancy test. Pregnancy symptoms set in quickly and we couldn't wait to hold our third sweet baby in September. Fast forward a few weeks. Our first ultrasound would happen at 8 and a half weeks. I'd been ...

Dear Kinley: A Letter to My Hope Baby

Dear Kinley, Oh my sweet girl, how has it already been over 12 years since I last held you in my arms? Time goes by so quickly. Your 13th birthday will be in here in December. A teenager. Wow! There are so many life lessons learned in the teenage years. Things I wish I could have taught you or helped you process. Instead, I feel I have learned many things from God because of you. Even though you are not here, God continues to use you, your story, for His glory. I wanted so much for the narrative of your life to read as a miraculous tale of healing. I desperately prayed for that miracle. However, that wasn’t how God wrote your story. He did not ...

In the Word: Sin and Suffering

Welcome to Hope Mommies In the Word devotionals. Over the next few weeks, we will be meditating on themes of God's mercy. As we study these truths together, we’d love you to use the comments as a place to dialogue with us about what you are learning and share your answers to the questions below. We pray that you hearts will be encouraged as you dig into God's Word each week with us!  "For evils have encompassed me beyond number; my iniquities have overtaken me, and I cannot see; They are more than the hairs of my head; my heart fails me. Be pleased, O LORD, to deliver me! O LORD, make haste to help me! Let those be put to shame and ...

The Heart of Fear

Fear. It’s a funny thing. We talk about having a healthy fear of things being good. Knowing not to touch a hot stovetop or a toddler who is timid about just jumping in a pool is a good, healthy fear. Fear is an asset in dangerous situations. But fear can cause us to sin and keep us in bondage. So let’s talk about fear. During my pregnancy with my son, I had no fear or reason to have fear. I already had two easy pregnancies resulting in healthy daughters, so I assumed it would be the same with my son. That was not the case as he was stillborn at 37 weeks due to a 1 in 10 million amniotic band cord “accident.” Fear didn’t keep me from trying ...