1104 results for author: Ashlee Schmidt
A Prayer for the One Who is Afraid
The death of a child goes against the natural rhythms of life. Parents should not outlive their children. There is just something so incomprehensible about the sight of a tiny coffin at a funeral, the stillborn body of an infant, or a silent, motionless ultrasound screen. In these moments, there is something inside all of us that screams, "This is not right! This is not how things are supposed to be!"
When my son's heart stilled while his precious body was cradled within me, there wasn't a category in my mind to process this unimaginable grief. I was now living a horrible reality, the possibility of which I had never conceived for myself. The ...
Blessed Are The Poor in Spirit
In Matthew chapter 5, we find at the beginning of Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount a portion of His teaching that is commonly referred to as “The Beatitudes.” Over the next several weeks, we will be studying this passage of Scripture together as we seek to understand what it looks like for us to aspire to live in such a way as the following verses describe.
“Seeing the crowds, He [Jesus] went up on the mountain, and when He sat down, His disciples came to Him. And He opened His mouth and taught them, saying:
“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
“Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.
...
In the Word: To Know What is Right
Welcome to Hope Mommies In the Word devotionals. Over the next few weeks, we will be meditating on Psalm 19 together. 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!
How firm a foundation, ye saints of the Lord,
Is laid for your faith in His excellent Word!
What more can He say than to you He hath said,
You, who unto Jesus for refuge have fled?"
- John Rippon, 1787
“the precepts of the LORD are right, rejoicing the ...
Comfort For Hope Siblings: God Cares About Your Tears
Dear one, the loss of your sibling is such a tremendous burden for you to carry. The heaviness of loss has deeply affected you, even though you do not fully understand this grief. Death is still such an illusive and incomplete concept in your young mind. How can I help you understand?
These are heavy days for you. I wish I could shield you from the grief that fills our home.
There may be days when you feel unseen. As we all work through the loss of our precious baby in different ways, your own grief may not always be recognized. I am so sorry. I wish I knew how to help you navigate this sorrow more fully.
But even when you feel unseen, I want ...
A Secure Future
It’s a strange thing to say that sorrow comes with a gift. And I hope that idea doesn’t come across as pithy or like something you’d see on one of those inspirational posters in a middle school counselor’s office or like one of those really bad sympathy cards with the pictures of clouds. But, when we experience grief in its many forms, it forces us to really think about what happens after death.
C.S. Lewis writes, “You never know how much you really believe anything until its truth or falsehood becomes a matter of life and death to you.”
Whether heaven exists is no longer a theoretical question. Heaven isn’t just “the good place to ...
A Prayer for the One Who Is Weary
The loss of a child is a heavy burden filled with so much complexity. The multifaceted intersections of grief often fill us with a weariness that is felt in the deepest recesses of our souls—emotional, spiritual, mental, and physical weariness. No part of us is left untouched.
Maybe today, the weariness in you is manifested in a struggle to get out of bed or perform simple tasks around the house. Perhaps you are experiencing a mental fog that leaves you hardly able to focus on anything. You might find yourself opening up your Bible to spend time with the Lord, only to wonder if you even have the energy to engage with Scripture because, in this ...
The Gift of Himself
There are lies about the hard things. I bet you’ve heard them. They use the language of Scripture to make them sound like holy things. But, oh, friend—they are lies and they come to deceive. They sound like this:
“If you are good enough, God will give you what you want.”
“If you claim the thing you want in prayer, and believe that you have already received it, God has no choice but to give it to you.”
“With enough faith, you can bring physical healing.”
“God will never give you more than you can handle.”
The lies sound like truth, and they sound good because it seems like everything is yours to control. But when devastation ...
In the Word: A Treasure of Wisdom
Welcome to Hope Mommies In the Word devotionals. Over the next few weeks, we will be meditating on Psalm 19 together. 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!
“the testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple”
Psalm 19:7b
READ:
Baby loss is something we could never have imagined before it happened to us. That parents could survive their children? That a precious, small, vulnerable child could be without ...
