1104 results for author: Ashlee Schmidt
Being a Mother Without A Child on Earth
How can I be a mother without a child on earth?
This has been the question for me ever since I lost our baby. I trust God to take care of my baby and myself, but what am I supposed to do as a mom here on earth without a child in my arms?
This question made me reflect on how we think of mothers. Is motherhood defined by the lack of sleep? By the willingness to sacrifice everything? By the amount of diapers you go through each week? By the conflicts that arise from wanting to balance work and life and family?
When I found out I was pregnant, I didn't have a very clear picture of what it means to be a mom. I was thinking about those childhood days ...
Discussions in Grief: Stunned
Grieving involves new emotions and considerations often too many to numbers. When you find yourself in overwhelming grief, you likely feel buried and lost. In this series, we slowly and compassionately look at one aspect of grief at a time from a biblical perspective for the newly grieving mother. Click {here} to read past posts in this series.
Less than twenty-four hours after uttering the words, “I’m trying to finish his quilt because I think I might be going into labor,” I looked at the sonogram monitor and saw all four chambers of his heart. Still. Absolutely still.
I was stunned. Absolutely stunned.
We had presents under ...
Because He Lives
“And He who was seated on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.” -Revelation 21:5
Go back and read that verse again and again and again. Our Great God is making ALL things new.
This, dear one, is the message of Easter. This is what we have to look forward to. This is the hope we have been given through the death and resurrection of our Lord, Jesus Christ. Everything will be new and perfect. Nothing will be damaged or spoiled or blemished by the darkness of sin. The splendor of heaven is truly beyond the scope of our comprehension. And anything less magnificent and unfathomable wouldn’t be heaven, would it? ...
In the Word: A Little While
Welcome to Hope Mommies’ first edition of In the Word devotionals. If you are joining us for the first time today, make sure you don't miss the first posts in this series here. Over several weeks, we are looking at 1 Peter 1:1-9 verse by verse. As we study this passage 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 along with us!
"In this you rejoice, even if now for a little while you have had to suffer various trials,"
1 Peter 1:6
READ:
1 Peter ...
Cling to the Cross
Death has shaken your soul to its core. Mine too.
When I first heard the words, “I’m sorry, there’s no heartbeat,” it seemed like my life was being siphoned out of me. I strained to take in each new breath of air, and as I looked up at the monitor, staring at the stillness of my baby, I felt as though I was watching someone else’s nightmare unfold before my eyes. In that moment, death seemed to consume me.
The death of your child is an excruciating heartache that alters the course of your life.
There may be times when it seems as though you are being crushed and overcome by the weight of death. Perhaps you feel as if you will never ...
Five Years Later
On February 28, my two and a half year old was crying about two small marks on his knuckle and palm. I kissed his hand and reassured him that God would help to heal his ouchies and that he would be okay. I pointed out to him that one of them was already healing over and explained how God had made his body and was helping his body to heal.
On this same day, five years earlier, I had asked God to exercise the healing power that I assured my son of when I had implored Him to heal my daughter, Elayah, as she was dying.
This was not the first time I had asked God to heal someone, and I had seen Him do it before. I had no doubt that He could, and so I ...
Discussions in Grief: Perfectionism in Grief
Grieving involves new emotions and considerations often too many to numbers. When you find yourself in overwhelming grief, you likely feel buried and lost. In this series, we slowly and compassionately look at one aspect of grief at a time from a biblical perspective for the newly grieving mother. Click {here} to read past posts in this series.
Ashlee is the Editorial Coordinator for Hope Mommies and author of I AM (Hope Mommies, 2017) and Identity (Hope Mommies, 2018). She and her husband, Jesse, live in Milwaukee with their children—five on earth and two in heaven.
Are you a writer who would ...
Cliche Comforts: “It Will Happen When the Time is Right”
“When the time is right…” What a common cliché in many of life’s struggles! This saying quickly forms on the tongue of those who awkwardly don’t know what else to say to a friend experiencing a painful waiting. Waiting for a baby, waiting for a husband, waiting for a job, waiting for an “all clear” diagnosis; it’s all too easy to simply say, “It’ll happen when the time is right,” and brush off the hurt with an imaginary end date. On the surface, as is the case with most clichés, it’s an innocent, harmless, partial truth, and occasionally even slightly comforting. But at its core, this phrase is unintentionally leaving us ...
Ask the Blog Team: How Can You Tell If Your Desire To Have Another Baby Is Not Just Your Heart Longing For The Baby That Has Died?
Welcome to our Q+A series, Ask the Blog Team. In this series, the Hope Mommies blog team joins together to answer questions that are commonly asked in grief. If there is a question or topic that you have wrestled with in your grief that you would like the opportunity to see how other Hope Moms have processed or answered, we would love to hear from you. You can submit your questions here.
How can you tell if your desire to have another baby is not just your heart longing for the baby that has died?
After losing my stillborn son at 37 weeks, our family didn’t feel complete. We had prepared to be a family of five and still felt we should be ...
