1104 results for author: Ashlee Schmidt

Because He Lives: We Have Been Given New Life

“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to His great mercy, He has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you.”1 Peter 1:3-4 READ: As mothers who have endured the loss of a beloved child, it can feel impossible to come out from under death’s dark shadow. Perhaps, for you, that shadow includes pregnancy announcements and invitations to baby showers that prick the scars left behind by loss. Or maybe it’s the nursery that stands frozen in time, a ...

Because He Lives: We Are Set Free

“But the angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified. He is not here, for He has risen, as He said. Come, see the place where Helay.”-Matthew 28:5-6 As a Hope Mom, this verse is the beginning of our hope. Jesus was crucified for our sins and was raised from the dead. Because of that act by Jesus, we can be set free from our sins. We have the hope of resurrection and that leads to the hope of seeing our babies again in heaven. Jesus’ death on the cross is the foundation of our hope.  Romans 10:9 says that “if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and be...

Because He Lives: Death Has Been Defeated

“When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written: ‘Death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?’ The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.”-1 Corinthians 15:54-57 Each time in my life when I have been confronted with death (be it a grandparent, fellow church member, or a friend of a friend), there has been either a natural order of death or the barrier of being further removed from the one who was lost, ...

Ask the Blog Team: How Did You Handle the Challenges that Come With Pregnancy After Loss?

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. I recently found out I was pregnant after many years of trying after loss. We are elated, but I find myself slightly guarded as well. Each time a fearful thought creeps in I’m trying to turn it over immediately to Jesus in prayer. I’m also working on ...

Melinda’s Story

“Grief is like the ocean; it comes in waves, ebbing and flowing. Sometimes the water is calm, and sometimes the water is overwhelming. All we can do is learn to swim.”- Vickie Harrison.  But how would I learn to swim in the sea of grief? The loss of our sweet Annalee came just two months after our 3-year-old daughter was diagnosed with cancer. I went from fearing the unknown future of our daughter, Lela, to grieving the future memories that we will never have with Annalee.  I will never forget how I felt when I found out I was pregnant again. I’m not proud of my reaction. This was my sixth pregnancy. We already had four blessi...

Our Gracious God

God has invited us to be captivated by the greatness of His character and what we believe about God has the greatest potential to shape our suffering. Although we will never be able to thoroughly grasp the fullness of His glory on this side of eternity, He has given us glimpses of His glory in the revelation of His Word. In this series, we will dive into ten attributes of God and discover what hope they offer us in our sorrow and how knowing and believing these truths about who God is can provide great comfort in the midst of grief. If you grew up going to church and call Jesus your friend, or have little or no knowledge of God as a being ...

When The Future Seems Uncertain…

God’s Word speaks thoroughly and abundantly into every season of the heart. As we study His Word, we learn that within its pages are found the ultimate source of comfort and peace for the sufferer. In this series, we will seek to carefully and compassionately apply these ancient, scriptural truths to feelings and experiences that are common in grief. There are times in life when we can really identify with the Israelites in the Bible, particularly as they trod day after day through the endless desert of their forty-year wilderness trek. Think of their rugged route, mile after mile, with the abrasive rub of the sand in their ...

The God Who Sees Mary

Over the next several weeks we are going to look at how God acts as El Roi, The God Who Sees, through four different biblical mommas who experienced grief and sorrow. We will look at the lives of Hagar, Hannah, Naomi and Mary and see for ourselves how God was faithful to meet them in their pain and sorrow. As we study the testimonies of these four Biblical women, our prayer is that you would know in the depths of your heart that you are seen and heard, that you would feel loved and known. As I began to prepare this study, I was struck by the extreme highs and lows Mary must have experienced along her motherhood journey.  Luke 2 says ...

Psalm 13

Many times, Scripture resonates so strongly with me. Psalm 13 is a great example. I read this passage several weeks after losing my daughter, Kinley. The psalmist, David, articulated my very thoughts and emotions as he addressed God:“How long, O Lord? Will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me?How long must I wrestle with my thoughts and every day have sorrow in my heart?How long will my enemy triumph over me?Look at me and answer, O Lord my God.Give light to my eyes, or I will sleep in death; my enemy will say, ‘I have overcome him,’ and my foes will rejoice when I fall.But I trust in your unfailing love; my heart ...

When Your Prayers Aren’t Answered the Way You Hoped…

God’s Word speaks thoroughly and abundantly into every season of the heart. As we study His Word, we learn that within its pages are found the ultimate source of comfort and peace for the sufferer. In this series, we will seek to carefully and compassionately apply these ancient, scriptural truths to feelings and experiences that are common in grief. “Again I say to you, if two of you agree on earth about anything they ask, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven. For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them.” Matthew 18:19-20 “Whatever you ask in my name, this I will do, that the Father may ...