1104 results for author: Ashlee Schmidt
Lift Each Other Up
"Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their labor. For if they fall, one will lift up his companion. But woe to him who is alone when he falls, For he has no one to help him up." Ecclesiastes 4:9-10
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Grief has a way of isolating. Grief wants you to think you are alone. Grief wants you to believe you are the only one who feels the way you do. But God did not create us to be alone—even in our grief. Our time of grieving is the most important time to be in the company of others. We need others to gently help lift us out of the despair of our grief. We need others to say, “I know. I understand. ...
When Life Leaves You Feeling Weary…
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.
After losing my baby at 18.5 weeks to Trisomy 18, I struggled with sleep. I would frequently find myself awake until 4:15am (coincidentally the time Baby P was born). I would lie awake, either having flashbacks or chasing a long trail of google searches and articles in ...
The Unending and Unchanging Love of Jesus
Our life in Christ as believers brings true freedom. Because of this merciful gift of new life, we are absolutely free from the law of sin and death (Romans 8:2), and we no longer live in bondage (Galatians 5:1). Jesus ultimately gives us freedom from suffering eternal death (John 6:47), but His life and resurrection were never meant to provide the same type of deliverance from suffering on earth.
As Hope Mommies, we have realized first hand that we aren’t free from this suffering, because we now know death on earth—not just death that happens near us, but the death of life that began inside us. It’s the kind of suffering that often leads to ...
When You Feel Misunderstood In Grief…
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.
How do you feel misunderstood in your grief? Is it the lack of grace extended for time off work? Friends who don’t understand why you’re still sad? Family who want you to “move on”? We’ve all been there, sister. You’re not alone.
Most of our children in heaven didn’t ...
Receiving the Riches of Christ
“What do you need right now?” My mind drew a blank nearly every time a person asked that question as I stared at the face of loss and death two times over. My first thought, an inner cry that only made its way to my lips but a few times, was: “I need my daughters back. I need them alive in my arms. I need what you cannot give.” Beyond that, I didn’t really know. “My God will supply all your needs according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus.” Philippians 4:19
So what does Paul mean when he says that God will supply all your needs when it seems like what you need the most cannot be given back on this side of heaven? ...
Grieving With An Eternal Mindset
"Also, He has put eternity into man's heart, yet so that he cannot find out what God has done from the beginning to the end." Ecclesiastes 3:11b
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When I lost Anna, it was as if a chunk of my soul was removed from inside my body. I had physical aching inside my chest, and a feeling of emptiness deep in my belly that welled up into my throat. Even my arms knew what was missing as they throbbed, heavy from her absence. In moments of despair, my mind was overcome with the desire for it all just to stop. I was never suicidal; I simply longed for an end to the pain that was so presently palpable. I had never felt that way before, not ...
When Death Overtakes Someone You Love…
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.
Five years ago, I was laying in a bed in the emergency room, holding my precious daughter. She had ten tiny fingers and ten tiny toes. Her cheeks were soft and her lips were pursed, as if she was singing. I could not stop staring at her. Yet, despite the wonder of taking ...
The Healer of Broken Hearts
How can a God we cannot see, feel, or often times hear be near to us? Is God really near to us?
The day after coming home from giving birth at 37 weeks to my perfectly formed—yet stillborn—baby boy, I flipped the Scripture card on my kitchen window and Psalms 34:18 was the verse waiting to give me hope. I left it there for nearly a year because I often needed the reminder as I journeyed on my grief path.
“The Lord is near the brokenhearted and
saves the crushed in spirit.”
Psalms 34:18
When I was in high school, and the guy I thought was my future broke up with me, I thought my heart was broken. When my first choice for college didn’t ...
