1104 results for author: Ashlee Schmidt

Born of a Woman

Welcome to Hope Mommies’ In the Word devotionals. Throughout this Advent season, we will be studying Galatians 4:4-5 together. In this series, we wil study the gospel truths found in these verses and discover how the coming of Christ speaks into our sorrow. "But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons."Galatians 4:4-5 READ: Born of a woman.  I’ve been reading recently in Genesis during my weekly Bible study. In chapter three, Adam and Eve sin when they give in to Satan’s ...

Autumn’s Shadow

“For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven: a time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted; a time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up; a time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance; a time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing; a time to seek, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away; a time to tear, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak; a time to love, and a time to hate; a time ...

25 Years Later

It can often seem as though you will always be drowning beneath the acute pain of loss. However, while our grief never truly ends, it doesn't always look and feel the same way. In this series, our writers speak from where they are now in their grief, _________ years later. Throughout this series, you will find testimonies of how grief changes us, and how God uses our heartache to shape us into a greater reflection of His image. Twenty-five. Wow! I had to sit with that for a minute. Or several minutes. Twenty-five years since my son was stillborn. That’s almost half of my life.  It’s hard to imagine that on December 15 it will ...

Shannon’s Story

It felt strange to call it grief. After all, how do you grieve someone you’ve never seen? How do you grieve what never could have been?  The due date would have been 12-12-12. How perfect, I thought, as I built dreams and plans. How perfect, I thought, as I sat pleased with the way I had designed my family. But, more than a plan, it was a life. I had started to think of names, to wonder if we would paint pink or blue. I had started to envision how this little one would fit into our family; I monogrammed a Big Sister t-shirt for my toddler.  And then.  And then.  And then.  My happy, perfect secret stole away ...

Ask the Blog Team: How Do You Respond When Someone Asks How Many Children You Have?

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. It depends. Sometimes I refer to being pregnant in the past or having a daughter when I know I won't have to give many details. Other times, I say “none” and others I am open and share that we have one in heaven. It depends on how much info I feel like ...

God Sent His Son

Welcome to Hope Mommies’ In the Word devotionals. Throughout this Advent season, we will be studying Galatians 4:4-5 together. In this series, we wil study the gospel truths found in these verses and discover how the coming of Christ speaks into our sorrow. "But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons."Galatians 4:4-5 READ: God sent His Son. While Christmas does mark the coming of Christ in human flesh, it is not His beginning. This is the beauty of Christmas. Long before that first ...

Cultivating a Heart of Thanksgiving

In 1 Thess. 5:18, Paul urges the church to “give thanks in all things.” I’ve read this verse countless times. I know that in the hurtful things, the hard things, and the can’t-keep-it-together things, my response must be one of gratitude. But sometimes, the distance between my head and my heart seems endlessly long. How do I give thanks for something I am not thankful for? Have you ever felt this way? How can you cultivate a heart of thanksgiving during illness, following the loss of a child, or through life's numerous trials and difficulties when it seems as though those painful circumstances require every ...

Five Years Later

It can often seem as though you will always be drowning beneath the acute pain of loss. However, while our grief never truly ends, it doesn't always look and feel the same way. In this series, our writers speak from where they are now in their grief, _________ years later. Throughout this series, you will find testimonies of how grief changes us, and how God uses our heartache to shape us into a greater reflection of His image. If you could peek into my journal five years ago, you would see a mother who was deeply anguished. My words were deep with raw emotions as I cried out to God, seeking His face somewhere in all the darkness. You ...

Laurice’s Story

“Let’s move to a second ultrasound room.” With those words, my entire world changed. As I moved to the second room to confirm what my husband and I already knew, the tears began to stream down my face. The doctor confirmed that my first daughter, Addison Lowry, died at 39 weeks, 5 days, just two days before we were set to induce.  My response seemed to shock everyone. “I prayed that God’s will be done in my baby’s life, and this is His story for our life,” I said. It’s been half a year since I lost my daughter. Half a year since I come home to a completed nursery within no one in it. Half a year that the deafening quiet house ...

Why Hope Mommies is Different

I feel the need to reiterate the mission of Hope Mommies. There are too many support groups out there that do nothing more than support laziness in healing (ie: "Do whatever is best for you/makes you feel better/etc."), and Hope Mommies is not one of them. A support group should be about coming alongside a deeply wounded, theologically shattered person and pointing them to the Truth. Because no matter who you are, or what your belief system is, losing a child will radically alter what you believe about God—whether you think you believe in Him or not. And we believe that what you believe about God is the only thing that matters when your child ...