1104 results for author: Ashlee Schmidt
It Is Well, Even When It Isn’t
I was pregnant for the fourth time in under three years. I’d had a chemical pregnancy, then I had my daughter, Lily, then I had a miscarriage. It was the day of my six-week appointment. I spent the morning daydreaming about being in that darkened ultrasound room, holding my husband’s hand, and seeing the rapid flutter of our healthy baby’s heartbeat on the sonographer’s screen.
Then there was blood. Not a lot, but not none.
I placed 18-month-old Lily in her highchair with her milk and lunch and began circling the kitchen island praying fervently, almost chanting, for all to be well. My husband came home from work and ...
Two Are Better Than One
Welcome to Hope Mommies’ In the Word devotionals. Over the next several weeks, we will be studying the book of Ecclesiastes together, which centers on the truth that life apart from Christ is empty and vain. In its pages, we discover how to view our lives with an eternal perspective, enabling us to press into the Lord regardless of our circumstances. In this series, we seek to explore the wise principles presented to us by "the Teacher" in order to better understand what it looks like to walk in the fear and joy of the Lord even in the midst of our grief.
"Two are better than one, Because they have a good reward for ...
Finding Joy in the Sorrow
The year 2018 was a very hard year for my husband and me. We were pregnant with our sixth child. The pregnancy was filled with unknowns and anxiety, and at 34-weeks, our baby was born into the arms of Jesus. I knew that the road ahead would be the hardest one I had walked yet.
I spent eight weeks on maternity leave. Maternity leave is supposed to be a time for you to bond with your baby and heal physically. But my maternity leave was different. I think of it as my silent maternity leave. As some of you can relate, there’s nothing silent in a household with five children. But for me, that’s what this season felt marked by—silence. There ...
He Draws Near: Abigail’s Experience
“While He was still speaking, there came from the ruler's house some who said, “Your daughter is dead. Why trouble the Teacher any further?” But overhearing what they said, Jesus said to the ruler of the synagogue, “Do not fear, only believe.” And He allowed no one to follow Him except Peter and James and John the brother of James. They came to the house of the ruler of the synagogue, and Jesus saw a commotion, people weeping and wailing loudly. And when He had entered, He said to them, “Why are you making a commotion and weeping? The child is not dead but sleeping.” And they laughed at Him. But He put them all outside and took the ...
Warrior
Warrior (noun)1. a person engaged or experienced in warfare; soldier.2. a person who shows or has shown great vigor, courage
The other day my husband took me by the shoulders, after I was having a hard day and said to me, “Melissa, you are a warrior.” This of course brought more tears to my eyes.
In motherhood, this is true, we are warriors. We have war wounds on our bodies and in our souls. We wage war against the lies that the enemy brings as we grieve for our children that are with Jesus and as we raise the ones that are still here on earth with us.
We put on courage over the pain when someone asks us, “How many children do you have?” and ...
Christ Has Overcome the World
God’s Word is filled with rich promises for His children. How do these “precious and very great promises” inform and direct your grief? How does keeping your eyes fixed on these truths anchor your hope in the Lord? In this series, we write about how God, through the promises in His Word, comforts and strengthens us in our sorrow.
When I was in 9th grade, I found my favorite Bible verse:
“I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” John 16:33
As I read that verse, it felt like God was directly speaking to me. He was ...
He Has Set Eternity On Our Hearts
Welcome to Hope Mommies’ In the Word devotionals. Over the next several weeks, we will be studying the book of Ecclesiastes together, which centers on the truth that life apart from Christ is empty and vain. In its pages, we discover how to view our lives with an eternal perspective, enabling us to press into the Lord regardless of our circumstances. In this series, we seek to explore the wise principles presented to us by "the Teacher" in order to better understand what it looks like to walk in the fear and joy of the Lord even in the midst of our grief.
"Also, He has put eternity into man's heart, yet so that he cannot&...
This Is A Mother
There is a verse in Genesis that talks about pain in childbirth. The NIV version states, “I will make your pains in childbearing very severe; with painful labor you will give birth to children.” And the King James version, “Unto the woman he said, ‘I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception; in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children’” (Genesis 3:16).
Perhaps, like me, you believe this verse refers to the painful process of giving birth. But, ask any mother, there is so much more pain to childbirth, childbearing, and child-raising, then only the pains of labor. I think of the pain of a c-section, the baby surgically ...
Father’s Day Encouragement: Abide In Jesus
A HIGH CALLING
Father’s Day. I love this day, and most of the time I use it as an excuse to take our family camping. “You know, it's Father’s Day. Maybe we should do what any good dad would do with his family, and head into the woods for a few days.” It works most years.
But, Father’s Day is also a day where I reflect on what it means to be a good father in all seasons. As fathers, we share a title with God—our heavenly Father. While this is a great honor, it is also sobering. To be a father, as God is our heavenly Father, is a high calling. We need to take time to reflect on what it means to be a father—what it means to ...
