1104 results for author: Ashlee Schmidt
When Joy Feels Illusive…
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.
Something was stirring in my heart, an unexpected joy and hope that seemed to grow deeper by the day. Kevin and I would read a Psalm each night and briefly share something that stuck out to us in the chapter before we prayed and fell asleep. One night we were reading ...
For The One Who Feels Stuck in Grief
After my son Max died, I struggled to perform even the most basic of daily tasks. I couldn’t clean my house or cook. I had no interest in putting on makeup or doing my hair. I couldn’t imagine sitting in my office attempting to do anything productive at work ever again. I felt like I was moving in slow motion, trying to escape a quicksand that threatened to pull me under. And if you asked me to think about anything bigger than these basic, day-to-day activities, I felt paralyzed, completely incapable of movement.
Grief has a way of convincing us that we are stuck, broken. It whispers in our ears that something irreparable has been damaged inside ...
Beauty in the Ashes
“He has made everything beautiful in its time.
Ecclesiastes 3:11a
READ:
We don’t know. Pause there for just a moment.
We don’t know what our suffering will mean for us as we move forward, as we learn to integrate our griefs and losses into our lives. There is the potential for trauma and heartache, yes, but there is the potential for post-traumatic growth. We don’t entirely know how our losses will impact us. But we do know that regardless of what happens, God is good, He makes beautiful things from our pain, and He has a plan—even if we can’t fully understand it.
This verse in Ecclesiastes, possibly written by ...
When Words Fail to Express the Depth of Your Sorrow…
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.
“I’m praying for a miracle!”
“God is the ultimate healer, and I'm praying that He chooses to heal your baby.”
“Have faith! Sometimes the doctors get these things wrong.”
“Nothing is impossible with God!”
I heard phrases ...
Longing For Deliverance
“Call upon me in the day of trouble. I will deliver you, and you will glorify Me.”
Psalm 50:15
I could say these words with conviction when there was no trouble in my life. But when trouble came and I faced the death of my children, those were the days where I needed to know what His deliverance really meant. In those days of finding out my first and then second daughter would not live, I cried out to God to deliver me from the pain and deliver my daughters from death. I wanted to be free from suffering. I wanted my daughters to live on this earth with me. I wanted it to not hurt so bad. I wanted His deliverance to look like my idea of deliver...
When You Can’t Understand God’s Plan…
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.
In a young child’s mind, the world revolves around them. They don’t have the capability to understand that every need can’t be met in their timing, every question cannot be answered, and every desire can’t be fulfilled. This is how I characterized myself, at ...
Be Strengthened in the Lord
The book of Ephesians is a letter written by Paul to believers in Ephesus as a way to fortify their faith. Ephesus was a wealthy port city, probably the largest city in the world at the time (located in modern day Turkey). It was a big, bustling city as it were, and home to many different religions and cultural influences that would have been commonplace to the people living there, such as the temple to the Greek goddess Artemis (one of the seven wonders of the Ancient World).
Paul knew how hard it was to live in a place that wasn’t devoted to or honoring of God. Throughout Ephesians, Paul uses so much physical language to describe spiritual things ...
In the Word: God is Loving
Welcome to Hope Mommies’ In the Word devotionals. Over the next several weeks, we will be looking at different characteristics of God—specifically reflecting on how each aspect of His character offers us hope in the midst of our grief. As we study together, we encourage 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 the infinitely beautiful character of God along with us!
“I have loved you with an everlasting love; therefore I have continued my faithfulness to you.”
Jeremiah 31:3
R...
When You Can’t See the Purpose in the Pain…
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.
I stood quietly in the kitchen stirring my tea. Their words echoed in my mind, and I struggled to keep the tears at bay.
“Everything happens for a reason.”
The words chaffed at my bruised and broken heart. Just months before, we had buried our infant ...
