1104 results for author: Ashlee Schmidt

Mighty God

Welcome to Hope Mommies’ In the Word devotionals. Over the next several weeks, we will be studying Isaiah 9 together. In this passage, Isaiah gives us insight into the incredible hope that was given through the birth of Christ. Join us as we discover how the grieving mother can find comfort, especially in the holiday season, in the following descriptions of Christ. Mighty God “And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.” Isaiah 9:6 READ: How often does grief feel like a battleground? We fight against despair and hopelessness, we struggle against lies ...

A Prayer of Hope and Encouragement For Thanksgiving

Father, if directed by my flesh alone, thanks might not pass from my lips easily today. My heart aches for the little ones who are missing from our family gathering. Their absence is felt deeply; their empty chairs taunt me. I am undone. In my sorrow, I call out to You, “How long, O Lord? How shall I endure this terrible affliction? These empty arms are more than I can bear!” I bring You my tears, my brokenness, my longing.  I know Your mercy will be enough. It always has been. You always have been. My cries matter to You. Each new day greets me with fresh mercy. My heart, shattered by grief, is being made whole once again. If left ...

This Thanksgiving, Remember That God Sees You

Mama, I see you. I see your tears, your ache, your pain. More importantly, God sees you. You are not alone, even if you feel like it as the holidays are approaching. "It’s the most wonderful time of the year," right? But often, when we're in the thick of our grief, it's not. The coming days may be hard, but not impossible. Even in the thick of our grief, our God promises to be with us constantly and consistently—and He is close, very close, to you, Mama.  Let me share with you a few ideas of encouragement this Thanksgiving, and remind you, even if you don't believe it today, that you will get through this. You will, brave Mama, with ...

Aimee’s Story

When we started trying to have a baby, I told Daniel and myself not to get our hopes up. It usually takes a few months to get pregnant and often longer than that. That first month of trying I took a pregnancy test without telling Daniel. Before the results were in, I sat on the couch and asked Daniel to check the test in three minutes. He was caught off guard. I told him I didn’t think I was pregnant, but I wanted to take the test just in case. After three minutes, he cautiously walked to the bathroom. He was silent. I called out, “Well what does it say?!” He showed me the test with wide eyes. It was positive! We hugged and teared up! It was a ...

Trusting the Lord in Reoccurring Loss

Each child gone ahead from among us is a precious person made in the image of God—and all having been made into Hope Moms, we together declare motherhood in each of our journeys. Through this series, we honor each other’s experiences of motherhood in love through our shared God of hope. At first, I thought that since I have experienced back to back losses, I might be able to share some thoughts from my experiences and what the Lord has taught and continues to teach me. However, I will be honest and say that this topic is extremely difficult to write about. As I reflect on the pain of reoccurring loss, I am hesitant to speak too ...

Wonderful Counselor

Welcome to Hope Mommies’ In the Word devotionals. Over the next several weeks, we will be studying Isaiah 9 together. In this passage, Isaiah gives us insight into the incredible hope that was given through the birth of Christ. Join us as we discover how the grieving mother can find comfort, especially in the holiday season, in the following descriptions of Christ. Wonderful Counselor “And His name shall be calledWonderful Counselor” Isaiah 9:6 READ: We need counsel; we need to know how our hope can increase and be established when sorrow and darkness come into our lives. But not all counsel is equal. The ...

Streams in the Desert: 2020 Retreats

I’m from the Pacific Northwest, and if this area of the country is known for anything, it’s rain.  Yet, in 2006 my husband and I were living in Southern California for a short time, and they were in a drought. It was my first encounter with a real drought; there were limited water supplies, and the earth was parched. There were water restrictions placed on households by the city, and I remember thinking, “If only it would rain”.   Fast forward four years to the stillbirth of my daughter. I was back living in the Pacific North West, and though the physical earth wasn’t in a drought, my soul was. Everything within me felt dry ...

Infertility After Loss

Each child gone ahead from among us is a precious person made in the image of God—and all having been made into Hope Moms, we together declare motherhood in each of our journeys. Through this series, we honor each other’s experiences of motherhood in love through our shared God of hope. When I was a newlywed, I struggled with the thought of wanting children. My time, money, and freedom were all too valuable to me to the point where I wasn’t sure I should even be married. Marriage proved very difficult for us, and around that same time, I was very hurt by people in the church. It all left me bitter, frustrated, and confused as to ...

Kayla’s Story

In February of 2017, our son Phoenix turned one. Within a month, we were pregnant with our second child. We were both surprised and excited. We hadn’t expected to become pregnant again so quickly when it had taken us around seven months the first time.  We were on vacation when I took the test and found out, so upon arriving home, I called and asked to change my upcoming annual OBGYN appointment to a prenatal appointment. At first everything seemed normal, but at some point, I started to feel concerned that I hadn’t felt movement yet. I convinced myself that every baby is different, and that this one was just more chill than Phoenix had ...

Prayer: Our Most Essential Strategy

Grief is often accompanied by a myriad of temptations: anger, bitterness, fear, and despair, just to name a few. But God has provided us with everything we need to overcome these temptations, and to move forward in our sorrow with His strength. In this series, we will be studying the various pieces of our spiritual armor, and how each of these pieces uniquely equip us to cling to the hope we have been given in Christ. We’ve spent the past several weeks together studying the armor of God and learning how each piece uniquely equips us to overcome temptation and find strength to endure in the midst of our sorrow. Although we ...