57 results for author: Constance Ray

When You’re Searching for Joy

Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured from sinners such hostility against himself, so that you may not grow weary or fainthearted. —Hebrews 12:1-3 There is something both humbling and comforting in this passage for a grieving heart. We are told that Jesus went ahead of us ...

When You Struggle with Worry After Loss

Come now, you who say, ‘Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit’—yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring… Instead you ought to say, ‘If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.’ —James 4:13–15 There is something in this passage that can feel tender after loss. The people James describes sound so certain. They have it all mapped out. They know what they are going to do and when they are going to do it. Their plans feel secure. They speak about tomorrow as though it is guaranteed, and they even assume that all will go well for them. After losing a ...

When You Feel Angry

Know this, my beloved brothers: let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger; for the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God. Therefore put away all filthiness and rampant wickedness and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls. —James 1:19–21 There are days when anger rises in my spirit faster than I expect. I know Scripture calls me to resist “the anger of man,” because it does not produce righteousness or reflect the heart of God. God is righteous in all His ways, never impatient, never angry over the wrong things, never lashing out in selfish rage or retreating into ...

When You Struggle with Doubt

Now Thomas, one of the twelve, called the Twin, was not with them when Jesus came. So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord.” But he said to them, “Unless I see in his hands the mark of the nails, and place my finger into the mark of the nails, and place my hand into his side, I will never believe.”  Eight days later, his disciples were inside again, and Thomas was with them. Although the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.” Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here, and see my hands; and put out your hand, and place it in my side. Do not disbelieve, but believe.” ...

Mental Health Moment: Marking Grief with Memorial Practices, Part 2

Last week, I shared how God welcomes and even commands ritual, rhythm, and remembrance —especially in seasons of loss and transition. From the Exodus to stacked stones along the Jordan to bereavement practices, the Bible shows us a God who understands that some moments are too much for our human experience to hold inside without some form of expression. (Read Part 1 here.) Why does God incorporate these rhythms and practices into our lives? Why does it feel so helpful and cathartic to participate in these memorial activities? It’s because God designed us with many layers and each has a place in our grief. And he answered, “You ...

Mental Health Moment: Marking Grief with Memorial Practices, Part 1

As Hope Moms, a new year can bring big questions about our grief journey. We tend to ask about how best to remember our Hope Babies, who we are without them, and how we will manage our sorrow another day, another year. Loving our heavenly babies while still on earth can feel confusing, and working through our experience of loss is overwhelming.  The good news is God highly values our need to connect to our heavenly babies and work through the giant life change that is loss and grief. He recognizes our inability to contain all that our human experience entails. He knows we need outlets that meet us in life’s overwhelming burdens.  During ...

A Call and the Comfort of the Gospel

Recently, my pastor was talking about the call of the gospel for all believers. The call of the gospel is a call to repentance and faith, to turn away from ourselves and toward Jesus. It is a call to trust in His finished work rather than our own effort, to surrender our lives to His lordship, and to follow Him in obedience. The gospel calls us to die to ourselves, to walk in newness of life, and to bear witness to Christ through lives marked by humility, love, and faithfulness. It is a call to take up our cross daily, to abide in Him, and to live as people shaped by His grace and truth. As Hope Moms, we do have a CALL to the gospel, but we also have ...

If your story looks different than you imagined

When My Dreams Didn’t Match God’s Plan I never imagined I would become a Hope Mom. I know pregnancy books mention loss somewhere in the fine print, but it always felt distant to me. I didn’t know anyone in my real life who had lost a baby, and it seemed like the kind of thing that happened to other people, not something that would ever touch my story. My first pregnancy ended early, with a tiny two-pound, ten-ounce baby boy born eleven weeks too soon. The months that followed were filled with alarms, monitors, and long days in the NICU, but he lived. He came home, he grew, and by the time he was three, he was happy and healthy, and ...

An Invitation to Keep Christ at the Center

We made it through the holidays, friends. Maybe they were heavier than you hoped they’d be, filled with quiet reminders of the little one who’s missing. Or maybe there were moments of sweetness you didn’t expect, and those surprised you too. Either way, here we are on the other side of the celebrations and I am proud of us. By God’s grace, we are still standing, still breathing, and still moving forward. As the calendar turned last week, does it now feel like we are watching the world rush into a new year full of goals and resolutions? So many are chasing new habits, new routines, and new versions of themselves. New year, new you, ...

Beneath His Healing Wings

During this Advent season, I heard a sermon that landed a little differently than Christmas sermons usually do. It lingered with me. It stayed. The passage was from Luke 1, where Zechariah is praising God and prophesying over his long-awaited son, John. He says: “Because of the tender mercy of our God, whereby the sunrise shall visit us from on high to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace.” (Luke 1:78–79) Zechariah is echoing words from the prophet Malachi, the last prophet before Christ, who wrote: “But for you who fear my name, the sun of righteousness shall rise with ...