64 results for author: Constance Ray

When the Waiting Feels Endless

There is a particular kind of exhaustion that comes with waiting through grief. Waiting for your heart to let up. Waiting for the heaviness in your chest to lift, even a little. Waiting for some piece of life to feel normal again. During December, when the world feels like it’s rushing ahead with busy schedules and twinkling lights, waiting can feel even more painful. Everyone else seems to be anticipating and experiencing something good, while you’re still waiting for the ache to ease and wondering when it might ever feel different. I remember those early months after losing my daughter, when the days felt incredibly long. The waiting was not ...

When Grief Makes You Go Quiet

December has a way of making grief louder. Or maybe it just makes everything else louder, and your grief feels even more out of place than usual. Everyone seems to be moving on with their lives. They’re hanging stockings, making plans, and doing their best to live something that looks “merry,” while you’re still sitting in the same ache. I remember the silence that lived inside me after losing my daughter. I didn’t know how to answer simple questions anymore. Someone would text, “How are you today?” and I’d stare at the words because I didn’t know where to begin. Nothing had changed. My baby was still gone. My heart still ...

To The One Whose Heart Is Heavy This Thanksgiving

I don’t know what your Thanksgiving table looks like this year. Maybe it’s surrounded by people who love you, but there’s still a gaping hole where your baby should be. Maybe you’re smiling for pictures while your heart is breaking. Maybe you’ve opted out of gathering altogether because it just feels like too much. If your heart feels heavy today, I want you to know this: you’re not alone. There is no guilt in weeping. Even Jesus wept. The One who knew the end of the story. The One who knew the resurrection, the restoration, and the joy set before Him still let tears fall when death touched the ones He loved. Your tears don’t mean ...

A Song for my Soul: Highlands (Song of Ascent)

Music has the ability to speak into the deepest recesses of our hearts. God often uses songs to speak hope and encouragement to our souls. In this series, Hope Moms share songs that have pointed them to the hope of Christ in the midst of their grief. When I first listened to Highlands (Song of Ascent), I wasn’t in the throes of fresh grief, but the tears came quickly. Its melody stirred something sacred in me. It felt like an invitation to remember the valley I once walked through and the God who bent low to meet me there. The song reminded me that whether we are standing on a mountaintop or stumbling through the valley, His love never ...

Remember That A Better Feast Is Coming

Despite differences in background or tradition, Thanksgiving is generally recognized as a time to celebrate abundance. It’s a time when friends and family gather to give thanks for the harvest, for “plenty,” for the goodness of God seen in what He has provided. But for the grieving mother, the cultural chorus of “Give thanks!” can sting like salt in a wound. Those words echo from store displays and social media captions, throw pillows and kindergarten artwork, but instead of prompting joy, they may only amplify the emptiness. Empty wombs that once held life. Empty arms that ache to hold a child who is no longer here. Empty chairs around ...

When Gratitude Feels Impossible

For many, Thanksgiving is a season of abundance, celebration, and gratitude. But for the grieving mom, gratitude can feel not just hard, but impossible. Her precious baby is missing from pumpkin patch photos and the family table. She’s not buying the “Mama’s Little Turkey” bib or a “Baby’s First Thanksgiving” outfit. She’s carrying a silent sorrow, and her heart feels out of sync with the season. When your arms ache for a child you can’t hold, how do you give thanks?  When your heart is shattered and your prayers seem unanswered, how do you rejoice?  When everyone else is counting blessings and you’re counting losses, ...

When Motherhood Doesn’t Feel Like It Should

Motherhood was always meant to be the most natural thing in the world. From the very beginning, it was part of God’s good design. The first recorded words God spoke to humanity were, “Be fruitful and multiply” (Genesis 1:28). Before sin entered the world, before brokenness took root, motherhood was a part of Eden. It was meant to be life-giving, joyful, and full of purpose. And the first words spoken directly to Eve were wrapped in this calling to be a mother. But for many of us, motherhood hasn’t looked or felt the way it was originally intended to be. When you lose a baby, something that once felt so natural suddenly feels confusing, ...

A Song for my Soul: Tears on Your Face

Music has the ability to speak into the deepest recesses of our hearts. God often uses songs to speak hope and encouragement to our souls. In this series, Hope Moms share songs that have pointed them to the hope of Christ in the midst of their grief. I had this album pre-saved on Spotify for months before it released  in August of 2021. Bethany Barnard has been a favorite of mine for years. Back in the early 2000s (when she was still Bethany Dillon), weren’t we all listening to “Beautiful,” “All I Need,” and “For My Love” on repeat? Then in the mid-2000s, her music continued to walk with me through so many seasons of ...

Simon’s Story of Restoration

Now when Jesus was at Bethany in the house of Simon the leper, a woman came up to him with an alabaster flask of very expensive ointment, and she poured it on his head as he reclined at table.  (Matthew 26:6-7).  The story of Simon the leper is told in just a few words—words that are easily skimmed past. But this short story actually has profound implications: it reveals God’s great love and power to absolutely restore His people. Simon lived in Bethany, which was a very poor town east of Jerusalem. Somehow, Simon became infected with leprosy—a contagious, progressive nerve disease caused by bacteria that leads to nerve degeneration ...

Keep Looking UP!

Pregnancy and Infant Loss Awareness Day is tomorrow, and I hope you’ll join us for the Wave of Light. The link will be sent out via email and shared on our website and social media. So many of you purchased candles and t-shirts (THANK YOU!), and I can’t wait to see your photos on social media. Be sure to tag @hopemommies in your posts on Instagram and Facebook. We love seeing this beautiful community come together around such a meaningful day. I pray tomorrow will be gentle on your heart. A sacred pause when the watching world stops and remembers with us. I pray you feel seen and loved by those around you, by all of us at Hope Mommies, but ...