79 results for author: Support

Motherhood and My Years of New Year Reflections

For the past couple of years, I have decided not to focus on trying to accomplish resolutions for the year but rather reflect on my year and find a focus word or phrase as a theme or point of focus to bring before the Lord during the upcoming year. I was first encouraged, through a friend, to ask the Lord for wisdom in reflecting on my year and insight into what I should focus on bringing before the Lord during the next year. She told me about her experience with trusting the Lord with a phrase or thought throughout the year and how she wanted me to join her. I don’t always approach new ideas with the best attitude so I walked away unsure how to ...

A Release from Remembering

November arrives and as the holidays come within reach, I feel a near physical ache. Holidays have a built in nostalgia—have you ever noticed that? Reflection is inherent in the joy of a holiday celebration. We look back on the year and remember its highs and lows; we take pictures to capture our family and friends as they are right now, so we can remember in years to come. We reflect and remember, and for grievers there is an inescapable wondering that happens at the holidays. We remember what we have lost. What would she have wanted for Christmas this year? How big would I have been with the baby by now? These are questions that linger in my ...

Links for Hope Moms {Podcast, Article, & Sermon}

We want to share with you links to posts, videos, resources, and more to uplift, help, and encourage you in your walk with the Lord as you grieve. View past posts in this series here. 1. "Through the Lens," by Holly Colonna & Kristin Hernandez Podcast description: "Gospel-driven conversations on hope in the heartache, where two child-loss mamas discuss suffering and sanctification. No matter what shape your suffering takes, we invite you to join us in authentic conversation as we navigate through the trials of this life, keeping our eyes fixed on the hope of heaven." —Sarah  2. "How Would You Counsel a Couple Curious ...

Links for Hope Moms {Book & Song}

We want to share with you links to posts, videos, resources, and more to uplift, help, and encourage you in your walk with the Lord as you grieve. View past posts in this series here. 1. “How Long, O Lord? Reflections on Suffering and Evil,”  by D. A. Carson “This book can serve to re-calibrate according to a biblical framework our thinking about suffering. If you are seeking to work through your understanding of theology to come to terms with where suffering and grief fits into a biblical worldview, and how Scripture's writers regard suffering, this is a go-to read. Allow me to quote from it at length: ‘Death is not ...

Guidance for the Idle

“We urge you, brethren, admonish the idle […] be patient with everyone” 1 Thessalonians 5:14 NASB I understand, firsthand, that grief can stall a person—it can take a physical toll that might, especially at first, preclude the amount of activity in life that used to take no thought. Though this may seem disconcerting and endless, in my experience, it is an aspect of grief that time does change with time. But even further, perhaps you have been sitting, for a while now, with a sense that little is worth doing anymore in this life. I have had these thoughts. But the apostle Paul has practical encouragement. In 1 Thessalonians 4:11, he ...

Eternal Family

“Imagine a priceless vase or ornament is dropped on the floor and smashed to pieces. The woman who loved it kneels down. She picks up the pieces, one by one. She looks at each one in detail, turning it round, as if to remember where it once belonged. The vase was loved and so when it was shattered, every piece was worth picking up, no matter how small. A grieving person will often want to talk about the smallest detail of their loss. It is as if every broken piece is taken up and wept over. When you listen, you may feel that the detail was small, but it is part of something that was supremely valued, part of something dearly loved” (Colin ...

5 Ways to Grow in Grieving with Your Spouse

It was just a month or so after our first daughter had passed away and my husband went out for some fun with a buddy of his. I was a bit aghast at the thought. How could he go out and have “fun” when we had just lost our daughter? For much of the initial weeks after her death our grief had been quite similar. We had shed many tears together, felt each other’s pain and it seemed were navigating grief in the same ways. Until we weren’t. And simply because my husband’s expression of grief was different than mine, I thought my husband had stopped grieving. I most certainly had not. What I didn’t realize was how differently two people ...

Local Chapter Testimony: “Rooted in Christ”

Read the testimony below of a Hope Mom and her experience with a Hope Group at her local chapter to encourage you! We praise God for the comfort He gives us that we can in turn share with each other (2 Cor. 1:3-5). Spring Hope Group registration is currently open. This semester only in-person groups will be offered. We will resume online groups in Fall 2018 with the launch of a new study! Learn more about Spring 2018 groups and locations >> HERE. If you are interested in finding out more about establishing a local chapter in your area, please email our Chapters Coordinator, Lauren Stone: chapters (at) hopemommies (dot) org. Chapter applic...

Parenting Older Children Through Grief

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. We are eager to go above and beyond in showing honor and love for one another (Rom. 12:10, 15). Through this series, we honor each other’s experiences of motherhood in love through our shared God of hope. My girls were four and a half and two and a half years old when my son was stillborn at 37 weeks. We had presents under the Christmas tree for Zachary, and the girls were as expectant for their brother as we were to welcome a son into our family. When we came home ...

Hope Group Testimonies: “A life-changer”

Spring Hope Group registration is currently open. This semester only in-person groups will be offered. We will resume online groups in Fall 2018 with the launch of a new study! Learn more about Spring 2018 groups and locations >> HERE. Are you on the fence about joining an in-person group near you? Read the testimonies below of other Hope Moms and their encouraging experiences with Hope Groups! We praise God for the comfort He gives us that we can in turn share with each other (2 Cor. 1:3-5).   "I participated in the I am study with leaders Paige and Chelsea in the Brenham/College Station chapter. I joined because I wanted to get more ...