Hope for the Holidays {Rejoice in Hope}
“Rejoice in the Lord always, I will say it again: rejoice!”
-Philippians 4:4
As the Christmas season draws near, the last thing you may feel like doing this year is rejoicing. It may seem there is little reason for joy this year. If your loss is new, it is possible you pictured celebrating your Christmas very differently than you now will. Last Christmas was that way for me. We had expected sharing our Christmas with a six-month-old boy and all the fun that comes with watching a baby at Christmas. Instead, the holidays seemed like a huge reminder of the ...
Megan’s Story
Two Octobers ago we were living in Colorado when I had my first positive pregnancy test. My husband Ryan and I had been praying for a child. While we were both so excited, I could not shake the feeling that something might not have been right. Ryan had to leave for military training for the early months of my pregnancy, and that didn’t help. I struggled with antepartum depression and had only just come out of the woods when Ryan was finally able to come back, just in time for us to learn that our first baby was a little girl! We named her Eden Olivia. A few weeks ...
Hope for the Holidays {Why We Give Thanks}
Dear ones, there are so many sorrows in this world — so much heartache, so much pain, so many questions. We who have said goodbye to a beloved child have known great pain.
But in this season of Thanksgiving, we are reminded often about what God’s Word says about being thankful.
“Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.”
-1 Thessalonians 5:18
“Giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ,”
-Ephesians 5:20
“Praise the Lord!
Oh give thanks to the Lord, for ...
Testimony Tuesday {Become Thankful with a Grieving Heart}
All of the pumpkin spice lattes in the world couldn't warm me that first November. It wasn't just the air that was cold, it was my heart. When my son went Home just two months earlier it was as if a part of me had died with him. And there I was, surrounded by family and what seemed like hundreds of platters of food, and fear instilled in me as we gathered around the table.
Before dinner, it was customary to say grace followed by each member of the family saying one thing they were thankful for. But this year—this year, I was struggling under the weight of my grief ...
Brooke’s Story
The story of our sweet baby Blair all began on April 2, 2011 when my husband Clint and I found out we were pregnant with our first child! We had been married for almost 5 years at this point and prayed about when to start our family and felt the Lord’s confirmation as we saw the two lines on the pregnancy test. We were so excited about the thought of having a child to call our own. As a Pre-K teacher, I have always loved kids and my students always became like my own children after teaching them for a year. Yet, I couldn’t wait to take care of my own after 4 years of ...
Hope for the Holidays {Our God of Hope}
Hope for the holidays. Is there such a thing for us Hope Mommies? I sit and write today - fresh on the heels of Halloween. Last night, my Facebook feed was a mixture of moms posting pics of their kids in cute costumes and moms lamenting the last time their kids dressed up or the fact that they would never pick out costumes for their kids.
Hope for the Holidays? Is that even possible?
Yes, we can have hope for the holidays – if we plug into the source of all hope – the God of hope.
This time of the year is often hard for Hope Mommies. Everywhere we look, there ...
Testimony Tuesday {Crystal’s Retreat Experience}
When I lost my first son, Wyatt on June 18, 2013, I was completely heartbroken. I was young and it was my first pregnancy. I shouldn’t be leaving the hospital without a baby, but I was. I remember thinking “Does this really happen? Am I the only one going through this? Why me? What did I do wrong?” A few weeks after Wyatt was born I felt myself start really wondering how many other moms also had to go through this pain. I then got a Hope Box from a good friend of mine and started looking into Hope Mommies more. That was the first time I had ever heard of Hope Mommies ...
Jenny’s Story
I’ll never forget holding up the stick with two pink lines on it as I watched my husband take the Christmas tree off the top of the car. In an instant, our world changed and we couldn’t be happier. Our precious little one we had waited for, hoped for, and prayed for was on the way. My pregnancy was hard, but progressed like we expected it to. Our doctor guessed we were having a girl and I’ll never forget hearing her daddy mutter “pink?!” as we walked out of the doctor’s office. Weeks later it was confirmed and we were head over heels in love with our ...
Sheryl’s Story: Hope Grandma
But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning
them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which
have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again,
even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with them.
I Thess 4:13, 14
. . . A call came. An unexpected call.
. . . A call that seemed to come too soon.
. . . A call no parent or grandparent anticipates.
. . . A call, where on the other ...
Testimony Tuesday
I once saw a movie or video clip that made a lasting impression on me. They first showed the view while walking through the streets of a specific city or town. It was dirty, scary, and broken. Then they showed the view at night from a mountain. Lights everywhere, something mysterious, breathtakingly beautiful. The same city but different viewpoints, different perspectives.
My view of heaven has been very limited. Maybe it’s like that with many people. I remember thinking previously, what are we going to do all the time for eternity? –almost worried ...
