Book Review: C.S. Lewis’ “A Grief Observed”
All griefs are different.
When I first started to read Lewis’ A Grief Observed, I was perhaps two weeks, at most, into grieving my stillborn daughter, Noelle. Stillborn -- I hate that it is a necessary word to describe something that happens in this world. And there are more words and phrases that I hate along with it that have become a necessary addition to my everyday repertoire since working more closely with Hope Mommies, miscarriage and infant loss among them.
I do not write that bitterly. I write it truthfully (and humbly for that ...
Anchored: Marked By Loss
Over the next nine weeks on the blog, we will be following along with our fall Hope Groups as they go through Hope Mommies' newly published Bible Study -- Anchored. For those of you who did not register for a group this year, this will be an opportunity to walk through the topics studied in our Hope Groups. For those of you who are currently participating in a Hope Group, our desire is for these posts to reinforce the lessons you are learning with your group. Wherever you are in your journey through loss and grief, I pray that this series will ...
Choose Hope for 2015
Every year on October 15, nations all across the globe come together in order to recognize Pregnancy and Infant Loss Awareness Day. What started in 1983 with a few volunteers from the Pregnancy and Infant Loss Center (PILC) turned into a movement around the world.
PILC began by calling out to other groups and organizations to join them in raising awareness of infant loss during the month of October. As the movement grew they set about to petition the Governors of each state to follow them as well. Soon many states had declared October as Infant Loss ...
Hope Group Testimonies {And a Giveaway}
Hope Groups are a group of women who have experienced miscarriage, stillbirth or infant loss (up to two years of age) at any point in their life. It’s a collection of women who meet and share their stories with one another, pray together, ask questions, share hurts, share happinesses … and cling to His Word to find that there is still hope after the death of their precious sons and daughters.
Hope Groups are a nine week, Bible study and small group. Some meet online through Facebook and some meet in person. Each group will establish a specific meeting time. ...
I AM: Good
"You are good and do good; teach me Your statutes.”
-Psalm 119:68
God is good and does good. In fact, God is the final standard and ultimate source of all that is good. This is repeated all throughout the Psalms, and throughout the entire Bible. All that God is and all that He does is good and worthy of praise. There is no higher standard of goodness than God’s own character.
The goodness of God is easy to profess joyfully when things are going well, but seems rather difficult to affirm when times are hard. Often our circumstances seem like anything ...
I AM: Unchanging
"Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever."
(Hebrews 13:8)
Imagine if you worshipped a deity that was powerful, yet changeable, impulsive, and unpredictable. He could rescind a promise at any time, take back a gift that was given for any reason, or change his mind about what his purpose is. Trust would be a very hard part of your personal relationship with the one that you worshipped if this was the case.
Thankfully, God and all of His attributes are entirely compatible with His immutability, His unchanging nature. "God is not man, that he should ...
I AM: Jealous
"For you shall worship no other god, for the LORD, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God.”
-Exodus 34:14
Most of us cringe when we hear of God’s jealousy. It’s not very often that jealousy is presented in an honorable light. But because God proclaims Himself to be a jealous God, it is important that we make every effort to understand this attribute in light of the fullness of His character.
When we think of jealousy as it relates to human emotion or character it is usually played out in an envious desire of others achievements, ...
I AM: Faithful
“For the word of the Lord is upright, and all His work is done in faithfulness.”
-Psalm 33:4
Did you catch that? ALL of His work — everything God does — is done in faithfulness. Every plan He has made, every purpose for your life, every move He makes in this universe fulfills what He has said He will do for His people, because God is faithful. Even when we are unfaithful to God, His own faithfulness is unchanged. It’s everywhere, boundless and unending.
“If we are faithless, He remains faithful— for He cannot ...
I AM: Love
“But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved”
-Ephesians 2:4-5
Evidence of God’s great love for you is woven throughout every single page of His Word. But often, when we we face trials and hardship and sorrow, we begin to doubt His love. It’s as though we measure the sincerity and strength of His love by the circumstances we face and conclude that if we are experiencing suffering, it must be because He does not love ...
I AM: Sovereign
“I am the LORD, and there is no other,
besides me there is no God;
I equip you, though you do not know me,
that people may know, from the rising of the sun
and from the west, that there is none besides me;
I am the LORD, and there is no other.
I form light and create darkness,
I make well-being and create calamity,
I am the LORD, who does all these things.”
-Isaiah 45:5-7
God is Sovereign
Sovereign is one of those words that we “know” but don’t always fully understand. When we use it to describe or define God, we may initially think we understand ...
