An Unshakeable Hope
Maybe for you the start of a new year has opened fresh wounds concerning the loss of your dear child. It seems unimaginable to live through another year without your baby in your arms. How can everyone around you be dreaming of new beginnings and fresh starts, when all you can see are the endings? The ceasing of a tiny heartbeat. The abrupt end of a pregnancy. The death of your dreams for the future. The ground beneath your feet feels unstable. Will you ever stand on solid ground again?
Last week we began a journey through the book of Hebrews to discover how Jesus is ...
Liz’s Story of Hope
My husband Andy and I have two beautiful girls, and we were debating whether or not to have another baby. We didn’t really feel strongly one way or another, but wanted to be obedient to the Lord. So we decided to start trying and see what God had in store for us.
The second month of trying and, bam! I was pregnant. It took five or six months to get pregnant with the girls, and the baby that we named Birch and lost at 9 weeks (between our girls), so we were absolutely shocked. As we wrapped our heads around the idea of being a family of five, our excitement grew. We ...
A Better Encouragement
Here we are at the start of a new year. Most of us have made lists of ways we want to grow, things we want to change, and goals we would like to set. Maybe you chose a word for the year, and have been brainstorming all the ways you can allow this word to influence and direct your choices in the months ahead. Perhaps you've joined the "This Is In + This Is Out" trend as a way of categorizing what you hope will be the priorities that define 2024 for you.
While many of the resolutions we make at the start of each year are admirable goals, they cannot achieve for us lasting ...
Strength in the Sorrow: Psalm 16
God's Word is sufficient for our every need, even those that follow the heartbreaking loss of a child. In this series, Hope Moms share about the way God, through His life-giving Word, has provided them with the strength, comfort, encouragement, and hope they needed as they walk through the valleys of loss and grief.
"My soul melts away for sorrow; strengthen me according to Your word!" Psalm 119:28
Following the death my babies, everything in my life felt like it had been shaken. I constantly needed to remind my weary soul that my foundation—Jesus Christ—was ...
In the Word: The All-Sufficient One
Welcome to Hope Mommies’ In the Word devotionals. Over the next several weeks, we will be looking at different names of God found in Scripture, and how these different aspects of who He is offer us hope in the midst of our grief. As we study together, we encourage you to use the comments as a place to dialogue with us about what you are learning and share your answers to the questions below. We pray that you hearts will be encouraged as you study these names of God along with us!
“When Abram was ninety-nine years old the Lord appeared to Abram and said to ...
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 ...
6 Questions for the New Year
There's just something about this time of year that has everyone thinking about all the improvements they want to make in their lives. We set goals for our health and finances. We determine to be more creative, more adventurous, or more engaging. We ponder what new habits we would like to form and what old habits we would like to overcome. We make lists and promises, and determine to become a better version of ourselves over the course of the year.
Self-reflection and goal setting are admirable, necessary, and biblical practices. When God's people had grown careless in ...
Reagan’s Story
My husband and I got married in July of 2016 and had asked God to give us a child whenever He wanted to do so. God’s plan was quicker than we anticipated and as it turned out, I was pregnant before we had been married for one month! We were both so excited and told our parents as soon as the blood work was back that confirmed that we were, indeed, going to be parents ourselves.
On November 21, we went to our first ultrasound and saw our little baby for the first time at 12 weeks, 3 days. I was in awe at God’s design as I looked at our child’s face, profile, little ...
Strength in the Sorrow: Psalm 91:1-7
God's Word is sufficient for our every need, even those that follow the heartbreaking loss of a child. In this series, Hope Moms share about the way God, through His life-giving Word, has provided them with the strength, comfort, encouragement, and hope they needed as they walk through the valley of loss and grief.
"My soul melts away for sorrow; strengthen me according to Your word!" Psalm 119:28
I sat across from my husband in a McDonalds restaurant booth, my mind in a complete haze. With each sip of my coffee I squinted my eyes to hold back the tears. Just a ...
What Child is This?
One of my favorite Christmas songs is What Child Is This? This haunting melody draw me in to reflect on the lowly humanity of Christ and then worship Him as Savior. Come reflect with me for a moment on the humanity of Christ and the world into which He was born. It is in this lowly humanness that we can find deep comfort and hope during a holiday season made more painful by the loss of a child.
“What Child is this who, laid to rest On Mary’s lap is sleeping? Whom angels greet with anthems sweet, While shepherds watch are keeping?
Who is this who ...
