Guarding Our Hearts in Grief
A few weeks ago, my husband and I sat down on the couch together to rest after a long day. Just moments after our backs hit the cushions, we heard the sound of heavy footsteps overhead. Assuming that one of our children was out of bed when they shouldn’t be, I walked upstairs to assess the situation, only to find them all sleeping heavily.
The footsteps continued, and we soon realized that an unwelcome group of visitors must have made their way into our attic while we were away earlier that afternoon. After a quick check around the house, we discovered that our garage ...
When Grief Feels Like Loneliness
After college, I moved to Chicago for a change of pace. I wanted—and needed —to spread my wings, abandon my safety zone of family for a time, and learn what it meant to fully depend on the Lord. Being 22, I thought the idea of learning loneliness sounded so romantic in a tragic sort of way. I pictured myself strolling the streets of the windy city, coffee mug in hand, with a cute sweater and scarf and with the soundtrack of Natalie Merchant crooning in the background.
What I learned is that loneliness is not romantic. Coffee and cute scarves are too expensive ...
Finding God in the Valley
Pain. Deep, deep pain. We all experience pain on many different levels. The pain of losing a child is crippling, and the truth is that most are adding this immense pain to the previous trials, failures, hurts, and wounds we had before we ever lost a child.
We experience many types of hurt. Some of us had poor childhoods, not knowing the true love of a parent. Some of us have experienced abuse in different forms. We've experienced heartache and sorrow. We have insecurities. We live in a broken world with broken hearts. Losing a child can add on so many emotions to the ...
In the Word, The Lord, My Shepherd
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!
"The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.
He makes me lie down in ...
Guarding our Minds in Grief
Before experiencing loss, I had a general understanding that Satan has a level of control over the world today. Yet, I often lived flippantly, as if the effects of this invisible war waging above had me out of reach. I failed to accept the full reality of this spiritual battle enough to seek my own preparation before it became my spiritual battle. I constantly allowed my fear to reign and sought out my own short-term resolutions until illness, pain, suffering, the obvious presence of sin, and death completely shattered that false reality. Evil’s reign in this current day ...
The Race Set Before Us
After our daughter died, I started running. I wasn't really a runner before. Yeah, I ran some to try to stay in shape, but that was it. But after Ryan died, running became my outlet. It was a way to let out the energy that built up inside of me as I grieved, as I longed to hold my daughter in my arms. It was my time to remember her, and it turned into time with God. Before leaving the hospital after Ryan was born, my husband and I had committed to running our first half marathon together.
We left the hospital Thanksgiving day. Since we were in Germany, that afternoon at ...
Longing for Heaven, Longing for the Lord
As a mother with a child in Heaven, what is the first thing you picture yourself doing when you get there? Me, with my sinful, broken heart? I see myself scooping up my baby boy, holding him so tight, and covering him with kisses. Every time I think of heaven, Hank is the first thing that comes to my mind. That's me—so weak in my sinful ways. So weak in my broken-heartedness that I long not for my Lord and Savior, but for my boy.
When my firstborn, Hank, passed away at only two days old, it brought me to my knees in pain. It brought me to my knees begging for some ...
How God Equips Us for the Battles We Face in Grief
The days and weeks that followed the loss of my precious baby were filled with a battlefield of emotions and temptations. After becoming so intimately familiar with the frailty of life, I found myself fearful over the well-being of my husband and living children. I was nervous when they were away from me—what if something happened to them while I wasn’t nearby to keep them safe? I was anxious when we left the comfort and safety of our home. There were so many more things that I could not control out there.
Most days, joy seemed illusive. Even so, when I would ...
