Guilt + Grief: Should I Have Been More Excited About My Pregnancy?

The weight of grief that comes from the loss of a child is a tremendously heavy burden to carry. For many Hope Moms, that weight is compounded by the additional burden of guilt. In this series, we seek to gently guide the grieving mother to the foot of the cross to exchange this burden of guilt for the peace, assurance, and forgiveness that is found in Christ. When I found out that I was pregnant with our fourth child, I was filled with so many mixed emotions. With each of our sons, I was ecstatic the day my test turned positive, but this pregnancy ...

Read More


A Precious Memory with My Daughter

My parents raised my two sisters and me in the church and in a strong Christian household. When it came to baptism, our parents wanted us to make that decision for ourselves. They never pressured us into getting baptized. As a child, I thought baptism was for new Christians only, and since I wasn’t a new Christian, it seemed weird for me to be baptized. I was also really shy. If my sisters weren’t going in front of everyone at church, neither was I! As I grew older, I understood that baptism wasn’t just for new Christians. It is an outward representation of the ...

Read More


Shelbie’s Story of Hope

It was the last week of May. I left after work and decided to go to the hospital because I was concerned that I was having contractions. When I arrived, everything with the baby looked healthy. His heartbeat provided a steady rhythm on the monitor as the nurses tried to get the contractions to stop. My amniotic fluid was high, and I had been going in for weekly ultrasounds, but the doctor had told me that while high amounts of amniotic fluid could result in preterm contractions, it didn’t always lead to preterm labor. My contractions did eventually stop around 6:00 ...

Read More


Guilt + Grief: Is Experiencing Joy Again A Betrayal of My Baby?

The weight of grief that comes from the loss of a child is a tremendously heavy burden to carry. For many Hope Moms, that weight is compounded by the additional burden of guilt. In this series, we seek to gently guide the grieving mother to the foot of the cross to exchange this burden of guilt for the peace, assurance, and forgiveness that is found in Christ. My husband and I exchanged glances as we piled the last few pool toys in the car. It was time. Packed to the brim, we were headed out of town for our first family-of-four getaway. Multiple stops for ...

Read More


Defined By God’s Love

Love stories. We've read them in books. We've watched them on tv and movies. We are drawn to the romance, the passion, the security. We long to know that true love exists and that it exists for us. That need for love, to feel loved, is in every person. The key is to make sure that the love that defines us is from the right source. In order to embrace our identity of "loved," we need to know where love is not found. Love is not based on appearance. Your hair, your skin, your weight, those things don't earn you love.  When we look in the mirror, we all see things we'd ...

Read More


In the Word: Even Though

Welcome to Hope Mommies’ In the Word devotionals. Over the next several weeks, we will be studying the book of Habakkuk together. In this book, we gain insight into how God is at work on our behalf even when we can't always see it. Join us in the weeks ahead as we discover the God who is who carefully and lovingly crafted you, and lovingly created the gift of your child for which you now long. He has not carried you thus far simply to leave you on your own, but will be your Guide and your Strength.  Even Though "Even though the fig trees have ...

Read More


Guilt + Grief: Could My Loss Have Been Prevented?

The weight of grief that comes from the loss of a child is a tremendously heavy burden to carry. For many Hope Moms, that weight is compounded by the additional burden of guilt. In this series, we seek to gently guide the grieving mother to the foot of the cross to exchange this burden of guilt for the peace, assurance, and forgiveness that is found in Christ. Could I have done something to prevent this loss?Did I do something to cause her death? These questions haunted me after the death of my daughter, Isabelle. I went into labor with her ...

Read More


Running the Race

The nature of infant loss occurring in 1 out of 4 pregnancies, means that there are new women joining our community on a weekly basis. Over the next few weeks, we want to repost some of our earliest blog articles to encourage the dear mommas that have recently joined the ministry and community of Hope Mommies. Although these posts may have been written many years ago, the truths they contain remain the same. God is enough. He has always been enough. And as we place our hope in Him, we will find that He is our anchor in the midst of this storm of grief. After our ...

Read More


Andrea’s Story of Hope

2019 was our family's hardest year. But, looking back, I can see God’s hand at work and His love through it all. We are missionaries in Zambia, Africa, where we serve young people at a mission school. In March, after I came home from helping at a family fun day at the school, I lay down to rest and suddenly was hit with a strange, uncomfortable pain in my right side. I was 12 weeks pregnant and had not had a scan, so I thought something must be wrong with the pregnancy. We took off in the pouring rain toward a town called Kitwe. The 50 minute drive seemed a lot ...

Read More


Guilt + Grief: Should I Always Share About My Hope Baby When Talking to Others About My Family?

The weight of grief that comes from the loss of a child is a tremendously heavy burden to carry. For many Hope Moms, that weight is compounded by the additional burden of guilt. In this series, we seek to gently guide the grieving mother to the foot of the cross to exchange this burden of guilt for the peace, assurance, and forgiveness that is found in Christ. After we lost our daughter, Ginny, at just under 35 weeks, I dreaded being asked the question, “Do you have kids?” I knew that question would come eventually, and I had no idea how to ...

Read More