One Another
The loss of a child changes your life. And sorrow of this magnitude also greatly effects your relationship with your spouse. When we are cloaked in such a heavy grief, it can be immensely difficult to remember that this heart-wrenching loss has not only altered your life, but that of your spouse as well. It is hard enough to learn how to walk through life without your beloved children in our arms, but we also must learn how to navigate this sorrow along with someone else. And in the wake of such hurt and pain, bringing two grieving hearts together can feel like an ...
In You I Take Refuge
“Preserve me, O God, for in you I take refuge.
I say to the Lord, “You are my Lord;
I have no good apart from You.”
As for the saints in the land, they are the excellent ones,
in whom is all my delight.
The sorrows of those who run after another god shall multiply;
their drink offerings of blood I will not pour out
or take their names on my lips.
The Lord is my chosen portion and my cup;
You hold my lot.
The lines have fallen for me in pleasant places;
indeed, I have a beautiful inheritance.
I bless the Lord who gives me counsel;
in the night also my ...
Does God Love Us?
Welcome to Hope Mommies In the Word devotionals. Over the next several weeks, we will be narrowing in on specific truths of the gospel to learn how they direct and inform us in our grief. As we study these truths together, we’d love 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 dig into God's Word each week with us!
“See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we ...
Being Okay with Not Being Okay
Jesus, be near.
My baby died. Through my husband and I, God made new life. But no sooner did we welcome that precious soul into the world than it was snatched from us. No sooner had the word “mother” left my lips than the child left my body, like water slips through our grasp.
I am a mother, but with an empty womb, empty arms, and an empty heart. Yet, I am full of a love that was never realized, never seen, never fulfilled. Full of a sorrow so heavy, sometimes I don’t know how to draw my next breath. My child never even drew one, so why should I get the gift of ...
Discussions in Grief: Remembering
Grieving involves new emotions and considerations often too many to numbers. When you find yourself in overwhelming grief, you likely feel buried and lost. In this series, we slowly and compassionately look at one aspect of grief at a time from a biblical perspective for the newly grieving mother. Click {here} to read past posts in this series.
As I sit here in front of my computer getting ready to share my heart with you, the lights of our Christmas tree are twinkling in the corner of the living room and the stockings are hanging just to my right. Christmas is ...
Jenny’s Story
Just a few months after my husband, Sam, and I were married, we were thrilled to discover we were expectant parents. We immediately began exciting preparations as we embraced pregnancy. Our hearts were overflowing with gratitude and anticipation for our little bundle of joy. Little did we know that the Lord’s plan was to include painful suffering. Our faith would be put to the test trusting completely in His plan for our family.
Our eighteen-week anatomy scan revealed that our daughter had an abnormal amount of fluid surrounding her brain. We were immediately sent to ...
We Have Been Shown Grace
It’s easy, when you’ve suffered, to think that you are now the expert in grief. You know what it means to be painfully hurt and hopeless—what hurts, and what helps.
But if I’m honest, before I lost my son, I had no idea what it was like to grieve so much. I had experienced some loss, and am naturally empathetic, but I am positive that I’ve said, done, and forgotten things that caused others additional heartache. To be completely transparent, even since my losses, I continue to say, do, and forget things for others who are suffering, and have likely caused them ...
An Extension of God’s Grace
A few weeks after we received a fatal diagnosis for our son, we received one of my favorite emails yet.
A friend, who had been walking through deep waters of grief for many years, wrote that she and her husband were praying for us to have grace for our community.
I smiled.
She knew exactly what it meant to be in the position we were in.
At this point we had received several emails, cards, and comments from people who wanted to care for us well. At times, though, the things that they felt might comfort us weren’t exactly encouraging. In fact, many things people said ...
Turning My Gaze to the Lord
I was sitting in the airport waiting to fly home after a weekend away. It was rainy and cold and overcast. As I sat there watching dark clouds continually roll in, I couldn’t help but think that so often that’s what pain looks like. If I could paint a picture of my heart in the weeks that immediately followed my losses, I would illustrate this sorrow with storm clouds. Even on the clearest of days I often found myself in the middle of a downpour. Even when I was surrounded by laughter and joy and hope it could so quickly turn into a tempest. Some days it just seemed ...
When Light Seems Hidden
Welcome to Hope Mommies In the Word devotionals. Over the next several weeks, we will be narrowing in on specific truths of the gospel to learn how they direct and inform us in our grief. As we study these truths together, we’d love 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 dig into God's Word each week with us!
"For it is you who light my lamp;
the Lord my God lightens my darkness."
Psalm 18:28
READ:
In ...
