Kaylyn’s Story
One day life for our growing family seemed perfect. Being 39 weeks pregnant, we decided to take a family day to make memories together before becoming a family of four. We anticipated big changes ahead for our family and wanted to make the most of the moments beforehand.
The next day, we found out that something unexplainable and incomprehensible had happened.
We delivered our 39 week son, stillborn. Devastated and confused was only the beginning of the mountain of feelings we were confronted with. We were left sifting through the cobwebs of emotion...
A Song in the Night: 2022 Retreat
In Psalm 42 we’re given a poetic description of a man who is suffering unbearable circumstances. He pants and thirsts. Tears have been his food day and night. His soul is downcast. Can you relate? I can. 11 years ago, I gave birth to my daughter in a silent hospital room. There was no sweet cry of newborn, only hushed voices. Joy and light left my world the moment death entered. Her little body was so perfectly formed by the Creator. I held her and wept as I admired every single feature. 22 weeks with her wasn’t enough.
Even now, there are moments I ...
Giving Tuesday 2021
Did you know that 2021 marked ten years in nonprofit ministry for Hope Mommies? I have been serving with the organization for eight of those ten, and it has been an immense privilege from my vantage point.
Over the past decade Hope Mommies has:
Placed 19,895 Hope Boxes into the hands of grieving mothers.Discipled 1,781 women through Hope Groups.Encouraged, loved, and served a total of 902 women at our Retreats.And equipped our community with biblical wisdom, by publishing a total of 975 blog posts.
"But more than all these numbers, we have seen real women’s ...
In the Word: Momentary Troubles
Welcome to Hope Mommies’ In the Word devotionals. It is our desire that this series will aid you in getting in the Bible for yourself and discovering the joy that comes from hearing from God through the pages of His Word.
For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all.2 Corinthians 4:17
There is something that far outweighs baby loss. This statement is tremendously difficult to believe because this experience is weighty.
If you are like me, this is how you feel:
This is the weightiest ...
Giving Thanks With An Aching Heart
Simeon was due in the middle of November, the day after his big sister’s birthday. It seemed so special to me that the two of them would be born so close together. I imagined with excitement how much fun it would be, albeit a bit overwhelming, to have back to back birthday celebrations right at the start of the holiday season. There would be so much to plan. So much to celebrate.
But Simeon wasn’t born in November as we had expected him to be. Instead, he was ushered into the arms of Jesus at just 14 weeks gestation.
Rather than preparing for our daughter...
Discussions in Grief: Hiding
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.
"You are a hiding place for me; you preserve me from trouble; you surround me with shouts of deliverance."-Psalm 32:7
We walked toward the car, heads hung low, hand in hand. We had just learned that our baby, at 20 ...
Jessie’s Story
I remember talking to a friend after my first loss, wondering aloud if I would always tell people when they asked how many children I had, that I had one in heaven. She told me, “I am sure when you have one on your hip, and one grabbing your leg, that you won’t feel like you need to tell people.”
It was intended to comfort, but she was wrong. My hope babies, are all a part of our family in both my mind and my heart. They left much too quickly, and the scars I had on my heart remain. Scars from two losses in a row and a third a few years later, from the callous ...
Kim’s Retreat Experience
Four months after my second consecutive missed miscarriage, I had the privilege of attending a Hope Mommies retreat. I didn’t really know what to expect going into it, but I could tell from the carefully worded and tender-hearted emails that were sent prior to the retreat that it was going to be a positive experience.
The amount of thoughtful care and attention to detail that the retreat organizers put into their planning was evident all weekend long, from the numerous gifts we received throughout the weekend to the verse cards placed throughout the venue, to the ...
Discussions in Grief: Suffering
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.
I don’t know the circumstances surrounding your sorrow. Whether your loss occurred many years ago or very recently, the ache you carry in your heart is agonizing. There is nothing that can prepare you for the devastat...
In the Word: We Shall Be Like Him
Welcome to Hope Mommies’ In the Word devotionals. It is our desire that this series will aid you in getting in the Bible for yourself and discovering the joy that comes from hearing from God through the pages of His Word.
“Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when Christ appears, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is.”(1 John 3:2)
READ:
When others have told me that my child is an angel in heaven, perhaps they are using a nickname—like how I might say ...
