Freely Given, Freely Received: Extending Grace
Early on in my grief, I did not extend much grace when people would make insensitive comments after the death of my son. To be honest, most of the people had no idea their comments were insensitive.
A case in point: one day at the grocery store after the loss of my son, I was checking out with my two girls while I was very pregnant. The girl scanning my groceries looked at my large belly and my two little girls and asked if I was hoping for a boy. I saw my girls look at me, and I wanted to protect them and make sure they didn’t feel undervalued because of ...
Comforting Others
When I think of God’s comfort in the tender days following Anna’s death, I have memories of Him holding me close, carrying me through the dark wilderness of pain, and covering my eyes from a scary wilderness of towering trees marked with anger, fear, envy, and death itself. This is how I metaphorically imagined His loving shield of comfort in poetic terms. Although I could not see it, I knew from Scripture that He was going to safely carry me through all this heartache into the brightly lit opening of the forest on the other side.
I also remember the new ...
In the Word: Suffering Well
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.
"His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much.Enter into the joy of your master.’"Matthew 25:23
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Part of suffering well as Hope Moms is remembering what God has given to our children and letting those truths minister to us.
As mothers, ...
Bear Much Fruit: Goodness
Pastor: God is good …Congregation: All the time!Pastor: All the time …Congregation: God is good!
I would get all the feels and think to my young self, “So true!”
Then I went off to college and the hardships started coming in waves. Strong waves. My parents got divorced. God is good, all the time. I repeated to my shaken up self.
Then came marriage. Such a sweet thing to marry the love of my life. I found it a little easier to believe again that God is good, all the time.
Then came the drought. The losses. One after another. Six babies in ...
Choose Hope 2021
The pain of losing a child, whether to miscarriage, stillbirth, or infant loss, is among the most agonizing of sorrows. Whether your loss occurred many years ago or very recently, the ache you carry in your heart is heavy indeed. There is nothing that can prepare you for the devastation of losing a child, and there are no words that can take away the pain that results. But dear one, your grief does not need to be carried alone.
For the past fifteen years, our nation has officially recognized October 15 as an opportunity to honor and remember our precious babies ...
Kristin’s Story
After three years of tearful prayers and longing, my husband and I were ecstatic when we learned we were expecting our first child. This baby, a little boy we named Ethan, was a long-awaited answer to many prayers and we praised God for this precious gift. “God is so faithful,” we heard again and again, as we shared the news with the countless friends and family who had been praying for us over the years. God’s faithfulness felt so evident in our lives and our hearts overflowed with gratitude.
At our 20-week anatomy scan, we learned that Ethan displayed a ...
Bear Much Fruit: Kindness
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience,kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentlenessand self-control.-Galatians 5:22
When we are grieving, is it possible to have any fruit in our lives? When all we want to do is hole up in a cave, can we be patient with those that aren’t grieving—and who just might possibly say hurtful things because they don’t understand? When the days are long and full of sorrow, can we have joy and peace? When we are angry and hurt, can we be kind?
The short answer is “yes!”
When we grieve, it is easy to ...
Ask the Blog Team: What Did You Wrestle With God About During the Early Days After Your Baby Died?
Welcome to our Q+A series, Ask the Blog Team. In this series, the Hope Mommies blog team joins together to answer questions that are commonly asked in grief. If there is a question or topic that you have wrestled with in your grief that you would like the opportunity to see how other Hope Moms have processed or answered, we would love to hear from you. You can submit your questions here.
I had supernatural peace in the early days about what was to come and what happened after Anna passed. My questions were more related to "what's next?" Don't worry, the other ...
In the Word: Growing in Grace
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.
"I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me."Galatians 2:20
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Martyn Lloyd-Jones writes this about the connection:
We have been crucified with ...
Bear Much Fruit: Patience
“May you be strengthened with all power, according to His glorious might,for all endurance and patience with joy.” -Colossians 1:11
Strength and patience walk hand in hand. This is why Paul prayed for the church in Collosae to be strengthened with all power in order to be patient. Patience requires great inner strength.
Take a minute to read through this definition of patience: “The capacity to accept or tolerate delay, trouble, or suffering without getting angry or upset—calmly enduring pain and trying situations.”
I don’t know about you, but ...
