When Motherhood Doesn’t Feel Like It Should
Motherhood was always meant to be the most natural thing in the world. From the very beginning, it was part of God’s good design. The first recorded words God spoke to humanity were, “Be fruitful and multiply” (Genesis 1:28). Before sin entered the world, before brokenness took root, motherhood was a part of Eden. It was meant to be life-giving, joyful, and full of purpose. And the first words spoken directly to Eve were wrapped in this calling to be a mother.
But for many of us, motherhood hasn’t looked or felt the way it was originally intended to be. When you ...
A Song for my Soul: Tears on Your Face
Music has the ability to speak into the deepest recesses of our hearts. God often uses songs to speak hope and encouragement to our souls. In this series, Hope Moms share songs that have pointed them to the hope of Christ in the midst of their grief.
I had this album pre-saved on Spotify for months before it released in August of 2021. Bethany Barnard has been a favorite of mine for years. Back in the early 2000s (when she was still Bethany Dillon), weren’t we all listening to “Beautiful,” “All I Need,” and “For My Love” on repeat? Then in ...
Simon’s Story of Restoration
Now when Jesus was at Bethany in the house of Simon the leper, a woman came up to him with an alabaster flask of very expensive ointment, and she poured it on his head as he reclined at table. (Matthew 26:6-7).
The story of Simon the leper is told in just a few words—words that are easily skimmed past. But this short story actually has profound implications: it reveals God’s great love and power to absolutely restore His people.
Simon lived in Bethany, which was a very poor town east of Jerusalem. Somehow, Simon became infected with leprosy—a contagio...
Keep Looking UP!
Pregnancy and Infant Loss Awareness Day is tomorrow, and I hope you’ll join us for the Wave of Light. The link will be sent out via email and shared on our website and social media.
So many of you purchased candles and t-shirts (THANK YOU!), and I can’t wait to see your photos on social media. Be sure to tag @hopemommies in your posts on Instagram and Facebook. We love seeing this beautiful community come together around such a meaningful day.
I pray tomorrow will be gentle on your heart. A sacred pause when the watching world stops and remembers with us. I pray ...
Mental Health Moment: Grief’s Effect on our Minds and Bodies
Intense Grief Disrupts Normal Functioning
After your baby went to heaven, did you feel like you were going crazy…like your brain and body were going haywire and reacting unpredictably?
Maybe some of these symptoms ring true:
Feeling numb or frozen
Trouble with concentration or memory
Having angry outbursts or sudden tears
Compulsively cleaning or organizing
Feeling separated from your body or detached from your life
Mentally replaying scenes of the loss over and over during the day or in dreams
Trouble initiating or completing ...
Prayer: Praying Scripture When You Get Stuck in Prayer
Most of us would agree that we need God in grief (no matter how we feel about Him). During dark nights of the soul, we come face to face with our humanness–our frailty & our inability to take another step (or another breath) without His divine intervention. If we need God so much, then that means we must talk with Him. Yet talking with Him–praying–can feel very very hard. Our minds wander, we say the same things over and over, and we feel bored or just plain lost.
This struggle is quite the conundrum! We need to pray–to offer up our pain, hurt, ...
Prayer: God’s Invitation to Wrestle Him
This month I cover various topics on prayer. Many of them were inspired by ideas found in a little-known book on prayer, Long Wandering Prayer by David Hansen. It has become a new favorite.
Hope Mom, nothing can shake our faith than the loss of a child, am I right? After William went to heaven, I had more questions than ever about God’s character, His plans, and His love for me. I also wanted to give Him a piece of my mind. How about you?
What do you do with your questions and frustrations? Do you ask other saints, other Hope Moms, your pastor? Do you ...
Prayer: When God Seems Silent
This month I cover various topics on prayer. Many of them were inspired by ideas found in a little-known book on prayer, Long Wandering Prayer by David Hansen. It has become a new favorite.
Sometimes it feels like we are praying to a brick wall. We have tried everything we know (including some of the ideas I mentioned last week, and more) and still it’s as if our prayers get sent out and nothing comes back. Like we are being ‘ghosted’ at a divine level.
We might determine that we have failed at prayer. Or we might determine that God is not as loving or ...
Gentle Ideas to Help Your Prayer Life in Grief
This month I cover various topics on prayer. Many of them were inspired by ideas found in a little-known book on prayer, Long Wandering Prayer by David Hansen. It has become a new favorite.
Prayer can be a tricky and difficult thing for all of us even when we aren’t in a season of grief. A gifted British preacher, Martyn Lloyd-Jones, once said, “everything we do in the Christian life is easier than prayer.” Adding the loss of a baby can make prayer feel absolutely unreachable.
For me, in the months after William went to Heaven, prayer was next to impossible: I ...
Mental Health Moment: Grieving Styles
Before my Hope Baby, William, went to heaven, I had a career in mental health counseling. God has used my training and subsequent experience as a Hope Mom to help me understand more intimately the human bereavement journey.
One of the most basic, yet in my opinion, vital concepts to know about grief is the various grieving styles people exhibit. While I will describe some of the categories, it’s important to note that there are as many grieving styles as there are people. We all internalize and express grief in personal ways–and these ways are affected by our ...
