Three Years Later
It can often seem as though you will always be drowning beneath the acute pain of loss. However, while our grief never truly ends, it doesn't always look and feel the same way. In this series, our writers speak from where they are now in their grief, _________ years later. Throughout this series, you will find testimonies of how grief has changed them, and how God has used their heartache to shape them into a greater reflection of His image.
3 years later.
One.
Thank you, Lord, for sustaining me through that first year of deep, overwhelming grief ...
Purposed: Nothing Is Wasted
Grief can play such destructive tricks on your mind. There were moments that I really thought I made up everything about my pregnancy—but knowing that Gwen is real, heaven is real, and I will really go there because of what Christ did for me was an anchor to my wild thoughts and a balm to my grieving heart.
What is the big question that we ask ourselves, again and again? “Why? Why did this happen? Why me? Why my baby and my family?” While these are not unspiritual questions to ask, the Bible doesn’t always reveal the "why’s" of God. But, it does reveal ...
All Things New
Welcome to Hope Mommies’ In the Word devotionals. Over the next several weeks, we will be studying Revelation 21 together, which gives us a beautiful picture of the eternity that awaits those who are in Christ . In this series, we seek to lift the grieving mother's eyes up towards heaven and the imperishable inheritance that is hers and her precious baby's in Christ.
“And He who was seated on the throne said, ‘Behold, I am making all things new.’ Also He said, ‘Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.’” Revelation ...
Choose Hope in 2020
In May 2014, I received the devastating news that my baby’s heart had stopped beating. As I grieved the loss of this beloved child of mine, I began to fear that the passing of time would force his memory and my affection to fade—that, with no tangible reminders of the significant place he held within our family and my heart, he would someday be overlooked or dismissed.
Within weeks of my loss, I suddenly started receiving packages from all sorts of grief groups filled with little trinkets and platitudes related to infant loss. I don't even know how they ...
His Perfect Love Casts Out Fear
Fear has always been an unwelcome companion in my life.
As far back as I can remember, I was well acquainted with that tight feeling in my stomach and the shortness of breath in my lungs that I would get when I was afraid. Many of my decisions were shaped by it.
I didn’t make it through many sleep overs as a child because fear would call me home. I wouldn’t open up to many people, because fear was always there to remind me that others may not accept or understand me. Fear convinced me to say no to countless opportunities as I got older because it would whisper ...
Tina’s Story
When my husband, Joe, and I got married, we started trying right away to get pregnant. I already had an older daughter, and we wanted to have time as a family with the new baby at home before she left for college in a few years. So we started trying—tracking ovulation, taking temperatures, standing on my head, whatever we thought might work.
After trying for awhile, we realized something wasn’t right and decided to seek help from a specialist. We went to the amazing doctors at South Jersey Fertility Center, and after months of testing and procedures we had ...
Sarah’s Lament
To lament is to turn to God in honest, desperate prayer, expressing the reality of our emotions—as intense and tumultuous as they may be. Ultimately, a lament is an expression of faith in the God who hears our cries and responds with mercy and grace. In this series, we seek to write our own laments in the style of the Psalmists, beginning by giving voice to the real and raw emotions that accompany our grief, and then lifting our eyes heavenward in trust and adoration of the One who is greater than all of our sorrow.
To the God who was, and is, and will always ...
Refiner’s Fire
We have all heard the term “refiner’s fire,” but up until recently, I never knew exactly what that entailed. One day, I decided to research what the precious metal refining process really involves.
The first stage is referred to as the "breaking,” and as one might think, it involves breaking the rough ore into smaller pieces with the intention of bringing forth the more precious materials hidden within. The second stageis known as the "crucible,” in which the broken ore is placed into a fireproof melting pot so that the metal can be exposed to extreme heat. ...
Purposed: Made For Eternity
“The LORD will fulfill His purpose for me; your steadfast love, O LORD, endures forever. Do not forsake the work of your hands.”Psalm 138:8
I know that “purpose” is a big word—it carries some heavy weight. So before we really get into God’s purposes, I want us to consider this verse from Deuteronomy 29:29: “The secret things belong to the LORD our God, but the things that are revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may do all the words of this law.”
There are many things about God and His divinity that we can’t know—they are the ...
Every Tear Wiped Away
Welcome to Hope Mommies’ In the Word devotionals. Over the next several weeks, we will be studying Revelation 21 together, which gives us a beautiful picture of the eternity that awaits those who are in Christ . In this series, we seek to lift the grieving mother's eyes up towards heaven and the imperishable inheritance that is hers and her precious baby's in Christ.
"He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed ...
