Alexa’s Story of Hope

On November 21, 2017, I was 23 weeks pregnant, and we were at my OB's office to have a repeat ultrasound done. At our 19 week ultrasound, Garrett was flipped with his spine up, so the ultrasound tech couldn't visualize his heart to confirm everything had formed correctly. Everything else had looked good, and there had been no complications up to this point, so we were not at all prepared for what we were about to find out. As I laid on the table, the tech scanned over my belly with no words and no emotions. As he finished, he handed me a towel to clean off the gel, ...

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When Joy Feels Illusive…

God’s Word speaks thoroughly and abundantly into every season of the heart. As we study His Word, we learn that within its pages are found the ultimate source of comfort and peace for the sufferer. In this series, we will seek to carefully and compassionately apply these ancient, scriptural truths to feelings and experiences that are common in grief. Something was stirring in my heart, an unexpected joy and hope that seemed to grow deeper by the day. Kevin and I would read a Psalm each night and briefly share something that stuck out to ...

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For The One Who Feels Stuck in Grief

After my son Max died, I struggled to perform even the most basic of daily tasks. I couldn’t clean my house or cook. I had no interest in putting on makeup or doing my hair. I couldn’t imagine sitting in my office attempting to do anything productive at work ever again. I felt like I was moving in slow motion, trying to escape a quicksand that threatened to pull me under. And if you asked me to think about anything bigger than these basic, day-to-day activities, I felt paralyzed, completely incapable of movement. Grief has a way of convincing us that we are stuck, ...

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Beauty in the Ashes

“He has made everything beautiful in its time. Ecclesiastes 3:11a READ: We don’t know. Pause there for just a moment. We don’t know what our suffering will mean for us as we move forward, as we learn to integrate our griefs and losses into our lives. There is the potential for trauma and heartache, yes, but there is the potential for post-traumatic growth. We don’t entirely know how our losses will impact us. But we do know that regardless of what happens, God is good, He makes beautiful things from our pain, and He has a plan—even if we ...

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When Words Fail to Express the Depth of Your Sorrow…

God’s Word speaks thoroughly and abundantly into every season of the heart. As we study His Word, we learn that within its pages are found the ultimate source of comfort and peace for the sufferer. In this series, we will seek to carefully and compassionately apply these ancient, scriptural truths to feelings and experiences that are common in grief. “I’m praying for a miracle!”  “God is the ultimate healer, and I'm praying that He chooses to heal your baby.” “Have faith! Sometimes the doctors get these things ...

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Longing For Deliverance

“Call upon me in the day of trouble. I will deliver you, and you will glorify Me.” Psalm 50:15 I could say these words with conviction when there was no trouble in my life. But when trouble came and I faced the death of my children, those were the days where I needed to know what His deliverance really meant. In those days of finding out my first and then second daughter would not live, I cried out to God to deliver me from the pain and deliver my daughters from death. I wanted to be free from suffering. I wanted my daughters to live on this earth with me. I wanted ...

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Haley’s Story of Hope

On March 4, 2018, our beautiful daughter, Scarlett Kay Raymond, entered this world as a healthy, full term baby. My husband, Seth, and I were so excited to meet our sweet girl, take her home, and start our lives as a family of three. We had spent the last nine months dreaming up all of the adventures we had ahead of us. We couldn’t wait to take her on a walk in the stroller with our dog, Pepper. We pictured many story times and movie nights. We thought about the hard conversations we would have with her as she grew up and the trips we could take with her, and imagined ...

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When You Can’t Understand God’s Plan…

God’s Word speaks thoroughly and abundantly into every season of the heart. As we study His Word, we learn that within its pages are found the ultimate source of comfort and peace for the sufferer. In this series, we will seek to carefully and compassionately apply these ancient, scriptural truths to feelings and experiences that are common in grief. In a young child’s mind, the world revolves around them. They don’t have the capability to understand that every need can’t be met in their timing, every question cannot be answered, ...

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Be Strengthened in the Lord

The book of Ephesians is a letter written by Paul to believers in Ephesus as a way to fortify their faith. Ephesus was a wealthy port city, probably the largest city in the world at the time (located in modern day Turkey). It was a big, bustling city as it were, and home to many different religions and cultural influences that would have been commonplace to the people living there, such as the temple to the Greek goddess Artemis (one of the seven wonders of the Ancient World). Paul knew how hard it was to live in a place that wasn’t devoted to or honoring of God. ...

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In the Word: God is Loving

Welcome to Hope Mommies’ In the Word devotionals. Over the next several weeks, we will be looking at different characteristics of God—specifically reflecting on how each aspect of His character offers us hope in the midst of our grief.  As we study together, we encourage 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 the infinitely beautiful character of God along with us!  “I have loved you with an everlasting ...

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