God Exists And Has Spoken To Us
"In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth."Genesis 1:1
READ:
What can we observe in this one sentence?
There was a beginning. God was at the beginning. God is the Creator.
This is not an explanation of how God came to be. With this one sentence, the reality of God is established as fact. He existed before anything else existed, and He had the power and authority to create the heavens and earth. The truth that God exists is evidenced not only from what the Bible says, but also from the created world around us. In Psalm 19:1-4, it says, ...
The Church and Grief: You Don’t Have to Walk Alone
In this series, we will explore the unique joys and difficulties we encounter as Hope Moms when re-engaging with church after loss, and seek to help the Church (leaders, members, and ministries) understand how they can come alongside the grieving mother to provide hope, healing, and community in the midst of such great sorrow.
I stood on the stage, belly protruding and a microphone in my hand. I was excited to sing a solo that December day since it would be the last time I would help lead worship at my church because of my “maternity break.” My baby boy was ...
Sarah’s Story
My husband and I were so excited to be pregnant for the first time. I still remember the short-lived giddiness and blissful ignorance of the first weeks. And then, at 7-weeks, morning sickness showed up. Rather all day sickness—hyper emesis gravidirum. I threw up about four times a day, could barely take in even 500 calories of nutrition a day, and walking to the bathroom or to answer the door was a momentous feat. I kept thinking it would get better soon. I was almost there, to that magic second trimester.
I ended up at the ER for fluids twice, and I was ...
He Draws Near: Carly’s Experience
Truth be told, it is impossible for me to think of our Lydia, the path we walked for her delivery, and her funeral without also thinking of the kindness and goodness of God. While it is true that this time is full of sorrow and pain, it is also full of grace. The Lord most certainly drew near to us in our time of desperate need, once again proving His faithfulness. I think, in times of sorrow, that God comforts us in many different ways. In my time of sorrow, He comforted me through His Word, through our family in Christ, and even in the smallest details like purple ...
The Test
"The crucible is for silver and the furnace is for gold, and the LORD tests hearts." Proverbs 17:3
Yesterday I came across this verse, and found much comfort in it. These were my observations:
Silver, gold, and other precious metals are of great worth.Because they possess value, they must be made pure and spotless; who would purchase imperfect, muddied gold? The inherent worth of the material demands purification.The materials, while raw, must be proved genuine. The silver looks shiny, but will it endure age, wear, and the elements? It must be tested to prove ...
The Lord Will Fulfill His Purpose For Me
"Being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus."Philippians 1:6
I blinked, and the years have passed right in front of me. Every year when the page on our calendar turns to July, my heart stops just as it did that early morning in late July, 2010, when two doctors stood in front of our family and told us that Landry did not have much longer to live.
As I focus on that day and how different my life and family look now, I am reminded over and over that the Lord will fulfill His purposes for ...
Such a Wide Freedom
Everyone's grief is unique and your stage in the process of healing as a Hope Mom might be such that this post is not an ideal read for you right now. I want to make you aware in advance that I am writing about my pregnancy after loss. Most of all, I desire that this post give hope of the freedom that comes with inviting God into grief. With love, Lianna
There is a baby growing inside of me today. My husband and I are in disbelief. We are 15 weeks along in this pregnancy and our daughter, Noelle, whom we lost at 42 weeks, would have ...
Kristin’s Story
On July 20, 2018, our third child was due to join our family. Her room was pink, her brothers were excited, her Dad and I were ecstatic for a girl. It felt so different this time. We had all the ideas of bows and frilly things, and had decided exactly what her wedding day would be like.
Our firstborn came at 31 weeks after a quick and scary bout with preeclampsia, so this pregnancy they watched my blood pressure carefully. On July 6th, I was 38 weeks, and that afternoon I got a high blood pressure reading on my cuff at home. I called the nurse and she asked me to ...
Who Needs Friends?
After college, I moved to Chicago for a change of pace. I wanted—and needed —to spread my wings, abandon my safety zone of family for a time, and learn what it meant to fully depend on the Lord. Being 22, I thought the idea of learning loneliness sounded so romantic in a tragic sort of way. I pictured myself strolling the streets of the windy city, coffee mug in hand, with a cute sweater and scarf and with the soundtrack of Natalie Merchant crooning in the background.
What I learned is that loneliness is not romantic. Coffee and cute scarves are too expensive ...
Remember Your Creator
Welcome to Hope Mommies’ In the Word devotionals. Over the next several weeks, we will be studying the book of Ecclesiastes together, which centers on the truth that life apart from Christ is empty and vain. In its pages, we discover how to view our lives with an eternal perspective, enabling us to press into the Lord regardless of our circumstances. In this series, we seek to explore the wise principles presented to us by "the Teacher" in order to better understand what it looks like to walk in the fear and joy of the Lord even in the midst of our ...
