Streams in the Desert: 2020 Retreats

I’m from the Pacific Northwest, and if this area of the country is known for anything, it’s rain.  Yet, in 2006 my husband and I were living in Southern California for a short time, and they were in a drought. It was my first encounter with a real drought; there were limited water supplies, and the earth was parched. There were water restrictions placed on households by the city, and I remember thinking, “If only it would rain”.   Fast forward four years to the stillbirth of my daughter. I was back living in the Pacific North West, and though the ...

Read More


Infertility After Loss

Each child gone ahead from among us is a precious person made in the image of God—and all having been made into Hope Moms, we together declare motherhood in each of our journeys. Through this series, we honor each other’s experiences of motherhood in love through our shared God of hope. When I was a newlywed, I struggled with the thought of wanting children. My time, money, and freedom were all too valuable to me to the point where I wasn’t sure I should even be married. Marriage proved very difficult for us, and around that same time, I was very hurt ...

Read More


Kayla’s Story

In February of 2017, our son Phoenix turned one. Within a month, we were pregnant with our second child. We were both surprised and excited. We hadn’t expected to become pregnant again so quickly when it had taken us around seven months the first time.  We were on vacation when I took the test and found out, so upon arriving home, I called and asked to change my upcoming annual OBGYN appointment to a prenatal appointment. At first everything seemed normal, but at some point, I started to feel concerned that I hadn’t felt movement yet. I convinced myself that ...

Read More


Prayer: Our Most Essential Strategy

Grief is often accompanied by a myriad of temptations: anger, bitterness, fear, and despair, just to name a few. But God has provided us with everything we need to overcome these temptations, and to move forward in our sorrow with His strength. In this series, we will be studying the various pieces of our spiritual armor, and how each of these pieces uniquely equip us to cling to the hope we have been given in Christ. We’ve spent the past several weeks together studying the armor of God and learning how each piece uniquely equips us to overcome ...

Read More


Planning a Funeral Instead of a Birthday Party

Each child gone ahead from among us is a precious person made in the image of God—and all having been made into Hope Moms, we together declare motherhood in each of our journeys. Through this series, we honor each other’s experiences of motherhood in love through our shared God of hope. It’s the big day. There really should have been more planning involved. Everything was thrown together at the last minute. The food has been taken care of. The flowers have already been arranged. We’ve selected some great music. The purple bear we bought her is ...

Read More


The Child Born to Save

Welcome to Hope Mommies’ In the Word devotionals. Over the next several weeks, we will be studying Isaiah 9 together. In this passage, Isaiah gives us insight into the incredible hope that was given through the birth of Christ. Join us as we discover how the grieving mother can find comfort, especially in the holiday season, in the following descriptions of Christ. The Child Born to Save “For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon His shoulder, and His name shall be calledWonderful Cou...

Read More


The Sword of the Spirit: How God’s Word Fortifies Us in Grief

Grief is often accompanied by a myriad of temptations: anger, bitterness, fear, and despair, just to name a few. But God has provided us with everything we need to overcome these temptations, and to move forward in our sorrow with His strength. In this series, we will be studying the various pieces of our spiritual armor, and how each of these pieces uniquely equip us to cling to the hope we have been given in Christ. “Can I say it to you again?” My sweet husband asked me that question many times over the course of several months while he was working to ...

Read More


MaKenzie’s Story

“Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin,” Matthew 6:28 “What does it say?” my husband asked anxiously. “It’s…it’s…I think…it might be…positive?” I couldn’t believe my eyes. After three years of praying and trying and trying and praying, we were parents. I shouldn’t have been so surprised. I felt that God had shown me the Christmas before that I would become pregnant at the same time as my friend found out the gender of her child, and that’s exactly what happened. We danced. We sang. We prayed. We ...

Read More


Helmet of Salvation

Grief is often accompanied by a myriad of temptations: anger, bitterness, fear, and despair, just to name a few. But God has provided us with everything we need to overcome these temptations, and to move forward in our sorrow with His strength. In this series, we will be studying the various pieces of our spiritual armor, and how each of these pieces uniquely equip us to cling to the hope we have been given in Christ. Before experiencing loss, I had a general understanding that Satan has a level of control over the world today. Yet, I often ...

Read More


In the Word: We’ve Seen a Great Light

Welcome to Hope Mommies’ In the Word devotionals. Over the next several weeks, we will be studying Isaiah 9 together. In this passage, Isaiah gives us insight into the incredible hope that was given through the birth of Christ. Join us as we discover how the grieving mother can find comfort, especially in the holiday season, in the following descriptions of Christ. “The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; Upon those who lived in a land of gloom a light has shone.” Isaiah 9:2 READ: Darkness took ...

Read More