Links for Hope Moms: Fall 2019 Edition

We want to share with you links to posts, videos, and resources from around the web to uplift, help, and encourage you in your walk with the Lord as you grieve.

1. {The Fruit of the Wilderness} // “What’s the point of the wilderness anyway? I’ve asked that question numerous times when I’ve been lost in the desert, wondering if I’d ever find a way out. People told me that God was working, but since I didn’t know what He was doing, I secretly wondered if He was doing anything at all. I didn’t choose the wilderness. No one does. It’s a dark place of loneliness, rejection and despair. But it also cultivates the most life-giving fruit because there God shapes and molds us, teaching us to trust Him alone.”
   
2. {It’s Good to Cry Sometimes}// “Often our problem with crying is that it exposes us, revealing to another our innermost feelings. It forces us to be vulnerable and honest with someone, and requires humility as we admit that we are, in fact, weak and inadequate. How wonderful (and counterintuitive) that Christ’s strength could be displayed through the weakness of our tears. As Christians, we don’t need to find our identity in having it all together or proving our lives are going great. The gospel has freed us from this. Our worth and righteousness has been perfected in Christ, who promises to use us in our weakness.”
   
3. {Pain Will Not Have the Last Word}// “Our suffering and scars are not only temporary. They are also preparing us for something greater. Something eternal. Something unimaginable. But how do we not lose heart when pain rocks our foundation and strips away everything we had hoped for in this world? We do so by anchoring ourselves on the solid foundation of God’s faithfulness (rather than our own ability and understanding), trusting that He will bring new life out of even our deepest wounds. We must learn to look at our scars through the scars of Christ, and our temporary pain (despite how eternal it feels) through the promise of the eternal glory that God is preparing for us.”
   
4. {Flashback post: {Adopting After Loss} // “The mother within me had been awakened over the course of those three years of anticipating motherhood. And yet, as I buried my second daughter the only child I longed to hold and parent in those moments was her. I knew that we could not step into adoption until my heart was ready to receive another child, and not solely be longing for the ones I lost. I wanted to grieve well, (though we all know that grief is a life long journey) and I wanted to take the time and space to allow God to do a work in my heart to deal with the pain my now empty arms had surfaced. Another child, I knew, would not fill the gaping hole in my heart.”

Ashlee is the Editorial Coordinator for Hope Mommies. She and her husband, Jesse, have four children on earth and two little ones in Heaven. You can get to know her more by reading her blog, Beyond Undone.

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