153 results for tag: Ashlee


Our Greatest Weapon in Grief

“Praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication. To that end, keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints.” Ephesians 6:18 Prayer—the direct line to our General. Without His strength, our amor is useless in battle. Paul knew that our greatest need in battle is to go to God early and often for help. Through prayer, we call upon God's strength and remain dependent on Him. God wants to be God for us. He wants to be our hope and defender, our refuge and rock, the One who fights for us. The command to pray, which is found all throughout Scripture, is simply an invitation from God to be the ...

Guarding Our Hearts in Grief

A few weeks ago, my husband and I sat down on the couch together to rest after a long day. Just moments after our backs hit the cushions, we heard the sound of heavy footsteps overhead. Assuming that one of our children was out of bed when they shouldn’t be, I walked upstairs to assess the situation, only to find them all sleeping heavily. The footsteps continued, and we soon realized that an unwelcome group of visitors must have made their way into our attic while we were away earlier that afternoon. After a quick check around the house, we discovered that our garage door had been scratched away at from the inside, and our dumpster had been ...

How God Equips Us for the Battles We Face in Grief

The days and weeks that followed the loss of my precious baby were filled with a battlefield of emotions and temptations. After becoming so intimately familiar with the frailty of life, I found myself fearful over the well-being of my husband and living children. I was nervous when they were away from me—what if something happened to them while I wasn’t nearby to keep them safe? I was anxious when we left the comfort and safety of our home. There were so many more things that I could not control out there. Most days, joy seemed illusive. Even so, when I would experience even the faintest glimmer of pleasure or happiness, it felt like a ...

Strength Doesn’t Begin with Me

In those early days of grief, there were always three little sets of eyes on me, observing the path their momma was choosing through the sorrow. My living children weren’t quite old enough to comprehend the loss that our family had endured. Death was a concept that their then two, three, and four-year-old minds did not fully understand. All they knew was that the baby in mommy’s tummy was somehow no longer there and now everybody felt sad. I wanted my children to see me grieve well, but I didn’t know how to accomplish that. What did it look like to grieve deeply—in such a way that would validate the tremendous value of the life ...

An Unshakeable Hope

Maybe for you the start of a new year has opened fresh wounds concerning the loss of your dear child. It seems unimaginable to live through another year without your baby in your arms. How can everyone around you be dreaming of new beginnings and fresh starts, when all you can see are the endings? The ceasing of a tiny heartbeat. The abrupt end of a pregnancy. The death of your dreams for the future. The ground beneath your feet feels unstable. Will you ever stand on solid ground again? Last week we began a journey through the book of Hebrews to discover how Jesus is the better encouragement. Today, we continue on that path to find out how we can ...

A Better Encouragement

Here we are at the start of a new year. Most of us have made lists of ways we want to grow, things we want to change, and goals we would like to set. Maybe you chose a word for the year, and have been brainstorming all the ways you can allow this word to influence and direct your choices in the months ahead. Perhaps you've joined the "This Is In + This Is Out" trend as a way of categorizing what you hope will be the priorities that define 2024 for you. While many of the resolutions we make at the start of each year are admirable goals, they cannot achieve for us lasting encouragement and satisfaction. In fact, most of the resolutions we make are ...

Strength in the Sorrow: Psalm 16

God's Word is sufficient for our every need, even those that follow the heartbreaking loss of a child. In this series, Hope Moms share about the way God, through His life-giving Word, has provided them with the strength, comfort, encouragement, and hope they needed as they walk through the valleys of loss and grief. "My soul melts away for sorrow; strengthen me according to Your word!" Psalm 119:28 Following the death my babies, everything in my life felt like it had been shaken. I constantly needed to remind my weary soul that my foundation—Jesus Christ—was secure. I clung to the life-giving Word of God day after day because nothing ...

6 Questions for the New Year

There's just something about this time of year that has everyone thinking about all the improvements they want to make in their lives. We set goals for our health and finances. We determine to be more creative, more adventurous, or more engaging. We ponder what new habits we would like to form and what old habits we would like to overcome. We make lists and promises, and determine to become a better version of ourselves over the course of the year. Self-reflection and goal setting are admirable, necessary, and biblical practices. When God's people had grown careless in their relationship with God, He rebuked them through the prophet Haggai and ...

Hope for the Hurting this Christmas

The people of Israel were waiting for the coming of the promised Messiah. They were living under the threat of the Assyrians, who would later bring the northern kingdom of Israel into captivity, when the prophet Isaiah delivered news of a child who would come to dissipate the darkness and redeem the world from sin. This birth announcement was a glimmer of hope in the midst of the fear and sorrow. “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 called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.” Isaiah 9:6 We live in the space between the ...

I Wish You Knew: Remember With Me

Often in our grief, those closest to us do not know how to comfort and encourage us. Sometimes they stay away or don’t say anything at all because they are afraid of saying or doing the wrong thing. In this series, we hope to better equip those around us to come alongside a grieving mother—to enter their hurt and offer hope and encouragement, or simply grieve with them. It has been four years since the day we were told that our precious Simeon had gone to be with the Lord. Eight months later we experienced that same devastating sorrow as we said goodbye to another sweet baby, our Odelle. There were many days where it seemed as if the whole ...