96 results for tag: Lianna

A Song for My Soul: Dear Refuge of My Weary Soul

Music has the ability to speak into the deepest recesses of our hearts. God often uses songs to speak hope and encouragement to our souls. In this series, Hope Moms share songs that have pointed them to the hope of Christ in the midst of their grief. Is there a song that has comforted you in your grief? We'd love to have you share your story here. Anne Steele knew grief well: “She lost her mother at age 3, a potential suitor at age 20, her stepmother at 43, and her sister-in-law at 45. She spent many years caring for her father until his death in 1769. For many years, she exhibited symptoms of malaria, including persistent pain, fever, ...

Knowing Him: The Way, the Truth, and the Life

There is nothing greater than knowing Christ. Seven times in the book of John, Jesus offers us profound insight into His nature and character. In this series, we seek to guide the reader into a deeper understanding of these “I Am” statements, and the rich hope and comfort that can be found in Christ in the midst of grief. “Jesus said to him, ‘I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” John 14:6 The early church had a fitting nickname. “The Way” spoke the message of Jesus as “not one among many ways to God but the only way to God,” 1 being ...

Lift Up Your Eyes

"Remember also your Creator in the days of your youth, before the evil days come and the years draw near of which you will say, 'I have no pleasure in them.'" Ecclesiastes 12:1 READ: The Preacher of Ecclesiastes reminds us of the trials that come with increased age (Ecclesiastes 12:2-7). But you and I also know the trials that can come with young adulthood, and even to the youngest lives. Ecclesiastes discusses that the elderly will ultimately go to “his eternal home, and the mourners go about in the streets” (Ecclesiastes 12:5). We know that the very young can also go to their eternal homes, leaving us to ...

When This Life Seems Meaningless…

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. Future glory, seeing my Lord Jesus by sight alongside of my heavenly family all while without sin, is my hope—and that is the reality that made sense to me after my stillborn daughter flew ahead. But that future hope was tested when I needed to invest again in this life ...

In the Word, The Lord, My Shepherd

Welcome to Hope Mommies’ In the Word devotionals. Over the next several weeks, we will be looking at different names of God found in Scripture, and how these different aspects of who He is offer 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 study these names of God along with us!  "The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters. He restores my soul. He...

Strength in the Sorrow: Nehemiah 1:6

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 valley of loss and grief. "My soul melts away for sorrow; strengthen me according to Your word!" Psalm 119:28 I called the nurse into the hospital room, “I think I felt her kick. Can we check?” A shadow passed over her face. Not many minutes prior, the doctor had told me, my husband, and the nurses that my yet-to-be-born, 42-week daughter had no ...

In the Word: Everlasting Father

Welcome to Hope Mommies’ In the Word devotionals. Over the next several weeks, we will be looking at different names of God found in Scripture, and how these different aspects of who He is offer 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 study these names of God along with us!  “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 ...

The Suffering Servant Has Come

As I approach Christmas, I can feel that there is—inherently—a sense of longing that swells this season, especially having lost my child on this earth. I have a biblical longing for all to be made right, for the gap between this world and the next to be gone, for the righteous King of all to return—not as a baby this time, but as the One coming on the clouds carrying all victory over sin and death. The reality that this world is missing what I most desire is all the more pronounced through my unique, acute, and raw awareness of how empty this life can feel. And yet—do you feel the rush of this season too? I don't mean the rush of mall vis...

In the Word: Wonderful Counselor

Welcome to Hope Mommies’ In the Word devotionals. Over the next several weeks, we will be looking at different names of God found in Scripture, and how these different aspects of who He is offer 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 study these names of God along with us!  “And His name shall be called Wonderful Counselor” Isaiah 9:6 READ: We need counsel; we need to know how our hope ...

I Wish You Knew: I See Your Care for 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. Love hopes all things. 1 Corinthians 13:7 One commentator writes on this passage, love hopes “what is good of another.”¹ Church father Augustine of Hippo also understood 1 Corinthians 13:7 in terms of “‘believing the best’ about all people.”² When others have ...