19 results for tag: October 15

Made for a Different Land: In Honor of National Pregnancy and Infant Loss Awareness Day

“they were longing for a better country—a heavenly one” Hebrews 11:16a (NIV) With Hebrews 11:16 coming to mind, I uttered the following words in the hospital room after the stillbirth of my first child: “She was made for a different land.” Soon, we announced the death of our child instead of her birth, and the same words were written across the title of our blog post. As the years have gone by, this is the phrase I have written on balloons released in memory of my daughter. And most recently, “Made for a Different Land” is the title of a forthcoming collaborative book written by women in the Hope Mommies community.* So, these have been ...

One Week until October 15

Hope. This four-letter word has lost its rich significance in our current vocabulary. It is tossed around flippantly as a way to voice our personal desires. I hope it doesn’t rain tomorrow. I hope this goes on sale. I hope I get the job. I hope…. But hope is more than wishful thinking. It's more than putting a patch over the not-yets and wish-they-weres, because it has nothing to do with what might happen in the future. Instead, the beauty of this profound word is that it has everything to do with what has already been accomplished. You see, hope began when our perfect Savior laid down His life on a shameful cross. “Theref...

To Choose Hope is to Choose Christ

Last year on October 15—Pregnancy and Infant Loss Awareness Day—we bought a tank of helium and a package of balloons, and spent the afternoon writing notes and drawing pictures in honor of our babies in heaven. We’ve never thrown a big party or included lots of friends and family on these days of remembrance. Instead, they have been quiet and reflective days. There have been times when I wondered if I was doing enough to honor our babies in glory, but through the years I have come to treasure these quiet moments—where there is no one to impress and our hearts are full of sweet togetherness as we praise God for making a way for us to be united ...

Choose Hope for 2018

The pain of losing a child, whether to miscarriage, stillbirth, or infant loss, is among the most agonizing of sorrows. Whether your loss occurred many years ago or very recently, the ache you carry in your heart is heavy indeed. There is nothing that can prepare you for the devastation of losing a child, and there are no words that can take away the pain that results. But dear one, your grief does not need to be carried alone. For the past twelve years, our nation has officially recognized October 15 as an opportunity to honor and remember our precious babies who have gone home before us, and to spread awareness of the tragedy that befalls 1 in 4 ...

October 15 Is This Sunday

In a letter to a dear friend, John Newton—who wrote Amazing Grace—expressed hope in Christ babies who go ahead of us: “I cannot be sorry for the death of infants. How many storms do they escape!” When we dwell upon the fullness of joy that our Hope Babies are experiencing right now in heaven with God—and while we miss them dearly every day—we cannot be sorry for them, can we? Nothing is better than to be with Christ; this glorious reality is beyond comprehension. What gratitude is stirred in my soul as I think about this gift! Many families will join across the country on October 15, National Pregnancy and Infant ...

One Month until October 15

We are one month away from October 15, the day set aside for National Pregnancy and Infant Loss Awareness Day. It’s a day to remember, to come together, and to hope in the Word. I filled some of the first weeks after my daughter went to heaven with hours upon hours of scouring the internet in the hope of finding someone, anyone, who was feeling the same things as me. I resonated with messages about the depths of pain that comes when the little one you love is removed from this life. I read of others, like me, who were marking time based upon the number of days since life had forever altered and child loss became a no-longer-unimaginable ...

Testimony Tuesday {Choose Hope 2017}

It can be overwhelming for mothers to decide how is best for a Hope Baby to be celebrated. As Hope Moms begin to ponder on how they would like to honor and remember their babies in heaven on October 15, one Hope Mom graciously shares with us multiple ways she honors her Hope Baby on important dates and in her daily life in hopes of giving some ideas: “I sat there all alone waiting for my husband to pull the car around to the bench I was sitting on outside the hospital the day after our son, Hayes, was born. I looked on as other women were also waiting for their husbands to pick them up. There was one glaring difference between those women and ...

Choose Hope 2016

The pain of losing a child, whether to miscarriage, stillbirth, or infant loss, is among the most agonizing of sorrows.  Whether your loss occurred many years ago or very recently, the ache you carry in your heart is heavy indeed.  There is nothing that can prepare you for the devastation of losing a child, and there are no words that can take away the pain that results.   But dear one, your grief does not need to be carried alone. For the past ten years, our nation has officially recognized October 15 as an opportunity to honor and remember our precious babies who have gone home before us, and to spread awareness of the tragedy that befalls 1 in ...

Choose Hope for 2015

Every year on October 15, nations all across the globe come together in order to recognize Pregnancy and Infant Loss Awareness Day.  What started in 1983 with a few volunteers from the Pregnancy and Infant Loss Center (PILC) turned into a movement around the world.    PILC began by calling out to other groups and organizations to join them in raising awareness of infant loss during the month of October.  As the movement grew they set about to petition the Governors of each state to follow them as well.  Soon many states had declared October as Infant Loss Awareness Month, and their campaign continued to gain attention, support, and success ...