61 results for tag: Shelly

Pregnancy 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. I remember so clearly standing at the end of my driveway the day a friend stopped by to drop something off to me. We chitchatted for a bit, and then she asked me what I was doing that day.  “Just going to pop into the OB’s office to hear the heartbeat.” “Oh, Shelly! You shouldn’t be so fearful. You need to have faith,” she ...

The Shield of Faith:

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. “In all circumstances take up the shield of faith,with which you can extinguish all the flamingdarts of the evil one.”  Ephesians 6:16 I didn’t grow up in a military family, so we didn’t talk ...

Gospel of Peace

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. Shoes. I really like shoes. A lot of shoes. In college, my boyfriend made me a four–tiered shoe storage unit because I had so many shoes. He designed it to hold about 35 pair of shoes. Ha! I managed to get 54 pair in by ...

In the Word: Never Alone (Part 2)

Welcome to Hope Mommies’ In the Word devotionals. Over the next several weeks, we will be studying Psalm 139 together. This Psalm is used often (and rightly so) to demonstrate the value of human life, and God's care for us from even before we were conceived. What can we learn about God's tender care for us and for our babies from these verses? How does a greater knowledge of these truths offer hope and comfort to us in the midst of grief? NEVER ALONE (Part 2) "Where shall I go from your Spirit?    Or where shall I flee from your presence?If I ascend to heaven, you are there!   &n...

In the Word: Never Alone (Part 1)

Welcome to Hope Mommies’ In the Word devotionals. Over the next several weeks, we will be studying Psalm 139 together. This Psalm is used often (and rightly so) to demonstrate the value of human life, and God's care for us from even before we were conceived. What can we learn about God's tender care for us and for our babies from these verses? How does a greater knowledge of these truths offer hope and comfort to us in the midst of grief? NEVER ALONE (Part 1) "Where shall I go from your Spirit?    Or where shall I flee from your presence?If I ascend to heaven, you are there!   &n...

In the Word: Enlightening the Eyes

Welcome to Hope Mommies’ In the Word devotionals. Over the next several weeks, we will be studying Psalm 19:7-11 together.The grieving heart will often grasp at anything that seems to offer even the smallest glimmer of comfort. But every attempt to be comforted apart from God and His Word will only end in greater disappointment. In this series, we will be examining the richness of the Word, and discover how we, as Hope Moms, can find true and lasting comfort in Scripture.  Enlightening the Eyes “The commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes.” -Psalm 19:8b READ: One night, I was lying in bed reading before turning ...

He is Near to the Brokenhearted

God’s Word is filled with rich promises for His children. How do these “precious and very great promises” inform and direct your grief? How does keeping your eyes fixed on these truths anchor your hope in the Lord? In this series, we write about how God, through the promises in His Word, comforts and strengthens us in our sorrow. “The Lord is near the brokenhearted…" How can a God we cannot see, feel, or often times hear be near to us? Is God really near to us? The day after coming home from giving birth at 37 weeks to my perfectly formed—yet stillborn—baby boy, I flipped the Scripture card on my ...

Zachary, Forever Held

I carried you every second of your LIFE and will LOVE you every second of mine. As mothers, we have a special bond with our babies when we carry them. They are part of us. We share blood, oxygen, and food. We are one. We know them. And then they are gone. But we never stop loving them and thinking of them. How do we hold our babies forever when we can’t physically hold them? I knew I would always love my son, but how would I honor his life? Twenty-three years ago, when my son was stillborn, there weren’t balloon releases or teddy bears the same weight as my son. I didn’t know anyone else who had lost a child, so I had to figure out how ...

God’s Faithfulness Endures Forever

“Praise the Lord, all nations! Extol Him, all peoples! For great is His steadfast love toward us, and the faithfulness of the Lord endures forever. Praise the Lord!” Psalm 117 I have been asked how I can proclaim God’s faithfulness after experiencing the loss of a child. I ask, “How can I not?” I grew up singing the words from a hymn, “Great is Thy faithfulness... Morning by morning new mercies I see. All I have needed Thy hands have provided. Great is Thy faithfulness Lord unto me.” Having these words etched in my heart helped me when I hit my faith-barrier—the thing in life that challenges our faith in the Lord. We all eventu...

In the Word: God is My Rock

Welcome to Hope Mommies’ In the Word devotionals. Over the next several weeks, we will be studying Psalm 18:1-2 together. Psalm 18 was penned by David after God had delivered Him from the hands of his enemies, and is rich with metaphors describing the nature and character of God. In this series, we will be looking at how each of these attributes affords us a greater picture of God’s care for His children, and how knowing and believing these truths can bring comfort to our hearts in the midst of 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 ...