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In this tender and powerful episode, Ashley welcomes her dear friend Kristin Hernandez back to the Cradled in Hope Podcast—this time, not as the guest, but as the one asking the questions. Kristin, a longtime ministry partner, fellow grieving mom, and author of Sunlight in December, turns the microphone around to interview Ashley about her upcoming book, Cradled in Hope.

Together, they share a sacred and heartfelt conversation about grief, faith, and the story behind the book. Ashley opens up about the writing process, the spiritual and emotional depths she revisited to bring comfort to hurting moms, and how God’s timing—even through the tragedy of losing her father to a drunk driver—shaped the final manuscript. Kristin shares how deeply the book ministered to her heart, even a decade after the loss of her son, Ethan. Through tears and truth, these two friends remind grieving moms that they are seen, loved, and never alone.

This episode is the first in a two-part series where Kristin interviews Ashley. It marks the beginning of a special summer season leading up to the launch of Cradled in Hope and the companion Book Club podcast series beginning July 22.

In this episode, we discussed:

• Why Cradled in Hope was written and how it offers biblical truth, compassionate guidance, and practical wisdom for grieving moms
• The vision behind the book’s structure and how each chapter addresses a specific emotion or struggle
• Kristin’s personal reaction to reading the book and how God used it to minister to her heart, even ten years into her grief journey
• The importance of meeting moms in both the raw pain of fresh loss and the long road of ongoing healing
• How Ashley revisited her early grief through journals and how her father’s death during the editing process deepened the book’s emotional depth
• Honoring Ashley’s dad, Steve Golik, in the book—including the poem he wrote for Bridget and the special story of editing the manuscript on his computer
• The meaning behind the title Cradled in Hope and the cover illustration of Jesus cradling both a baby in Heaven and a grieving mom on earth
• Why our hope isn’t wishful thinking—it’s rooted in the unshakable truth of Jesus, who holds both us and our babies
• What to expect from the upcoming Cradled in Hope Book Club podcast series launching July 22

This episode is a gentle invitation to trust Jesus to heal your heart as He holds your baby in Heaven. Whether you are newly grieving or years into your journey, Cradled in Hope is a tender companion to walk with you toward healing, with Gospel truth and eternal hope on every page.

Full transcript below.

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MEET OUR GUEST

Kristin Hernandez is the author of Sunlight in December. She is also the host of the Hope Mommies podcast. She is a writer, podcaster, wife, and mother to six children—one in her arms and five with Jesus.

Connect with Kristin:

Facebook /sunlightindecemberblog
Instagram @sunlightindecember
www.sunlightindecember.com

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MEET OUR HOST

Ashley Opliger is the Executive Director of Bridget’s Cradles, a nonprofit organization based in Wichita, Kansas that donates cradles to over 1,500 hospitals in all 50 states and comforts over 30,000 bereaved families a year.

Ashley is married to Matt and they have three children: Bridget (in Heaven), and two sons. She is a follower of Christ who desires to share the hope of Heaven with families grieving the loss of a baby.

Connect with Ashley:

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Instagram @ashleyopliger

Pinterest /ashleyopliger

www.ashleyopliger.com

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www.bridgetscradles.com

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EPISODE TRANSCRIPT

Episode 62 P1 | The Story Behind Cradled in Hope: An Interview with Author Ashley Opliger by Kristin Hernandez

Ashley Opliger: [00:00:00] You’re listening to the Cradled in Hope Podcast. I’m your host, Ashley Opliger. I’m a wife, mom, and follower of Christ who founded Bridget’s Cradles, a ministry in memory of my daughter, Bridget, who was stillborn at 24 weeks. Our nonprofit donates knit and crocheted cradles to hospitals in all fifty states to hold babies born into Heaven.

I’m also the author of the book Cradled in Hope, a biblical guide for moms grieving miscarriage, stillbirth, or infant loss. This podcast shares the same name—and the same heart—as the book: to help you find the comfort, compassion, and healing of Jesus in the midst of deep sorrow.

Rooted in the hope of the Gospel, this podcast is a sacred space for your broken heart to land. Here, we are going to trust God’s promise to heal our hearts, restore our joy, and use our grief for good. With faith in Jesus and eyes fixed on Heaven, we do not have to grieve without hope. We believe that Jesus cradles us in hope while He cradles our babies in Heaven. 

Welcome to the Cradled in Hope Podcast.

Ashley Opliger: [00:01:03] Today’s episode is a special one. We’re welcoming back a dear friend of the ministry and a familiar voice, Kristin Hernandez. Kristin has been a guest on several of our past episodes. Episodes5, 31, 38, 39 and40, and we’re so honored to have her with us again today.

Kristin is the author of Sunlight in December, and the host of the Hope MommiesPodcast. She’s a gifted writer and speaker, a loving wife and a mom to six precious children, one in her home and five with Jesus. Kristin has navigated deep grief with incredible faith, and she brings a wealth of wisdom and compassion to this space.

That’s why I’m so honored that Kristin has graciously endorsed my book, Cradled in Hope. In this special two-part episode, Kristin is interviewing me about my book, Cradled in Hope, why I wrote it, who it’s for, and what I hope grieving moms will take away from its message. We’re also talking about the behind-the-scenes details, like my writing process, the inspiration behind the book cover, and so much more.

Part One launches today, July 1st, and Part Two will release on July 15th. Then beginning July 22nd, the day Cradled in Hope officially releases into the world, we’ll begin the Cradled in Hope Book Club podcast series. We’ll walk through the book one chapter at a time, releasing three episodes each month on the 1st,  15th, and 22nd through the end of the year.

Whether you’re new to the podcast or have walked with us for a while, we pray these conversations will minister to your heart and remind you that you are not alone in your grief. Let’s dive in. 

Ashley Opliger: [00:02:39] Welcome back, Kristin, to the Cradled in Hope Podcast. I’m glad to have you.

Kristin Hernandez: [00:02:42] Ashley, it’s so fun to be here with you, and I am just so honored to be sitting in the seat that I’m in right now to just kind of mix things up.

Ashley Opliger: [00:02:50] Yeah. 

Kristin Hernandez: [00:02:52] Thank you for trusting me with your driver’s seat.

Ashley Opliger: [00:02:54] Of course. There is literally no one else I would want to do this. You were the first person that came to mind. You’ve actually been our most frequented guest on Cradled in Hope. I think we’ve done five past episodes before. 

Kristin Hernandez: [00:03:07] Has it been that many?

Ashley Opliger: [00:03:08] Yeah, we did specific ones and then we did a summer series, three back-to-back episodes. 

Kristin Hernandez: [00:03:13] Right. 

Ashley Opliger: [00:03:14] And I just appreciate your voice, and I respect how you are so biblically grounded. I always know that I can trust what you’re sharing and that you’re always going to stay true to the Bible and to the truth, and that your heart is so sensitive and tender to grieving moms. 

And so I am just so honored that you would be here with me to talk about my book, and that you so graciously read my book in advance and chose to endorse it. And so, thank you for being here.

Kristin Hernandez: [00:03:46] Oh, it is such an honor and truly such a joy. And Ashley, I just have to tell you, when I read your book, and first off, thank you so much for the opportunity to endorse it.

I want to share, if I may, with everyone what I said about it, but I want to tell you, when I was reading your book, it really made me feel things. Like it is so easy, I think at times as a mom who has multiple babies in Heaven, for there to be days where I feel it so tangibly. 

But 10 years in, there are days where I almost feel, especially working in this ministry space, I spend a lot of time in this space hearing other moms’ stories, and I feel over the years I have developed this muscle almost of I can really hear people and feel genuine emotions for them.

I can feel genuinely what they are feeling. I feel deep empathy and compassion, and really feeling what my sisters are feeling. But it is not as often that their story makes me feel what I feel, like for myself, if that makes sense.

 It’s almost easy for me to enter in and not feel emotionally moved, and I felt so emotionally moved, Ashley, by your book. I found myself working through things that I still needed to process, a decade later. And I found the Lord speaking to me through your words. 

Even with time passed and spending so many times looking at books so that we can present them to other people, vetting resources so that I can pass them on to other people. I spend a lot of time reading people’s books in this space, and I just have to tell you, yours made me feel things, and God used it to speak to my heart. 

And I cried so many times when I was reading your book, and there were multiple times I stopped, and I had to tell my husband what I was reading. And I feel like he cares, and he truly does. But he was working on things around the house. “I don’t know why you keep telling me what you’re reading,” you know? 

And I just wanted to tell him, “I have to tell you about this book,” you know? But it was one of those books, as I read it, I felt the need to share with people around me.

And so I am so excited for it to come out into the world in three weeks, and I would love to read to everybody what I said in my endorsement of your book, because it truly captures how I feel. 

And what I want all of you listening to know about Ashley’s book, because I would really love for you to pause this episode and pre-order it right now because it is such a needed and valuable resource, and so my excited, enthusiastic recommendation of this book is that this book, in this, Ashley Opliger is the compassionate friend we all need in grief, holding your hand with understanding and care while continually pointing to the unshakable hope we have in Christ. This book is a beautiful biblical companion filled with truth, comfort, and hope on every page.

And friend, that is truly how I feel about this book. You feel so close to the reader as we are reading it; there is true compassion, authenticity, and understanding, and all while pointing us toward where our hope is, which is in Jesus Christ. And I just love how you did that so well in a way that was so truthful and so rooted, and also just so caring and tenderhearted. 

And so thank you for this, because I know that a book is no small task and that it has taken a lot of your time and your energy and your heart and tears and all of the things. And so it is truly going to be such a gift, and I cannot wait for everyone listening to get their copy.

Ashley Opliger: [00:07:18] Kristin, thank you so much. That is such an honor to hear from you, who I respect and love so much. And there are so many things that you said that I’m wanting to jump back into my host role and have questions for you. It’s kind of hard, two podcast hosts trying to have a conversation. I know you’re supposed to be interviewing me, but I have questions for you and things that I want to follow up with what you said.

First of all, to speak to what you said about how you felt things, and you were able to just have tears and let that come out. And I want to say through my writing process, because like you, Bridget went to Heaven 10 years ago, and so when I was writing this book, even though I started five years ago writing the book, there had been time and healing that had happened in my life. 

But I very much wanted this book to be for moms to be able to pick up right after they lost a baby in the fresh and rawness of those initial grief feelings, but likewise also to be able to pick it up and find hope and comfort five years, 10 years, maybe even for women who lost a baby 30, 40 years ago to still be able to pick it up and find something for them that would walk them further in their healing journey with Jesus. 

But I did not want to miss the opportunity to be there, right in the freshness of it. And so for my writing process, I really wanted to take myself back into my own fresh grief. And so I spent a lot of time reading my journals, like the days right after Bridget went to Heaven and just sitting in that sadness. 

And I remember when I started on the book proposal, I just went back to that initial feeling of coming home from the hospital empty-handed, and I just cried and cried. And there were so many tears throughout the book process because as you probably noticed, my writing style is usually to start each chapter with a story or personal feelings and then to dive into biblical truth, theology, and then practical wisdom and guidance on, “Okay, what does this actually look like to live out?”

But that story element was really raw and really hard for me to go back to some really painful moments. But I wanted to go there because it was important for my healing, and I feel like it’s so important for the mom who’s reading it to sit in that sadness, but to know that she’s not sitting alone. She has Jesus and she has me and this ministry, Bridget’s Cradles, behind her, and she has other ministries behind her. Hope Mommies and so many others that both of us partner with, and just knowing you’re not alone in this, and we’re coming alongside of you.

Kristin Hernandez: [00:10:02] Yeah. 

Ashley Opliger: [00:10:02] So I would like to ask you a question before we get started. 

Kristin Hernandez: [00:10:05] Yeah. You have permission. It is your podcast. 

Ashley Opliger: [00:10:07] Yeah. I just want to hear when you said there were still parts of you that needed healing or things that I was saying in the book that felt like you could start peeling back those layers. Do you mind sharing anything specifically that really spoke to you or any raw stories that I shared that resonated with you even 10 years later?

Kristin Hernandez: [00:10:31] Yeah, I did want to kind of piggyback on what you were saying earlier about you going back to your early journals, and you spent a lot of time sitting there, and how that could feel really hard.

Like it felt really hard to be reminded of: What did it look like to walk through that front door again without my baby? What did that look like to leave the hospital? 

And I know for me, as I was reading your words, that shines through so beautifully because I too, just reading your words, was brought back to that place of: This is what it felt like when I walked in the door to my house without our son, Ethan.

This is what it felt like when the nurse wheeled my wheelchair through the hospital and I painfully lowered my C-section torn-apart body into the car, into the front seat of the Honda Accord, and didn’t have my baby with me. 

There were things you wrote about, and I’m getting teary, that brought me back to that place where I feel like it reminded me so much of what that feeling of brokenness feels like. And then you paired it with so much beautiful biblical truth that reminded me of all God had and continues to carry me through. 

And I think that emotional component, and there are certainly so much solid truth, Scriptural components to this book, that’s what makes it so sturdy that we can cling to it, but I think for me, where God really ministered in my heart was allowing me to feel some of those feelings that I had felt again, and then reminding me of the truth. 

Because when I was in that place of feeling those emotions the first time, I hadn’t allowed all those truths to internalize into my heart yet. And so God was working through that to remind me of all the things you wrote about. 

And so for me, when I’m reading through all these different chapters, and you give the title of the chapter and then there’s the practical, like, “This is for when you wrestle with doubt, or this is for when you feel overwhelmed by sadness, this is for when you’re desperate for hope, this is for when you are anxious or triggered, or you’re encountering the enemy’s attacks or when you’re hurt by others,” as I’m reading through these things that many of these things I had not processed yet, I had not had the truth yet. 

These things were things the Lord was teaching me in the next several years, it was like I was reminding myself of what it felt like to be in those initial days and now rejoicing in this truth, like reading the truth that you give us for each of these things of like, “Yes, Lord, that is true,” by being able to declare it with so much more certainty and joy today, 10 years out, while feeling the feelings that I felt 10 years ago when I couldn’t quite declare it yet, if that makes sense. And so I think that for me was just such a beautiful reminder.

Ashley Opliger: [00:13:30] I appreciate that you noticed that about my table of contents, because that was very intentional. The structure of my table of contents, I’d like to share a little bit about that. 

First of all, the entire book is meant to be read from beginning to end, but I also structured it in a way where if a mom is struggling with a specific emotion or feeling or a struggle, then that table of contents is there so that she can just quickly jump to Chapter 10 or whatever chapter it is that her heart needs. 

And so the general order of the book goes from pain to purpose, grief to glory. It goes from heartbreak to hope, and so that’s the general movement. And I would say hope is all throughout the book, but the beginning chapters are a little more theology-heavy because I’m wanting to establish a very firm foundation that the truth that I am proclaiming about Jesus and about the Bible and about who God is true. Because if it’s not true, everything else I say in the book would matter nothing. Right? 

Kristin Hernandez: [00:14:36] Mm-hmm. 

Ashley Opliger: [00:14:36] If Jesus isn’t who He said He is, then everything I write about Heaven and everything I write about the future New Earth that we’re going to get to spend eternity with our babies, none of that would hold any hope for us if Jesus isn’t who He said He is.

And so I did feel like it was important in the beginning chapters to really address that. But I also felt like in the beginning chapters it was really important to dive right in as a friend, and portray to my readers that I see you. I sat where you’re sitting. I’ve been there and I know what the pain feels like.

And so often, Kristin, when you were saying, like about you getting to the car from the wheelchair in your broken C-section body, I was thinking, “So often, all these women who are going through this, they have all these painful moments.” And I think what we want to feel is that someone sees us. 

First of all, God sees us. He was there. He did not leave us in those moments. But when we’re sharing our stories, for someone to say, “I see what you went through, and that was painful and that was traumatic for your brain, for your body, for your heart, for your soul,” and just for that to be acknowledged, because so often our grief and our loss feels not validated or minimized or brushed aside or even dismissed. 

And so I really wanted moms to know their baby is worthy of being grieved, and their story and what they walked through was traumatic and is difficult, and there is someone who understands their pain. And writing about these really hard stories hopefully will remind them that, yeah, their story is welcome here too, and I want to sit with them in that.

Kristin Hernandez: [00:16:20] Yeah, that comes through so well, Ashley. And if I may, I was thinking about in Chapter 2 where you share this story where you were just laying in the hospital and you look up and you see this picture of the cross and you think about Jesus on the cross asking, “My God, why have You forsaken Me?”

And you bring us to that moment of this feeling of abandonment, of when we are in that place where there is physical blood, there is physical pain, and how God in His goodness and His grace led you to that picture that was there for you to see, and just how Jesus sees us there. 

And you talk so beautifully in this chapter about whether our circumstances influence our feelings, which influence our thoughts, and then influence our perception of God, which is a lot of times how things go. And that’s always how it goes apart from Christ. We allow our circumstances to influence how we perceive God. 

And you talk about reversing the flow to having the truth of God and allowing that to influence our thoughts, and then that to inform our feelings, and that to influence now the perception of our circumstances. It flips it on its head.

And I just love how you do that in a way where you give this really vulnerable picture of Christ and of us and then point us toward where our truth needs to be, which is something that I have been so passionate about over the years, about how when we do not have an understanding of God’s Word, we are deceived. We are deceived.

And you talk about the prosperity gospel, which I’ve been very outspoken about. That is something that the Lord used this experience to deliver me from. That is God’s grace to me in a really hard situation, is delivering me from that vein of thinking. And you do such a good job starting with this. I think we need to be reminded of the truth.

And I love how you start out very theologically rich. But to the listener, I want to make the distinction, and there are books that are just all theology, and I personally love those books. But I’ll tell you that is not what this is, and I love that. It is very theologically rich, but I also don’t want to scare the person that’s like, “Well, that’s not exactly what I’m looking for.”

Ashley still is so near and real, and there’s so much practical application in these and so much personal story and narrative, if that is something that your heart is needing to be able to apply this theological truth. And I guess what I’m trying to say is that it is theologically rich and yet very attainable, very easy to digest, even if things are feeling really hard right now.

I think sometimes there are certain resources that I can think of that are incredibly theologically rich and they’re wonderful and I love them, and in times when I’m so foggy-headed in my grief, I cannot make sense of the words or what I’m reading at times because it is very academic. And I think this is this beautiful, what’s the word I’m looking for, this beautiful marriage of it’s rich and yet easy to digest. 

So if you are in your early stages of grief, I know that was your goal, and I see that done so beautifully, that for the momma listening who is in that foggy-headed place where it is hard to read right now, it is hard to connect with things that feel very rich, this feels like feeding it to us in a way, or giving it to us in a way that is easier to digest, but yet has so much sustenance, so much meat, so much truth. And I think that is why I love this book so much.

Ashley Opliger: [00:19:54] Well, thank you so much for saying that because that is absolutely my heart. I wanted it to be for women who were strong believers and had a background in the church and had already a theological background. 

But also I wanted it to be for the mom who is trying to figure out what she thinks about God right now and maybe doesn’t even have a faith background, and someone gave her this book after she lost her baby, and she’s open to the idea of hearing what someone has to say that understands her pain, and knowing that there might be hope that I could see my baby again.

And so I wanted it to be for everyone that’s lost a baby, to whether they’re for the first time hearing the Gospel, or they’ve heard it their whole life, and they just need to be reminded of the truth of who God is. 

Because even for us, Kristin, who, we’ve been followers of Jesus for a long time, both you and I, as solid believers, when we experienced the loss of our children, we wrestled with our faith. 

Kristin Hernandez: [00:20:56] Right.  

Ashley Opliger: [00:20:56] And we had big-time theological questions of, “Who are You, God? And why would You allow this?” And I conveyed that in my book. 

Even with a solid foundation, there’s going to be doubt, there’s going to be wrestling and questions, and we have to really just keep coming back to the Word and reminding ourselves who God is.

And I also appreciated that you said about the practical information because interestingly, I turned my book in on June 10th, 2024, my first manuscript draft. And then on July 28th, my dad was hit by a drunk driver while he was driving his motorcycle. 

And then he went to Heaven on August 4th, and that week was absolute hell for me and for my family and the deepest grief I’d ever been in. 

And I don’t say that lightly because I have been through a lot of grief, and it’s hard to even really compare it to the grief of losing Bridget and losing a child. They’re very different kinds of grief, but at the end of the day, it’s grief. It’s the loss of losing someone that you love and that you had hopes and dreams to be with. 

And so, I had to turn in my second draft in August, and my publisher was gracious and gave me an extension, but I was working on my second draft in August, right after my dad went to Heaven. 

And what I think that did was I went back through my entire book with a new lens of fresh grief. And what I think that did is, even though I had entered back into my early days with Bridget in my journals, I wasn’t writing from a place of active pain. 

And active, like, “How do I wake up and survive this day?” I was struggling to eat, to sleep, basic life functions. And then I thought, “I need to add this into my book,” because this was very real.

After I lost Bridget, I just kind of forgot how, not forgot, but with time you don’t think about, “Yeah, this, it was hard to live through each day after we came home from the hospital.” 

And so I tried to enter back into just what it feels like to be in very fresh grief in that, what I call survival mode, where you’re just trying to make it through the motions. Your whole life feels like it stopped. You wish everything would stop, so you can just grieve, but everything keeps going, and you have these demands on you, whether it’s from work or from if you have living children or other responsibilities. It’s just so overwhelming. 

And so, although I wish that it didn’t take my dad’s death for me to end up with the words that were added to the book, I do feel that editing my book from a place of extreme sadness allowed me to reach for the mom’s heart because I just was in it with her at that exact moment. 

And so I do feel that the book is written from the retroactive healing and looking back on my whole story, but it was also very much from a place of, “I’m sitting in this pain and I understand what it’s like to feel like everything has just been pulled out from you and you don’t even know how you’re going to get through the day.” 

And so I hope that was conveyed in there with the undertone of, “But yet there’s still hope. And yet we’re still grieving with hope.”

Kristin Hernandez: [00:24:22] Right. 

Ashley Opliger: [00:24:24] We hope you’re finding encouragement in this episode so far. We want to take a moment to share some resources our ministry offers to support grieving moms like you.

On our website, bridgetscradles.com, you’ll learn more about our nonprofit and find many hope-filled resources, including free e-books to help you plan a memorial or funeral service for your baby, meaningful ways to honor your baby in your heart and home, and gentle guidance for navigating difficult days like due dates, Heaven Days, and holidays.

We invite you to join our community of grieving moms through our Christ-centered support groups, offered both in-person at our headquarters near Wichita, Kansas, and virtually through Hope Online. These gatherings provide a place to find comfort, connection, and biblical hope alongside other moms who understand your pain.

You can view upcoming dates and sign up on our website. While you’re there, we’d also be honored for you to share your baby’s story with us.

For ongoing support, we welcome you to join our private Cradled in Hope Facebook group—a safe space for grieving moms to find friendship and walk their healing journey together.

To stay connected with us and receive faith-filled encouragement, follow us on Facebook and Instagram at @bridgetscradles, @cradledinhope, and my personal page @ashleyopliger. 

Now, let’s get back to the episode.

Kristin Hernandez: [00:25:43] Gosh, Ashley, I’m sitting here, and that all just makes me want to cry for so many reasons. But I just keep thinking how, when I’m reading this book, I feel very tangibly this is someone who has years of learning and wisdom, and yet somehow is writing like they’re in it. 

And I see the way that the Lord, it’s so hard to find the words for this because what a devastating thing your family walked through this past year and the way that God is using the horrific circumstances that unfolded last year for some glimmers of good, like how He used that and how He’s continuing to use Bridget’s life and your dad’s life in this book, truly. And that is such a gift. 

And that is not to diminish, again, the devastation that unfolded. That’s not to diminish how awful that is. But I just see how God takes our deepest heartache and uses it for His glory, and I see that so tangibly. 

And even the timing. And again, I hate to even say that because we would never want that. We never want that timing. But because we live in a broken world, and that is the timing that was there, to see God weave some of that through this to point people to Him in a different way, and I love that.

Ashley Opliger: [00:27:11] Something special I would like to share: My dad, he had a home office in the basement like I do, where I’m recording right now. And he was all about his computer screens and his office. His name is Steven Richard Golik, and he called it the SRG, his SRG command center. 

And I’m a lot like him in a lot of ways. And actually, my setup here, like the chair that I’m sitting in, he gave me, I have two massive, I think these are 32-inch computer screens, two.

Kristin Hernandez: [00:27:40] Wow.

Ashley Opliger: [00:27:41] And that was from my dad. 

Kristin Hernandez: [00:27:42] That’s cool.

Ashley Opliger: [00:27:44]  His command center has three screens. And so he gave me my first large screen, and then I ended up getting another one.

And so anyway, that’s definitely rubbed off on me. Even at headquarters, I have two massive screens. And people just laugh about it because it’s just a thing that I got from my dad, and I love working that way. 

But one of the really special things is that after he went to Heaven, obviously my mom was just devastated, because they met when they were 15 and 16, almost would’ve celebrated 42 years of marriage. 

And so she’s in this empty house alone and sad. And so I wanted to go out there and spend more time with her. And I was on the deadline for my book to be turned back in the next manuscript, and so I decided that I was going to do my revisions on his computer. And that way, I was there with my mom and just had my physical presence, so she wasn’t alone in the house, but also I could honor my dad. 

And so the really special thing, and no reader would ever see this when they’re reading the book, but all of my edits, because I was editing on his computer in Word, have his name on every comment. And so my editor, they saw, “Steve Golik commented, Steve Golik …” You know? 

And so for me, that just felt special, like his hand was on the book, and that I got to finish the book on his computer. And I had intended to have him in the book, in the Acknowledgements section. But after he went to Heaven, I ended up dedicating the book, and my publisher was just so gracious in allowing me to have photos of him at the beginning.

There’s a photo of him and I together on my wedding day, and then also of him holding Bridget. And he had written a poem called Our First Embrace, and it’s about how after Bridget went to Heaven, he wrote this poem about how his first embrace with her was going to be a Heavenly one. And my publisher allowed me to publish his poem and put a picture of him holding Bridget.

And that just meant so much to me. because I was already on a word count situation. My book ended up being way longer than they had originally signed the contract for. And I was so appreciative that they were like, “Ashley, these words were from the Holy Spirit. We’re not going to cut them.”

So I think the book ended up being a dollar more because of that. I’m so sorry, but I felt like that dollar added was worth the added pages because I added chapters and content that God wanted me to put in there. 

And so anyway, on a word count situation, they still let me add a way for me to honor my dad at the beginning. And I think he would think that was so special. 

In fact, he and my mom were the ones that invested in me, taking a book proposal course to get Cradled in Hope started. And so I just want to say a shout out to SRG right now for that, because he definitely believed in me and wanted this book to be out in the world. 

And I’m really excited to have it out there for moms to pick up and hold and just feel like they’re being held by Jesus and that they have a mom to hold their hand through it.

Kristin Hernandez: [00:31:06] Yeah. Ugh. I love that. Ashley. I was crying as you’re reminding me of, I remember reading the poem in the beginning, and just what a way to honor your dad and your daughter and all the Lord is doing through their lives, to get to include that. I love that. 

Ashley Opliger: [00:31:20] Yeah. And to think that he did get that first Heavenly embrace. You know? And I think that’s the point I want to make is that this is not brainwashed hope. This is not wishful thinking. This is: My dad took his last breath in a hospital room surrounded by his family, and he opened his eyes to the face of Jesus, and he had his first embrace with Bridget. And that’s true. That happened. 

And so I think for me, just really taking my faith and turning it into living from a faith that what I believe is true and I’m going to live from a place of truth, that these things aren’t just things to make me feel better about my grief or to make me feel better, to think that Bridget’s in Heaven. It’s like I know she’s there. 

And I know I’m going to see her again, and I’m going to live my life on earth from a place of living out that truth, that I really do believe that when I die, I’m going to see her and I’m going to see my dad again. And for everyone listening, that is the same truth and the same hope that is offered to all of you.

Kristin Hernandez: [00:32:25] Yeah. Awesome. Well, I can’t wait for it to come out in just three short weeks. It’s just all these years of preparation, and it’s finally coming. 

And I would love to hear from you, Ashley, what the title means to you personally. I know that you have used this title for the podcast, and this is a theme that you talk about a lot. And so tell us about that title, Cradled in Hope. What does that mean to you?

Ashley Opliger: [00:32:49] Obviously, with Bridget’s Cradles and the founding of our organization all starting from this little knit mint green cradle that my mom had made and held Bridget in, this little cradle changed my life in so many ways. It changed the trajectory of how I was going to live out the rest of my days on earth.

And. I don’t say that in the sense that it was the yarn that changed my life, but it was the act of my own mother’s love for her granddaughter and for me that allowed us to have a very sacred, special way to hold Bridget. 

And then for us to turn around and say, in the middle of our grief, “We want other families who are experiencing this loss to experience this kind of comfort and this kind of hope.”

And so when we started Bridget’s Cradles, we knew that the cradles were going to be our core ministry, that we wanted families who experienced the loss of a baby in the second trimester to have something to hold their baby and bond with them in those moments that they have together. 

But we also knew that our story was much bigger than the cradle, because the cradle is a comfort for 24 hours. Some families choose to hold onto their cradle, and sleep with it or put it in a shadow box, and it does still provide a sense of comfort. And for us, we chose to bury Bridget in her cradle, in her casket, and that provides a sense of comfort for me. But at the end of the day, my hope is not in a cradle, and my ultimate comfort is not in a cradle.

And for us as an organization, we really believe that the Gospel is our eternal hope and our eternal comfort. And so the reason we chose the name Cradled in Hope for our podcast and then for my book is that we believe we are cradled in hope. We have Jesus cradling us and also cradling our babies.

And so the subtitle is Trusting Jesus to Heal Your Heart as He Holds Your Baby in Heaven.

And there’s an illustration on the cover of Jesus holding a baby, but also with His arm around a mother. And so that’s the feeling that I want a mother to feel, is that at the same time that the Holy Spirit lives in her, and Jesus is physically present with her, healing her heart, sitting in her sadness, walking through the grief journey with her, at that exact same moment, the physical Jesus in Heaven is holding her baby. And we have this dual Heaven and earth comfort because God is in Spirit here with us on earth, and He’s in Heaven. 

And so to me, that’s just this feeling of being held. And I think when you’re going through something as traumatic and painful as losing a baby, you just want to be held. Even though you’re in your twenties, your thirties, however old you are, you just want to be held and know that, “I’m safe and I’m secure, and that God is soothing me in this and He is with me. I’m not left alone to go through this.”

And so the word cradled to me just immediately conjures up this feeling of nurturing, of love, of being cared for, being seen. And I believe that’s what God offers us. 

And so knowing that the mom is being cradled just as much as the baby’s being cradled, and if I could just share a little bit about that illustration on the cover: In the book, there’s also a picture of my dad with me on the day that Bridget went to Heaven.

And I’m sitting at the end of a hospital bed in the classic gown that you have, and my dad has his arm around my shoulder, and it’s like that physical presence of a father.

It’s like my dad couldn’t fix the situation at that moment, our Heavenly Father can fix the situation of death. He’s the only one that can reverse the separation that we’ve experienced because of death. But for my earthly father, his presence in that moment was comforting. 

And so I actually used that photo, and I gave that to the illustrator who designed that image to show a father’s love and comfort of his physical presence.

And so that’s what Cradled in Hope means to me. And that’s what I want moms to feel, is that you’re not alone. You have a good Father who is with you every moment, and He has not left your side, not when you were in the doctor’s office when you found out this devastating news, not when you were in your bathroom and you miscarried, not when you were leaving the hospital, not when you were at the graveside burying your baby. You were not left, you were being held. So that’s the meaning behind Cradled in Hope. 

Kristin Hernandez: [00:37:44] I love the title and the picture on the front, the cover and the title, just all of it. Just the image that that portrays, that Jesus is holding us. He’s holding us and our babies, and just what an encouragement, and a hope, and a comfort that is for us today.

Ashley Opliger: [00:38:01] Thank you for listening to the Cradled in Hope Podcast. We pray that you found hope and healing in today’s episode. 

Don’t forget to subscribe so you don’t miss new episodes when they release each month. You can also find this episode’s show notes and a full transcript on our website at bridgetscradles.com/podcast. 

Be sure to sign up for our email list on our website, so that we can keep you updated on upcoming podcast episodes, support groups, and other hope-filled resources.

You can also purchase my book, Cradled in Hope, wherever books are sold. It’s a biblical guide for grieving moms to find hope after miscarriage, stillbirth, or infant loss. Written from the depths of my own heartbreak, I share vulnerably about losing my daughter, Bridget, and how God met me in my grief. Through Scripture, theology, and soul-deep reflections, Cradled in Hope offers biblical wisdom, practical guidance, and the eternal hope of seeing your baby again in Heaven through faith in Jesus.

To accompany the book, I’ve also created a companion guide called the Cradled in Hope Guided Journal to help you process your grief and reflect on your healing journey with Jesus in a personal and deeper way. You can download it for free on my author website atAshleyOpliger.com/Journal.

Are you looking for ways to use your grief for good? Visit our website to learn how you can volunteer or donate to Bridget’s Cradles in memory of a baby in Heaven. 

Do you want a quick way to make an eternal impact? Share this episode with a friend or leave a review on Apple Podcasts to help more grieving moms find the same comfort you’ve received here.

Thank you so much for listening and sharing. Until next time, we will be praying for you. And remember, as Jesus cradles our babies in Heaven, He cradles us in hope. Though we grieve, we do not grieve without hope. 

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