Join us for a hope-filled conversation with Jennie Parks, the Executive Director of Hope Mommies, a nonprofit dedicated to providing support and hope for grieving mothers who have experienced miscarriage, stillbirth, or infant loss. Jennie shares her personal story of losing her daughter, Paige, and how her profound loss inspired her to help others through their grief.
Ashley and Jennie discuss the complexities of navigating grief, the importance of community, and the comfort found in God's promises. Grieving moms will be encouraged by Jennie's testimony and her reflection on love, loss, and hope. Lastly, Jennie shares about the mission and resources of Hope Mommies and how the organization fosters community among grieving mothers, offering them comfort grounded in the hope of Christ.
In this episode, we discussed:
Traumatic experiences at the hospital
The influence of nurses on bereavement care
Finding purpose in pain by partnering with an existing organization
The importance of a Christ-centered community
Navigating a crisis of faith and seeking Jesus in the midst of it
Sitting in your pain and truly lamenting your loss
Handling hard milestones such as baby's Heaven Day
All about their Hope Boxes, Hope Groups, Podcast, and Retreats
Full transcript below.
MEET OUR GUEST
Jennie is the Executive Director for Hope Mommies, a nonprofit ministry that seeks to bring the hope of Christ to grieving mothers after they've suffered a miscarriage, stillbirth, or infant death.
She and her husband, Brian, live in Washington State and have four children together—including a daughter, Paige, who was born into Heaven in 2010. She enjoys spending time in God’s Word, the work she does with Hope Mommies, fresh flowers, board games, and evening walks in her neighborhood. She adores being a new creation in Christ and prays she reflects Him well to those around her.
Connect with Jennie:
Facebook: Hope Mommies
Instagram: @hopemommies
Website: www.hopemommies.org
CRADLED IN HOPE PODCAST
New episodes will be shared on the 1st of every month. Don't miss a single episode...subscribe wherever you podcast!
Please also leave a review to help spread the message of hope with other grieving mommas!
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:
Facebook /ashleyopliger
Instagram @ashleyopliger
Pinterest /ashleyopliger
Follow Bridget’s Cradles:
Facebook /bridgetscradles
Instagram @bridgetscradles
Pinterest /bridgetscradles
Follow Cradled in Hope Podcast:
Facebook /cradledinhope
Instagram @cradledinhope
Hashtags:
JOIN OUR CRADLED IN HOPE COMMUNITY FOR GRIEVING MOMS
EPISODE TRANSCRIPT
Episode 57 | Finding Healing in Community and Christ’s Comfort After Losing a Baby | Jennie Parks
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 nonprofit ministry in memory of my daughter, Bridget, who was stillborn at 24 weeks.
Cradled in Hope is a Gospel-focused podcast for grieving moms to find comfort, hope, and healing after the loss of a baby. We want this to be a safe place 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: [00:00:54] Welcome back to another episode of Cradled in Hope. I am so honored to have Jennie Parks, the Executive Director for Hope Mommies, on our podcast.
If you haven't heard of Hope Mommies, Hope Mommies is a nonprofit ministry that seeks to bring the hope of Christ to grieving moms after they've suffered a miscarriage, stillbirth, or infant death. You will learn all about Hope Mommies in this episode, but let me tell you a little bit more about Jennie.
Jennie and her husband, Brian, live in Oregon and they have four children together, including a little girl named Paige, who has been with Jesus since 2010. You will hear Paige's story in this episode.
If you were to knock on Jennie's front door today, you'd find her in something comfortable drinking a hot cup of tea while trying to figure out how to balance all the things that make up life. She enjoys spending time in God's Word, the work she does with Hope Mommies, fresh flowers, board games, and evening walks in her neighborhood. She adores being a new creation in Christ and prays she reflects Him well to those around her.
Well, I can tell you that in this conversation she does just that. She reflects Him and His love and I am so excited for you all to hear her testimony. Let's dive in now.
Ashley Opliger: [00:02:06] Welcome to the Cradled in Hope Podcast, Jennie. We're so glad you're here.
Jennie Parks: [00:02:10] Thank you so much for having me.
Ashley Opliger: [00:02:12] Well, I have been wanting to have you on our podcast for a very long time. I have been such a fan and advocate for your ministry, Hope Mommies. It's just such a biblically sound ministry that points grieving moms to the hope of Christ.
And there's just been so many of our grieving moms that come in through our ministry that have had so many wonderful things to say about your ministry. So I'm delighted to have you here and to introduce any moms that have not heard about you to your organization as well. So would you share your story of losing your precious daughter, Paige, and how Hope Mommies began?
Jennie Parks: [00:02:50] Absolutely. But at that time it was great. And so I think anytime you have anything hard happen during a pregnancy, which, even though my first is here and didn't die, that NICU stay was exhausting. It was such a rollercoaster and there were times where we thought he wasn't going to make it. And so you just carry all those fears with you into your next pregnancy, all the things that happened with your first.
So at that 20 week appointment, we found out that she was a girl and I named her Paige Marie. That is my middle name, my mom's first name, my grandma's middle name, my great-grandma's middle name. And so it felt really sweet to be just passing on that family legacy of that name.
So I started shopping for everything that was pink that week. I really had just been waiting to find out if it was a boy or a girl. And once we found out it was a girl, I told my husband like, “It's on. We are just going to prepare and get ready.” So I started shopping for everything that was pink and floral patterned, and I was so excited to be having a girl.
And I was feeling so great, honestly, so much better in just my physical body during that pregnancy with her than I did with my first. And so I don't know, I was just kind of on cloud nine.
Something that my doctor also said to me at that 20 week ultrasound, I felt like really just changed my heart. He told me, “Every pregnancy is different and every baby is different, and just because your cervix failed with that first one, I don't want you to miss the joy in this one. It doesn't mean it's going to fail with this one. We're just going to watch you closely.”
And I felt so much comfort in that and I just carried that with me as, “This is different and this is new.” And I had so much hope. I knew that the NICU stay was really scary, but also having been through it, I was kind of like, “We could face it again.” It was hard, but I just had so much hope and I trusted that it would be different.
So a few more weeks went by and I was still feeling really great and it was time to go back in for another cervical length check. And since I had been feeling so awesome, I told my husband, “You don't need to go with me to this appointment.” He had a meeting at work and so I was like, “Don't miss it.”
Normally I would take my three-year-old son with me to these appointments too, but my mom just happened to have Fridays off at that time in our life. And so my husband went to work and I took my son to my mom's house. And then I went to the doctor alone. The tech did the cervical link check and everything felt like it normally did. She was talking to me the whole time.
And those are different anyway, because they're vaginals. You can't really see the baby. And so it's like I kind of was just staring up at the ceiling and talking to her. And it got over, and she was letting me know, “Okay, I'm going to leave the room and you can get dressed.” But she's like, “I need you to stay because I saw something a little concerning, but I just want to ask the doctor and make sure that he sees the same thing I do, because I don't know what it is.”
I didn't even ask in that moment. I was just like, “Okay, she sees something; the doctor's going to come in.”
And I was just thinking, “Lord, whatever it is, we can handle it. And I trust You. And I know You're with me.” And again, I think because we'd been through that 66-day NICU stay, but that my son was home and healthy and growing, he was three at the time, I really felt like we could handle anything. But I never could have imagined what was to come.
So the doctor came back into the room and instead of doing a vaginal ultrasound like the tech had just done, he said, “I want to do a transabdominal ultrasound just so that we can check the baby and make sure that this … The tech probably saw something mistaken, she probably mistook something, but I just want to check myself and make sure.”
And the second that he placed that wand on my stomach and turned the screen toward me, we both could see that there was no heartbeat. And he was so great. He was wonderful, so kind, told me that there just wasn't anything that they could do. I think that was also really hard for me too, because she was 22 weeks, five days, and my son had been 28 weeks, five days.
And so I know that's six weeks of difference, but in my mind, like my momma mind and heart at that time, I was like, “All right, well, fix it.” You know what I mean? I was like, “What are you going to do? There has to be something that you can do.”
And so he just asked if there was someone who could come be with me. So of course I immediately called my husband and he dropped everything at work to come be with me.
And the doctor just explained over and over again, sometimes horrible things just happen. And unfortunately it was a Friday afternoon and there was no availability to deliver at the hospital until Monday. So he told me we would just have to go home and wait out the weekend.
I remember the nurse letting us leave through the back door of the office so that we didn't have to walk through the waiting room. And I just remember feeling like that was such a kindness in that moment because I just felt like everyone would be looking at me, even though they wouldn't. And I didn't want to see their big pregnant bellies either, just a reminder of, “Yes, I'm pregnant. I look big and pregnant, but I'm not anymore in that way.”
I remember holding my husband's hand as we drove home and we were just sobbing and staring out the windshield. We weren't talking. It was like we just didn't know what to do. It's just that grief. And I'd never felt so broken in my life.
So that weekend, all that I did was cry, truly, and sit on the couch in the dark, holding my stomach. And I think it's just such a strange feeling to know that your baby's soul is already with the Lord, but their body is still with you.
It felt like too much. It was so heavy. I just, I loved her and I was grateful for that extra time. And also I was just waiting for Monday. It was 2010 when I lost her, so 14 years ago, and it wasn't the dark ages. And looking back now, I'm like, “Gosh, I wish I would have Googled stillbirth or I wish I would have Googled things you might want to do with your baby.
Or my doctor didn't tell me that I might want to bring a camera to the hospital. And those are things that I just didn't think of when you have a baby. Of course, I brought my camera to the hospital when we had Trent, and outfits and different things. And it was like this just felt so foreign or so like such a shock.
It was like my brain wasn't even working or like processing just those normal things that you might want. So research of any kind or preparation just kind of was out the door. And my doctor had said the hospital will take care of everything.
Well, my hospital didn't. They just didn't know. And you don't know what you don't know, but I feel like some of the things that happened after I had my daughter are really what has made me so passionate about serving the loss community or working with Hope Mommies, even giving back to my local hospitals because I just think education and advocacy are so important. I don't ever want another mom to suffer through some of the things that I did just because they were uncomfortable that a baby died.
And also, I want to have compassion and grace for the doctors and nurses, because I cannot imagine how hard that is to walk into a room and to have to help in that situation.
But I think one of my biggest, biggest sadnesses is that the nurses sent my daughter to the funeral home before telling me.
So when we went to the hospital that Monday, we delivered her, and she was beautiful, and I wanted to soak up every ounce of her. And so we held her for hours and then the evening came, and there was a shift change with the nurses.
My daytime nurse had been amazing with me, so wonderful, told us we could hold her as much as we wanted because this time was so short and so precious. But the nighttime nurses, there were two, and one was training, and honestly, they just didn't want to have to deal with that.
When it got to be about 8:30, they were like, “You need to go to sleep. We're going to give you a sleeping pill, and we're going to take your daughter away.” And they're like, “You can see her again in the morning, but this is too much.”
And I just remember sitting here with my husband thinking like, “This is too much? Like too much that I'm asking to hold her?”
The nurse only a couple hours ago had told me, “Hold her as long as you want.” And, “This is all that you get with her, and so we want to help facilitate that.” And then to have that in the evening, it just, it was so confusing.
And so the next morning, when I woke up, I asked to see my daughter again, and the nurse said, “Oh, we already sent her to the funeral home, so she's over there. You guys just need to go over there. They're waiting for you.”
Our appointment with them was at like 10 or 10:30 and I just remember feeling like that broke me. I was so disappointed. I wish they would have told me. Even if she would have told me last night, “We need to send her to the funeral home,” at least I would have prepared for that. She had told me, “You can see her in the morning. I need you to go to sleep.”
And so I think when I've done a few trainings at the hospital since losing Paige and just getting to talk to doctors and nurses and sharing my experience, something that I always say is, “Even if it's uncomfortable, say that hard thing or do that hard thing and keep your word.” Keeping your word is so, so important to anyone and especially to us loss moms when the time is so precious.
Ashley Opliger: [00:11:27] I am so sorry that you went through everything that you just shared, but especially to have nurses that are not trained and compassionate. I know you said your first shift, the nurses were, but the 2nd shift, and I can tell you from my experience in working with thousands of hospitals and grieving moms across the country, I always say it really is nurse dependent.
Because you can have some really, really great nurses that are comfortable with bereavement and know where the resources are in the hospital and are going to go and grab the cradle and get the memory box and do the handprints and the footprints and call Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep and get the photos and all of that.
But then there's some nurses that either are not aware of those resources or don't feel comfortable doing all of those things. And so that's why I'm so grateful for an organization that we partner with, which is Rachel's Gift. They go in and train and educate the nurses and have a training protocol where all nurses at the hospital, regardless of shift, are educated because it really does matter on which nurse you get.
We've had multiple stories come in from families that have gone to a particular hospital and it's like very different stories, dependent on the nurse. And so that's obviously very hard to hear, but also encouraging for any nurses who are listening to know that you have so much power and so much responsibility and the ability to make a huge difference in the life of a bereaved parent and in the experience of a bereaved parent when they go into the hospital experiencing literally the most traumatic and painful loss that they're probably ever going to walk through.
Jennie Parks: [00:13:14] I do think nurses have that ability to set the tone almost for your grief in those very first moments, because I think, not knowing anyone that this had happened to at the time, I had no one to ask questions of or no one to talk to.
And so to kind of feel from the nurses, “Okay, well,” basically, “you had this baby. Now this baby needs to be buried in the ground and your body needs to heal. And you just need to go home,” it kind of left me just confused.
I had all these feelings and all of this grief and the first nurse making me feel like it was okay to openly love my baby, outwardly love my baby, hold her, look at her, all of those things, that that was normal for me to want to do, I think that that really just kind of played a game with my mind of, “Is there something wrong with me that I want to see my dead baby? Is there something weird about me wanting to see my dead baby?”
And so that was just really hard. So I commend nurses truly that can enter into these spaces because it really is such sacred work and important work.
So I am so glad to know that there are places like Rachel's Gift that will train because it is just so valuable. Again, those moments, they're the ones that we think about still, 14 years later.
Ashley Opliger: [00:14:28] And to your point, what you said about 14 years ago, my daughter was born in 2014 at 24 weeks, five days. Even though it wasn't the Stone Ages, it was a different time era than it is now.
Jennie Parks: [00:14:43] Definitely.
Ashley Opliger: [00:14:44] I feel, in my 10 years of ministry, I've seen the bereavement space in hospitals change a lot. And not just in hospitals, but even in our culture in talking about it and sharing on social media.
Jennie Parks: [00:14:56] Yes.
Ashley Opliger: [00:14:57] And so I do think the times have changed, and there's been a lot of advancements in compassion for grieving families in the hospitals, and more organizations like yours and mine that come out of the ashes of this grief.
And a lot of times it's the very people who have been through it and have gone through painful experiences and want to advocate for change. And so I have seen changes and I do work with so many amazing hospitals and compassionate nurses.
But to your point, it is such sacred work, and they do set the tone for the beginning stages of grief and really navigating and holding the family's hand through those first initial hours, because obviously the grieving goes long after they leave the hospital. But those first moments are so critical.
I mean, I've just had a support group with a mom who didn't even let them see the baby. But that has caused incredible trauma and grief. And so you not even giving them permission for your daughter's body to be taken from the hospital, I mean, that's literally your flesh and blood.
I remember for me, even when I knew that they were taking Bridget from the hospital to the funeral home, that moment broke me as well, and I had the knowledge. It was like this separation from my body to her body, and I wasn't ready to be physically separated.
And so I feel for you. It hurts my heart just hearing that because I remember how painful it was for me, and I knew that she was leaving, but it was that separation of my daughter and me, and now she's across town. And you not even given the courtesy or knowledge to make that choice, that's really sad.
And I'm grateful though, that you have stepped into that pain and said, “I'm going to do something about this. And I'm going to make sure that no other family in my local hospitals have to go through this.”
Ashley Opliger: [00:16:56] We hope you are enjoying this episode so far. We want to take a quick break to tell you about some resources our ministry provides to grieving moms.
On our website, bridgetscradles.com, you can find hope-filled resources on grieving and healing including memorial ideas, quotes & Scripture, featured stories, and recommended books and other organizations. We share ideas on how to navigate difficult days such as due dates, Heaven Days, and holidays.
In addition, every month I lead Christ-centered support groups for bereaved moms called Hope Gatherings, both in-person and online. You can find a list of upcoming dates and sign up for our next support group on our website.
Lastly, we would love for you to connect with us on Facebook and Instagram. You can find us on these three pages: @bridgetscradles, @cradledinhope, and my personal page @ashleyopliger. You can also join our private Cradled in Hope Facebook group for grieving moms to find community. We would be honored to hear your baby’s story and be praying for you by name. Now let’s get back to our episode.
Ashley Opliger: [00:18:07] Speaking of change and all of the different things that you were doing through your grief and in your grief as a response to what the Lord was asking you, will you share with me how Hope Mommies came to be and what that looked like in your grief journey?
Jennie Parks: [00:18:22] Yeah. I did not start Hope Mommies, but I have been serving with the organization since 2013, and I've been the executive director since 2016.
After I lost my daughter, I was feeling so alone, and I just took to the blogging world because it was 2010 and blogs were big back then. And so I just started writing about my loss, and I got connected to Hope Mommies and Erin Cushman through blogging and Sarah Maxwell, and just kind of connected online and loved everything that they were doing and everything that they stood for.
Erin Cushman started Hope Mommies in 2011 after the death of her daughter, Gwendolyn, as a way to serve moms with truth and community because she noticed a gap. There was just a gap with the way that even you're treated in church, sometimes by people who love you.
Church can be a really hard place for a lot of people after loss. And she was just like, “There's got to be somewhere to bridge the gap, somewhere that people can still honestly talk to the Lord and honestly lament, and that they are surrounded by people and that they're not isolated and they're not alone.”
And so what she started with just Hope Boxes, which weren't even a box. There was just a care package at the time or like a basket. Has grown so large, but in that time, I joined the Facebook group, and there were 30 women on the page, and now there are thousands.
And so it's just sweet for me to look back and see just all that the Lord has done with Hope Mommies and through Hope Mommies.
But I went to a retreat, and after that retreat, she reached out, and she just said, “Hey, I just really love some of the things that you said in your small group. And I think that you might be great leading small groups for us and trying to start a new area of ministry within Hope Mommies called Hope Groups. And that's just going to be a small group Bible study. I’m kind of in the process of writing a book, but not really there yet. I'm not sure what it looks like. Do you want to help?”
And I was like, “I am not qualified to help you with anything.” So I was like, “I want to help.” And like, “I'm very scared. And I’m … I … Yes.” So that's kind of how that conversation went.
And so I started serving with her then, and I started organizing Hope Groups and running those small groups for her. And so we just did it in the fall of 2013 for the first time. And we had just such a great response from people that we were like, “We want to keep doing this.”
And she's like, “Would you like to join my leadership team? I have two other girls and I would love to have you join us.” And then slowly the leadership team grew.
And so Constance Ray had always been a part of Hope Mommies. She made the logo for Hope Mommies as a gift to Erin right after Gwendolyn died and before Christmas, before Hope Mommies was even a thing, so it was never meant to be a logo for a business. It was just a gift to a friend.
And then Erin was like, “Great. Can I use it as the logo for my ministry?” And so she had filled out all her 501c3 paperwork and got ready to go. And so then I'd been serving with her for a few years and Hope Mommies was continuing to grow, and her husband and her, they decided that they were going to plant a church.
And she was like, “Being a pastor's wife, that's going to take more time than what I … I don't have enough time for that and for Hope Mommies. And so, do you want to take over the day-to-day operations of the organization?”
And so Erin still sits on the Board. Someone in her family will always sit on the Board. Her sister sat on the Board before, her husband, herself, but I took over in 2016. And since then, we have grown even more.
So yeah, Obviously, I know your story of Bridget’s Cradles started this way. And the story of Hope Mommies started this way.
So even though I wasn't the one to start it, I was just the one that I was serving like crazy at my local hospital and trying to do things in my local community. I just felt like, “There has got to be a better way for women to go through grief and loss than what I did. And I want to make things better for those women that come after me.”
Ashley Opliger: [00:22:15] Well, that's amazing, Jennie. I just so applaud you for diving in. And even though you didn't feel qualified, God qualified you and called you to this and has been doing amazing things through your ministry.
And honestly, as I was listening to it all, I was thinking: So often with organizations there's a founder, and then there's all these other team members. And I always feel like with Bridget’s Cradles, people think it's just me doing everything, or people might think that about Erin. But there are so many other beautiful, amazing people that make up the leadership team, that make up the volunteer team, allow all the missions and operations and things to take place.
And what I have found to be really beautiful is all these other sisters in Christ that are surrounding me and leading this ministry alongside of me. And so I love to hear that Erin has you and this entire team of women that are moving the mission forward.
Because a lot of times I think people think, and I know this is going to sound ironic because I started a ministry, but a lot of times I think people think, “Well, I need to start my own thing.”
But I think there's a lot of beauty in coming alongside an organization that you trust and respect and who is biblically aligned with you and say, “I love the work that you're doing. I want to be a part of it. Where can I use my gifts and skills that God has given me into what You've already created?”
Because sometimes you don't necessarily need to reinvent something. It's that you're meant to plug in and help grow and thrive an organization that’s already existing. And so I love that you did that, and I'm very fond of so many of your team members.
Kristin, who now does your podcast. we've had her on our podcast, I think, 5 times. And now she's part of your team and it just seems like such a beautiful connection and working of sisters.
Jennie Parks: [00:24:09] Yes.
Ashley Opliger: [00:24:09] Will you share more about the podcast that you have? And then also there are so many resources that you offer. You've mentioned the retreats and the Hope Boxes, but will you kind of dive into each of those different aspects of Hope Mommies?
Jennie Parks: [00:24:21] Yes, of course.
Our podcast, it was so fun how that came to be. That had been a dream of Hope Mommies for probably the last five-ish years, but we just kind of were like, “There's so much other work to be done, so many things that we're already doing.” And there wasn't anybody really to drive that or run that.
As you said, sometimes you can look in an organization and think, “Oh, I want to start my own,” or, “Oh, maybe they don't need help.”
There's still so many dreams that I have that I want for Hope Mommies and we just need the people. So I pray often, my prayer is, “Lord, bring the people that are going to run this, and God, also please raise someone up behind me because I'm not going to be in this role forever.”
And so I think when we think about longevity and we think about ministry work, it is about discipleship and it is about a team and it's about moving that mission forward. It's not about me and it's not about any of the specific girls on my team. It's about, over all, the goal of Hope Mommies.
And the podcast was just really cool though, because Kristin, she had done some speaking during our Advent season. We have closed Facebook communities, and so she had done an Advent series through there for us.
And then I had asked her, we had a virtual retreat one year and I needed someone else to sit on the panel. And I knew that she had done a podcast before, and so I was like, “Oh, let's reach out to her and ask her if she'd like to sit on this panel and just answer our community's questions.”
And so she did, and she was so great. And during that time, there was a bunch of other women from my team, but I noticed she was not shy and all these other women that she didn't know, she would just step in and answer their question. And it was so biblically sound and just a good answer. And she was also fun.
And so I'm like, “Okay, well, she's a great speaker.” And so then she wrote her book and I knew that and I finally read it. I hadn't read it, and I'd had it forever. And so then finally I was like, “Okay.” I read her book and then I was like, “Oh, that's great. I'm asking her to speak at retreat.
So I asked her to speak at retreat and she said yes right away. And she came and we just hit it off personally. She hit it off with the rest of my team and she wanted to eat her meals with us and she wanted to help us decorate. And she was just very invested in everything.
And so we had such a great time that weekend. Her speaking sessions were beautiful and the weekend ended and we were both just like, “Oh, man, I don't want this to end. I feel like we've been friends forever and what could you do for Hope Mommies?”
And it was kind of like, “I don't know.” And she went home, and I went home.
And then our Northern Indiana chapter wanted to host a retreat that year. And they're like, “If we did the same thing that you guys did, can we hire Kristin again? Could you help us reach out to her?”
And so they hired Kristin for their retreat, and I ended up going to help volunteer at that retreat and we had time together again. And so during one of the breaks, we just stole away to the car and locked ourselves in our rental car and we were like, “Look, we've got to do something. You've got to join our team in some capacity.”
And so we weren't really sure what that would look like, and then it turned into a podcast. Like two hours later, we had decided it was a podcast and it was launching. I hadn't even talked to my Board of Directors yet. I hadn't even said, “This is the new thing I want to do.”
So I had to come home from that and talk to my Board and say, “Hey, we want to start this, and we looked at costs and I really think we can do it.”
And so we did, and it's been great. And she's been the best addition to the team. And the podcast has really just helped Hope Mommies to expand their reach because our Hope Boxes are our main point of contact with moms.
But if we don't know a mailing address for someone, if one's not ordered, if they don't have a local chapter in their area, there's so many moms that we can miss. And so with the podcast, it has just opened the doors to so many other women finding us, which has been really sweet to see.
Women that signed up for our retreat this year, we have a question on registration, “How did you hear about us?” And how they heard about us was the podcast. So it's just been fun to watch that grow and evolve and be able to reach a whole new set of moms that we would normally not have been able to reach-
Ashley Opliger: [00:28:23] Amen.
Jennie Parks: [00:28:23] … which I'm sure you recognize from your podcast.
Ashley Opliger: [00:28:23] Yes. Yes. I'm nodding my head over here because our podcast is the same. I just always say it's like the ministry through the airwaves that we're able to share the Gospel through earbuds.
Jennie Parks: [00:28:33] Yes.
Ashley Opliger: [00:28:33] And there's so many times that moms will come to our support groups online or to our annual Wave of Light event because they heard the podcast. Or they'll receive one of our cradles in the hospital, and then they'll start listening to the podcast when they go home from the hospital and it's like immediate support, immediate encouragement.
And that always just makes me feel so encouraged, knowing that that kind of bridged the gap between when they left the hospital and when they could get to a support group.
But first of all, I just want to say, yeah, you have found a gem in Kristin. There is no better person that you could have for your podcast. Kristin and I are close friends, I've never met her in person, but we've had lots of conversations over the years, and biblically sound servant leader. I'm so grateful that you have her.
I would recommend to any of our listeners of Cradled in Hope to listen to the Hope Mommies Podcast because I know that the advice and the wisdom and guidance is all sound theologically. And you can't say that about everything these days, unfortunately.
Jennie Parks: [00:29:37] I know.
Ashley Opliger: [00:29:37] And so I just so appreciate that you, as the Executive Director and in your leadership Board for Hope Mommies, that you value that in all the pieces, that you're screening your speakers at your retreats, because you want to make sure that the hope that's coming out is grounded in Christ and in biblical knowledge. So I just thank you for that.
Will you share for moms who are listening how they can get a Hope Box? And then also, if they want to come to a retreat, how do they find out about the dates and locations?
Jennie Parks: [00:30:10] Yeah. Our Hope Boxes, if you live within a chapter area, which we have so many chapters now, we currently have 12 chapters; come March, we'll have 14, so we have two more that are coming. But if they are within a chapter area, all that they need to do is reach out to that chapter.
So you can find us at hopemommies.org. On our website there are links to go to every chapter, like every chapter's email or Facebook page, or you can message us directly.
Boxes can be ordered on our website for $60. A lot of hospitals already do have them, especially in the state of Texas. That is where most of our chapters are. But there are other ones in New Mexico and Northern Indiana and Oklahoma and Louisiana. Those are the other states outside of Texas, and Florida now just launched.
But our Hope Boxes are our main outreach, and they are meant to be given to women right after the loss of their baby, within like probably that first 30- to 60-day mark. And they're just filled with tangible gifts that express love and provide biblical truth that invite women into our community.
They all have a brochure telling them about Hope Mommies, everything that we offer, because we do have a program that will pay medical bills, called our Gift of Hope. And so those medical bills are so time-sensitive. So there is information for that on the top.
There is a devotion written by our founder, Erin Cushman. It's called Bright Hope. It's 28 daily devotions. And so we know that right after loss, you need those little bite-sized nuggets of truth. Sometimes you can't sit down with a huge book, and so just something short that you can read every morning or every night before you go to bed, that will just ground you in the truth.
It comes with a Bible. It comes with a Heaven booklet from Randy Alcorn. It comes with a mug for you to drink your tea or your coffee or whatever that says, “I am a Hope Mom”, so that you can just be reminded of who you are, that you are a Hope Mom and your baby is alive and whole with Christ and wanting for nothing.
And there's tea and there's bracelets and lotion and chapstick. And we have the sweetest candle maker out of Fredericksburg, Texas, Comfort Candles, shout out to Ben. And he's just amazing. He has been the sweetest, sweetest man making candles for us since 2011.
And he's going to transition into making our lotions, and he has been doing that just for us, making them the same scent as our candle, because that's been such an identifier for our moms. They'll get that candle in their boxes, and they'll burn it, and then it's gone and they want another one. And so he's titled it Comfort, and so it's just so sweet. They can reach out to him, and he'll let them order another candle.
And so anything you can have that are those reminders, that candle scent, it's so sweet how it just has reminded women of their babies. So anyway, those boxes can be ordered online from a friend or a family member. You could order one for yourself, but we would prefer to send you one if you want to reach out to us.
But also something really great about our Hope Boxes are they also are a way that you can give back to your local community. So you can host a Hope Box Gathering. If you have lost a baby, I've done this in honor of my daughter's birthday a few times, and then once just because my local pregnancy center said, “Hey, we want more,” so I did a Box Gathering in the middle of the year.
But there's a way on our website you can contact us to host a Gathering, and you'll fundraise from your friends and family. We'll set everything up for you on our website.
And then once your fundraiser is over, whether you've raised $200 or $500, we mail you the supplies to make boxes for however much you fundraised, and then you'll put them together with your family and friends. You'll write the notes to the Hope Moms, and you'll take them to your local hospitals or funeral homes or physicians’ offices. And it's a really sweet way for you to be a part of our ministry and for you to give back.
And last year we did almost 3,000 boxes, and 1,700 of those were from Gatherings, and so just from women coast to coast. And so it's just a really beautiful part because we know how important it is to give back. And I think it's sweet for us to make the boxes and mail them out all the time. But it's also really sweet for you, for the mom that lost a baby to be able to do that and share that with her family and friends and her local community.
And so many of our local chapters that we have started because moms hosted a Box Gathering and then they were like, “I really want to bring this to my community and even in a bigger way.” So that's really sweet.
We also have our One Year Closer Hope Boxes, which, that was a term that Erin coined as well. After Gwendolyn, her first birthday, she was like, “I am one year closer to her. I'm one year closer to Heaven and I made it." And so we created these One Year Closer Boxes a few years ago because we decided that that time leading up to your baby's birthday is just so hard.
My daughter was stillborn in August and when July hits, it's like I can feel that change in my body. I can feel, my body just knows. my body remembers, and I'm remembering, “Okay, I went to this appointment this day and we had to go to the funeral home this day.
And that is probably the last time I felt her kick, or that's the last picture I have of myself pregnant while she was still alive, was taken at the boat races.” And I have all of those summer memories.
And so these boxes we created, they have just Scripture cards with them. They come with a little wooden stand and it comes with a candle that smells like birthday cake. And then, every day of the week leading up to your baby's birthday, you could change it. And they just will hopefully remind you of truth and remind you of the Lord.
And so that's been a really, really sweet thing. And so it's nice. And I love seeing, oftentimes it's like a mom buying it for her daughter who lost a baby or a friend buying it for someone who lost a baby. Again, you're also welcome to buy one for yourself. But they're beautiful as well, they were designed, the boxes, gorgeous. And it's a sweet keepsake.
We also have our retreats. I know you asked me to talk about retreats. So those are just a unique weekend gathering of Hope Moms in any season of life.
It can be someone that just lost a baby a month ago or someone who lost 35 years ago. One of my most special memories of a retreat with a woman who traveled from Colorado to be with us in Texas, and she had lost babies that she never got to see, never got to hold, never got pictures of. And for her to be able to talk about them over the weekend, and when you don't have a picture of your baby, at our Hope Mommies Retreat, we represent babies with their photos, and so we have a prayer room and their photos are hung up.
But for women that don't have that and don't have those keepsakes, we make really beautiful name images and hang those in there. So they get keepsakes to take home for those babies, but this woman, especially just to watch her slowly, just her walls fall down and her be able to say her babies’ names and think about, “Do I even want to name them?”
A lot of times, if it's an early loss, they don't. They won't name their babies. And for some women, that's fine. But some women really years later have that desire, “I want to name my baby,” and that's fine. You know what I mean? I think it's so beautiful. And so it was just really sweet to see her over the weekend, just the shift in her from Friday night to Sunday morning.
And I think retreats in general, that is my favorite part since serving with Hope Mommies, I love the small groups. I love all of it. I love meeting women that have lost babies. You have that immediate connection.
Even recording with you today, we had only ever emailed, but I was like, “Man, I feel like we’re friends.” There's just that connection of something so deep about me that maybe other people don't in a lot of the intimate details because you've gone through that too.
And just a lot of those pretenses fall away and we find that we do have more in common than we don't.
And so my job now as director and running the whole weekend and being the emcee for the whole weekend, I find that my voice isn't loud enough to quiet the room on Sunday morning.
On Fridays when women walk in, I feel like you could hear a pin drop and everyone's so nervous. And then come Sunday morning, it is just a bunch of friends chatting and not wanting to leave each other. And I'm over here like, “Hey, we need to stay on schedule.” So it's just beautiful.
We're going to be in Mineral Wells, Texas at the end of this month, the end of February. We have 55 moms that are going to be joining us and 88 babies between us all that will be remembered. So we have a lot of beautiful things planned.
I'm honestly really excited because I'm going to be a small group leader again, and I haven't been able to for years, but just the way some of my volunteers that are coming, the way that things shifted, I can trust people with other duties and I can do that again because that's a really life-giving part of the weekend for me.
So we have that. We also have our Hope Groups, which I kind of talked to as my entrance into Hope Mommies. And there are four full-length Bible studies that we run for 10 weeks in the fall and in the spring every year, and they're always led by someone different.
We currently have the teachings via Zoom, but some of our chapters also will do in-person Hope Groups sometimes, and they're really great. It's a way to get to know women on a smaller, deeper level, because sometimes a big community can be overwhelming, with thousands of women. Or you might comment on a post, but you don't really know that woman. But in that Hope Group that's where you get to meet them and make those connections, and I think it's so sweet.
We've had so many groups of women, and then they go through all four studies together and they request to still be together in that same group because they really have formed friendships. And it's been so sweet for me even to see, through Facebook, girls that actually get together and meet up. They'll drive a few hours to meet up for coffee. And it's, “#hopemommies, we met at Hope Groups”. And it's really sweet to see those relationships and the way that they encourage each other in the Lord.
And I think that is what I've always loved about Hope Mommies, and what set it apart is that it wasn't someone just feeling sorry for me in my grief or commiserating with me in my grief, but someone who loved me through my grief and also made me look at the hard parts of my story and still press in and seek Jesus in that, and not turn away and not just say, “Well, yeah,” like, “Maybe God has forgotten you or maybe you did do something wrong,” but people to point you to Scripture. Those are the best kind of friends. Those are the kind of friends that you want.
Ashley Opliger: [00:39:50] Amen. Well, that is beautiful and so incredibly important to have a community around you when you're grieving and not just any community, but a Christ-like community. Because so often when we're grieving, I really do believe the enemy wants to isolate us and to keep us in shame and to move us away from the heart of God and to make us feel abandoned and forsaken.
There's a lot of theological questions that you have when you lose a baby about God. And I always call it a crisis of faith of like, “What do I now believe about God? And how could a good God allow a baby to die, my baby to die? How can He be good to me?” And so there's all these hard questions.
And I think if we don't take them to the right place and we don't wrestle with them and really lean into those conversations with other women who are going to point us to Scripture and point us to the truth, we will come up with our own answers, or the world will have answers for us and the enemy will use that to lead us astray.
And I think the loss of a baby, unfortunately, is a perfect time for the enemy to wreak havoc in our hearts and our lives and try to to take our faith away. And so it's so important to have ministries like yours of Christ-minded, Gospel-focused women who are there to not only point us to the truth, but just to be in the journey and to sit in the sadness and to mourn and weep with them.
And I love how you honor their babies with this wall and the pictures. That's just so honoring to these precious little babies, their lives and saying, “These babies are worthy of being grieved. And this is a place for you to say their names and to talk about them and to open up about your grief.” Because so often in this world, we don't have a place to do that.
So I just thank you for having these safe places and this beautiful ministry that Erin started alongside all these beautiful women that have come alongside her and your Boards who make it what it is today. And it has grown into so many states and so many different avenues and programs, and I believe God has even more.
And so to your point earlier, you said you're still praying about dreams that you have inside of you. And I can say the same for me with Bridget’s Cradles, there's still so many programs and different things that we've thought about, but we've not been able to execute because of time and resources or finances.
And so this is a call here. If you're listening and you're like, “I want to use my grief for good. I want to have a purpose in my pain, and I want to serve other women, I just don't know how to start, and I don't want to start my own thing,” right here you've got two organizations that are saying: Get yourself plugged in.
Maybe you get started and do a Hope Box Gathering. I love that idea. That is perfect, because not only are you doing this in community, but then you go and spread it to your community, to these hospitals and funeral homes.
So no matter what it is, there's a place for you. Whatever gifts you have, there's a place for you. So thank you for that reminder, and if you're listening to this, you now have a direct connection to two executive directors at Christ-centered ministries that are looking for volunteers to further the mission. And so, please do reach out.
Jennie, will you share how people can connect with you directly and also how they can find all of these resources for Hope Mommies?
Jennie Parks: [00:43:25] Yes, hopemommies.org is the best place for all of the information, our website, obviously. We are on Instagram and Facebook. We have Spotify playlists. Sometimes if you just need some encouraging music while you're doing the dishes or out on a walk, we have a bunch of different playlists for you.
You can connect with me on social media. Jennie Parks is my name. You can find me on Instagram, I'm jennymarie80. Facebook, I'm Jennie Parks. You can always email me. You can email info@hopemommies.org. That goes directly to me for any questions or anything. I would love that.
Ashley Opliger: [00:43:59] That's wonderful. Well, thank you for sharing that. And if you could share a Bible verse that you clung to in your healing journey that made a difference for you, if you could share the Bible verse and then what it meant to you.
Jennie Parks: [00:44:13] Yeah. In the beginning, right after I lost my daughter, 2 Corinthians 4:18 was just so encouraging. “So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.”
And I love that verse because it just reminded me that I can't see it all. I can't see the end. My perspective is so limited, but the Lord's isn't. And so it reminded me to keep my focus on Heaven.
But truly later on, and I think still right now 14 years later, the verse that comforts me so much comes from Jeremiah. And so many people quote verse 29:11 “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future.” And that's a great promise, and I love that verse, but my favorite is just a little bit further.
If you read a little bit further in verses 12 and 13, it says, “Then you will call on Me, come and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. You will seek Me and you will find Me when you seek Me with all your heart.”
And I think that that is just so important to me right now because it's an invitation. And it's an invitation for me, and it's an invitation for you. God has plans for us and they're for good and for His glory. We have a God who wants to hear from us, a God who is after our hearts and who will listen. And He wants us to find Him. He is not hiding, and He hasn't looked awa,y and He is right here with us.
And I became a Christian when I was 22, and I lost my daughter when I was 30. And so I had been a Christian for eight years. And I think that I felt so hurt, like, “God, I'd had a lot of hurt in my life up to 22, and then I turned to You, and I felt like I could kind of let all of that fall away and I could follow You and trust You. And I believed that You had good things for my life.”
And I think that I thought I'd been through everything hard that I was ever going to have to be through because I did that all without the Lord and in my own strength.
“And there's a lot of hurt and a lot of pain, a lot of brokenness in my family, but now I found You, and now I'm doing it right. And now I'm married, and I'm going to church and I'm serving at church. And we had our first baby,” and all these things. I had this very wrong theology that, “God, I love You and I'm serving You and I'm doing all these things for You and suffering isn't going to befall me.”
And I think, “How could I read the Bible and think that?” But that's what my theology was in my heart at that time. And so then when Paige died, I was just like, “How could You do this to me? You're a Lord that could have stopped that. You're a Lord with a breath that could have made her live, and You didn't. And so why am I going through this suffering?”
Like you said, it really, it's a crisis of faith. It can be a crisis of faith. And so I think that this verse from Jeremiah just really reminds me: When I am in my darkest place, when I am in my lowest place, and I choose to call on You and I choose to pray to Yo,u and I choose to listen, You also, You listen, and You're there with me.
Like the Lord, speaking from the Lord, He hasn't left, and He's been there the whole time. And the one thing that He does promise me in the Bible is suffering.
“Lord, this is what You've promised, that the Christian life isn't easy and that I will suffer in this life. And my hope is You and my hope is that You're with me and that You see me and that I'm not alone and that Your Son died for me.”
And that's one of those things that I feel sometimes like I feel like a broken record at Hope Mommies, because I feel like it just always goes back to Jesus. It's like at the end of the day, Jesus reconciles lost sinners to a Holy God. He paid a price that we could never pay.
I was born an enemy of God. And that there's nothing I could ever do to get to Heaven on my own or to be favorable in God's eyes again without Jesus. And so it's like I owe Him everything.
And so I had to give my daughter back on this earth. Her life was a blip. My life is also a blip. And I know there's days that feel so long and so draining, and this, it feels like an eternity without her.
And in reality, it's not. It's all just keeping that Heavenly perspective. And at the same time, God does tell us that suffering is promised. But I also, I just always want to tell moms that suffering isn't your only narrative though. Discouragement isn't your only script. No darkness and no grief will ever hide you from God's love.
And so I just wish that our world would learn how to lament better. That is the number one platform of Hope Mommies is just sit with those that are grieving and truly process those feelings with the Lord. Because I think so many people think that healing will come with time.
And I think that time maybe does heal some things, just that distance from your loss. Maybe you forget some things, or those painful edges aren't so sharp anymore, but time will not heal you. Time will not take away an ounce of your pain. It's like shoving it all in a shoe box and putting it on the top of your closet. Well, it's still there. I think you maybe haven't dealt with it, but it's all still there.
And so I always encourage moms, “Take your shoe box down and you really need to wrestle with the Lord through all of these things.”
Ashley Opliger: [00:49:14] That's a really good analogy. I have a whole chapter in my book about sitting in the sadness with Jesus and how time cannot heal wounds. Time coupled with God and a support system can and will heal your heart.
Although I also say we're not going to be fully healed until we're in Heaven. We just can't be until we're fully in God's presence in the presence of our babies. But He can bring joy back to our lives. He can bring purpose in our pain. He can give us an abundant life that He's promised to give us on earth.
And so I love that you said that you are a broken record because to be honest, you and I in the position that we're in, leading women and doing podcasts and running a ministry, there shouldn't be anything new we're saying, really. The old truth is the truth.
Jennie Parks: [00:50:07] Amen.
Ashley Opliger: [00:50:07] And so every episode on Hope Mommies and every episode here on Cradled in Hope is going to be saying the same thing just over and over again.
I mean, sometimes I think about it, and I'm like, every podcast episode is essentially saying the same thing. And I think about it, and I'm like, “Oh, are people going to get sick of that? Are they going to get tired?”
But no, the old truth is the truth, and you just keep saying the truth. And you hear it from different people and hear people's stories and that's what makes episodes a little bit different. But really, we're here to share the Gospel, and there's only so many ways that you can say the Gospel and that's okay.
Share the Gospel. It's a simple Gospel, and so just keep sharing it over and over at every retreat, at every podcast, because that is what people need to hear. That is our hope to see our babies again. There's no other hope that we have.
And so I think it's okay to be a broken record, honestly. I mean, we shouldn't be coming up with new theologies and new things. I think that's the problem with our culture is we keep trying to latch on to some trend or something that's going to promise pleasure or healing. And it's like, these things are just Band-Aids. They're just Band-Aids, and they're not actually digging into the wound.
Like I call it in my book, you have to put salt on the wound. You have to let Jesus clean out the wound because we can't just keep putting stuff on top of it to make it feel better, because the cleaning and the healing part, the grieving, is painful. We have to sit in it.
And it's not fun, I can tell you. I'm going through it right now again in my life and it's not enjoyable. And a lot of times, I want to try to numb it and distract myself from it. But I know from personal experience in the past and through leading women, I have to sit in it. I have to let myself feel it. It’s like I will not find healing any other way.
Jennie Parks: [00:51:57] And I know that's so hard to hear. Everybody wants to hear, “What can I do to feel better? Or what can I do to be better and have this grief not be so painful?”
And unfortunately, you literally just have to walk through it, one step at a time, day by day. And then some days you go backwards, and then some days you go forward. My daughter, her 14th birthday was this year, and we moved to Oregon, and so we weren't able to go to the cemetery on her birthday.
And I normally always went to the farmers’ market and got two bouquets, and one I would take to the cemetery, and one I would take to my home, and it would just be in my kitchen.
And so, I didn't have those traditions, and I thought a lot about Hope Moms and our community and the way that they're always asking, “How do you celebrate birthdays? Or how do you celebrate anniversaries? And what do you do?”
And this year was the first year that I really did something different and it was the best for me because I held my daughter in my heart the entire time. I took my living children to the coast and we just explored 107 miles of the Oregon coast and saw new things and kind of just went with what looked like fun and talked about her in the car. And it's very sweet to see the ways that they remember her.
But I think what I learned this year on her birthday was I think I'd always thought, “This is a celebration for her, and I need to do this celebration for her.” But I think after 14 years, I'm realizing that her birthday is really a reminder of how far I've come since the day she died.
And truly it's kind of a celebration of me and the Lord and just where He has brought me and how far He's brought me out of that grief. And I'm so thankful for that God who stands beyond time who was one day going to heal all wounds because I am only here because of Him. And I can only move through every day and her birthday because of Him.
So it's like, I'm so grateful that we don't need to choose between trusting God and missing our babies or you missing your father. We can hold both of those in our grief, and that’s such freedom, trusting the Lord and missing our people that aren't here with us.
Ashley Opliger: [00:53:47] Amen. That's a beautiful new tradition that you've started with your family.
And even just giving yourself permission to say it might look different each year, that's something I think Kristin and I have talked about on our podcast before, is how our babies don't need anything from us. They don't need us to perform or to do X, Y, or Z in order to honor them. Really, it's about how we are healing and the call that God gives us to use our grief to serve and comfort others.
That's for me now really where this transition has happened. I think in the initial days, people thought me starting this ministry was like a grief project or something. And it's like, no, this really is a calling and an obedience to sharing the Gospel in this particular ministry space. And because if it was just a grief project, it would have like not lasted as long.
Jennie Parks: [00:54:37] It would have fizzled out long ago. Yeah. The Lord is definitely in your work.
Ashley Opliger: [00:54:39] I think that's important to just to say, whether it's a milestone that's coming up or a holiday, that you can start traditions and do those traditions every year.
And I think that's beautiful, we have many that we do, but also give yourself grace and permission to say whatever feels right that day, of course that as long as it's not something in sin or something that's going away from the Lord. There are definitely unhealthy ways to grieve.
But whether it's deciding to do a balloon release or going to the coast or staying at home and cooking a meal and having cupcakes, all of those things are honoring to your baby and to the Lord, so not to put this extra pressure on yourself to perform for your baby.
Ashley Opliger: [00:55:25] Well, I love that you brought all of that up. I just am so grateful for your ministry and for everything that you do. I'd love for you to close us in prayer and offer all the moms that are listening, especially those who are fresh in grief, the hope and the Gospel.
Jennie Parks: [00:55:41] I'd love to.
Father, thank You so much for our lives. Thank You for the lives of our precious and loved Hope Babies. Thank You that You have truly given them Your best from the start, Lord. They are wanting for nothing. Thank You for the friendship and understanding of fellow Hope Moms. It often gets us through so many days.
Thank You for Your Word and Your truth and the Holy Spirit who longs to softly whisper fresh life into our dry bones. Thank You for everything that You've given us, and thank You for the grace to let go of everything that has been taken away. We know that we can trust You with everything and everyone that we love because we know that one day we will know complete fulfillment with You with no more letting go.
God, You are enough. You are enough for me. You are enough for Ashley, and You are enough for every listener. God, I just pray that Your will be done in our lives and that You'll help us to all continue to seek You and find joy in You. It's in Your Son's Name I pray. Amen.
Ashley Opliger: [00:56:46] Amen. Thank you so much, Jennie.
Jennie Parks: [00:56:49] Thank you.
Ashley Opliger: [00:56:52] Thank you for listening to the Cradled in Hope Podcast. We pray that you found hope & healing in today’s episode.
Don’t forget to subscribe so you don’t miss new episodes when they release on the 1st of every month. You can also find this episode’s show notes and a full transcript on our website at bridgetscradles.com/podcast.
Be sure to leave your email address so that we can keep you updated on podcast episodes, upcoming support groups, and other hope-filled resources.
If you’re interested in volunteering or donating to Bridget’s Cradles in memory of a baby in Heaven, you can find information on our website on how you can get involved and spread hope to other grieving families.
One way you can help is by leaving a review of this podcast on iTunes [or the Apple Podcasts app]. Consider the minute of your time as a way YOU can personally share the hope that you’ve found here with another mom whose heart is broken and needs healing.
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 may grieve, we do not grieve without hope. Thank you so much for listening.
#cradledinhope #cradledinhopepodcast #bridgetscradles #christianpodcast #christianpodcasters #christianpodcasts #pregnancyloss #infantloss #babyloss #miscarriage #miscarriagematters #infantlosssupport #grievingprocess #stillbirthawareness #pregnancylossawareness #grievingmother #infantlossawareness #miscarriagesupport #iam1in4 #1in4 #stillbornstillloved #pregnancyandinfantlossawareness #stillborn #stillbirth #griefjourney #miscarriageawareness #lifeafterloss
Yorumlar