Hope Mommies Podcast

We've all had those moments on the bathroom floor, overwhelmed by grief—and what a gift that God meets us there. 

In this episode, we welcome Amber Smith—Hope Mom, speaker, and author of The Girl on the Bathroom Floor: Held Together When Everything is Falling Apart—to share about the sustaining peace of God's presence in the midst of deep sorrow.

Amber opens up about the heartbreaking loss of ...

Kristin Hernandez is joined by Ryan and Jessica McDaniel, licensed professional counselors and founders of McDaniel Counseling, to talk about intimacy, sex, and marriage after the loss of a baby. Drawing from over 15 years of professional counseling experience as well as their own story of loss, Ryan and Jessica offer compassionate, God-centered wisdom for navigating this deeply personal area of marriage.

October 15 is Pregnancy and Infant Loss Awareness Day—a day of remembrance, but also a day to consider how God can bring eternal impact out of even the shortest lives. In this episode of the Hope Mommies Podcast, host Kristin Hernandez is joined by fellow hope mom Kristin Jackson to talk about the power of our stories and how the Lord can use them as a platform for sharing the gospel.

This special episode features the complete audio from the Hope Mommies 2025 Wave of Light event, adapted slightly for podcast format.

October is Pregnancy and Infant Loss Awareness Month—a special time to remember and honor our Hope Babies, share our stories, and shine the light of Christ into the darkness. But what is the purpose of remembrance? What does Scripture teach us about it? And how might we remember not only our babies, but also all that God has done for us?

In this episode of the Hope Mommies Podcast, Kristin Hernandez and Je...

No parent is prepared to hear that their baby's life will likely be far shorter than they imagined. For families walking through a life-limiting diagnosis, pregnancy can become a season of both deep sorrow and deep love.

In this episode, Kristin Hernandez is joined by Matt and Taylor Walker, Directors of Family Care at Abel Speaks, to talk about the unique challenges—and unexpected joys—of carrying a baby ...

Grieving the loss of a baby while caring for young children at home can feel overwhelming. In this episode, Kristin Hernandez is joined by Jennie Parks and Julie Lehman to discuss what it looks like to walk through grief while also parenting living children. We talk about tending to our own sorrow while helping children navigate theirs, talking about death and heaven in age-appropriate ways, and resources that were hel...

In this episode of the Hope Mommies Podcast, host Kristin Hernandez is joined by licensed professional counselor Shundria Riddick for a heartfelt conversation about trauma, emotions, and what it means to live in victory in Christ—even with tear-filled eyes.

Shundria shares the heartbreaking story of losing her daughter Grace and her son Caleb, and how God tenderly met her in the midst of her grief and wres...

How do we face emotions like fear and anger in a way that honors God? And how do we carry the weight of those emotions without letting go of our grip on Christ?

In this episode, Kristin sits down with author, Bible teacher, and fellow Hope Mom Courtney Reissig to talk about repeated griefs, high-risk pregnancies, and learning to express deep emotions in a way that draws us closer to God. Both share their p...

Host Kristin Hernandez welcomes Ashley Opliger—founder and executive director of Bridget's Cradles—to share how God lovingly draws near in our grief, cradling us in hope as He cradles our babies in heaven.

Ashley tells the story of her daughter Bridget, who was stillborn in 2014, and how her loss became the catalyst for a ministry that now provides handmade cradles to bereaved families across the country. Together, Kristin and Ashl...

"In losing my three sweet babies, I was not left empty-handed. God filled my hands with his own nail-pierced hands. He met me in my grief and sat with me in the ashes. He will do this for you, too. You can know him–your suffering Savior. To know him more is to treasure him more. Jesus is not a consolation prize for the loss of your unborn babies.. He is the prize–the Treasure that surpasses all other treasures." - Brit...

Ashlee Schmidt joins Kristin Hernandez for a conversation about drawing near to God in prayer and trusting His love and sovereignty through the journey of pregnancy after loss. Ashlee vulnerably shares her story of losing two babies and navigating the high-risk pregnancy that followed, and how God taught her to lean on Him in the midst of grief, fear, and uncertainty.

Together, Kristin and Ashlee introduce...

In this episode, Kristin Hernandez is joined by Eric Schumacher to explore the often-overlooked grief of fathers after the loss of a baby. Eric shares his personal story of fatherhood and loss, the challenges many men face in expressing sorrow, and how cultural expectations can silence grief. Together, they discuss the importance of honest communication in marriage, the vital role of the church community, and how Jesus...

Joy and grief often walk hand in hand for Hope Moms. In this episode, Erin Thibodeaux joins Kristin Hernandez to share her motherhood journey—the excitement of expecting twins and the devastating loss of her daughter, Adalyn Layne, who lived just 26 days.

Together, they talk about the complexities of grieving one child while raising another, the unique challenges of parenting through sorrow, and the ways G...

In this tender and theologically rich episode, host Kristin Hernandez is joined by author Abbey Wedgworth to talk about miscarriage, grief, and the unshakable hope we have in Christ. Abbey shares about losing her second baby, the emotional and spiritual wrestling that followed, and how the Lord met her in the midst of her pain. 

Kristin and Abbey discuss the unique challenges of miscarriage—including the o...

How do you respond when someone asks how many kids you have? Or when a baby shower invite arrives in your inbox? What about the medical advice you didn't ask for or the pressure to "move on"?

In this episode, Brooke Schuelke, Jennie Parks, and Kristin Hernandez share personal stories and practical wisdom for navigating the often uncomfortable and unexpected situations that arise after the loss of a baby. 

Rachel Lohman, author of Miscarried Hope, guides listeners through the events of Holy Week, drawing parallels between a grieving mother's emotions and the emotions experienced by Jesus' disciples. She explains how the stages of expectation, shock, despair, grief, and hope mirror the disciples' journey with Jesus from Palm Sunday to Resurrection Sunday–through the excitement of His arrival, the agony of His death, the s...

Friendship after the loss of a baby can feel complicated. In this episode, Kristin Hernandez and Jennie Parks discuss how grief can reshape relationships—deepening some while straining others. They reflect on how their expectations of friendship changed after loss, things they would have done differently, the emotional labor of maintaining connections, and the struggle of navigating grief together. Kristin and Jennie s...

Whether you attended this year's retreat or couldn't join us in person, we invite you to revisit all four teaching sessions with us. This episode is the final installment in our four-part teaching series on John 15:1-9 and features a re-recording of Session 4 from the 2025 Hope Mommies Retreat.

In this session, Kristin Hernandez shares about the joy of abiding in God's love. She addresses the question, "Do...