On January 14, 2018, I was curled up on our couch, miscarrying for the second time in a row.
My husband and I had made the decision not to tell our children that I was pregnant, or that I had lost the baby, so when my oldest daughter approached me on the couch with an idea that she had come up with for a coffee mug design, I didn’t think for a minute that it would be related to my loss.
I ushered her over to me and tucked her in under my arm as she shyly showed me her sketch in her notebook. Tears filled me eyes and my heart started to beat faster as I looked at the shaky drawing of my nine-year-old.
Across the white page, she had drawn a coffee mug with the words, “Stay Strong Mom,” followed by a heart.
I mean, wow.
That small reminder from the one who first made me a mother meant everything to me. At a time when I felt the weakest, somehow God found a way to get the message to me that I was not forgotten and that I would get through this. Those words became my mantra through my miscarriage and weeks later, when I opened up the medical bills for my loss, I knew instantly what I needed to do. Seeing those bills and dealing with the harsh reality that I had to pay for a baby I didn’t get to keep made me think of all the families struggling to pay the same bills. I was inspired to start the Stay Strong Mom Fund and Project as a way to help other mothers to be encouraged to stay strong through their own journeys of hardship in motherhood and as a way to give back when so many people had helped me through my own losses. A portion of all proceeds raises through Stay Strong Mom are donated to the Stay Strong Mom Fund, which helps families struggling to pay their medical bills following a miscarriage.
Stay Strong Mom isn’t just for moms who have lost a baby; it’s a movement to encourage all mothers to stay strong, together.
Get involved by sending a Stay Strong Mom box or mug to a mother going through a hard time, sponsoring a box, or joining the Stay Strong Mom community on Facebook or Instagram.
