Abiding Hope Collages & With Love Care Packages

Meet Franchesca, mother to Jenna Belle

On May 5, 2009 we welcomed our firstborn, Jenna Belle, into our lives. God allowed her to grace our lives for 13 beautiful days. My hope is to honor her memory as she has forever changed my world. While I miss her immensely, I have to believe that my greatest loss was and still is her greatest gain. We have since been blessed with baby Joseph, our second miracle. Aside from being a mommy to a baby girl in Heaven and a baby boy at home I have a passion to help other mamas like myself. Jenna opened my eyes to a world of hurt, loss and pain that I would otherwise know nothing about.

 Jenna & Franchesca's story 

Jenna has done such beautiful things through her grief... she is the founder of Abiding Hope Collages and With Love Care Packages.

About Abiding Hope Collages......

Abiding Hope Collages is a memorial site for bereaved parents and families who have had to say goodbye to their children too soon. It was started in the fall of 2009 after I lost my daughter May of that year. After watching so many other women reach out and help babylost families, I desperately wanted to give back some way too. I prayed for a while for something and I believe this is what God has given me to do. I am so thankful to be able to provide this service to babylost parents and plan to do so as long as God will allow me to.

It is tragic that there is a place for memorial sites for children in this world. And there are endless questions that will never be revealed in our lifetime. After experiencing great loss and immense uncertainty, we have to reconcile our uncertainties somewhere. This site was born out of an urgency to hope for things unseen in spite of grief. This hope, this abiding hope, is made possible through the promises in God's Word.

"And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three..."  
1 Corinthians 13:13a

To abide is to endure without yielding, according to Webster's dictionary.

As babyloss parents, our hopes may all be worded a little differently, but in the end...

We hope that we will see our babies again.

We hope they are in being well taken care of and at peace in their new home.

We hope that we can somehow find rest, peace and joy in this life again.

Because Jesus Christ died on the cross, we can cling to all of these hopes if we have received him, as things that WILL come to pass, and things that can be counted on. Through Him, our hopes become realities. Our pain is ever present, but our hope is not wishful thinking, it is real.

It is something we just have to wait for.

"Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, To an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you..."

1 Peter 1:3,4

Aren't these collages simply beautiful!  What a precious keepsake.  

Request a collage.

Franchesca also runs With Love Care Packages a great service to parents that are coming home with empty arms. 

Welcome

It is our desire at With Hope Care Packages to give parents leaving the hospital with empty arms a tangible reminder of their baby. Leaving the hospital without your baby is the worst feeling in the world. It is our hope to provide care packages to newly bereaved parents which will include grief support information, remembrance gifts, a baby blanket, a sympathy card and much more.

You can see the different care packages available here. We have care packages specific for miscarriage, neonatal loss, poor perinatal diagnosis, SIDS and stillbirth.

You can contact us by clicking here.

I love the idea of these care packages.  Something tangible to hold and to serve as a reminder of your child when you no longer can hold them.  

What else does Franchesca do?  Well just about everything.  She also has a website for her Non-profit Organization, With Love in the NICU, to help parents that are experiencing the NICU with their child.  Franchesca also has her own web design business, Small Bird Studio. Check out all the many wonderfully creative things that Franchesca has done in honor of Jenna Belle.  

Thank you Franchesca for sharing Jenna with us, and thank you for all you do for other bereaved parents!