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The death of one’s child is a grief like no other. As a bereaved parent, part of your very being has been cut off from you, and you must figure out how to live with that part of you missing. You will never be the same, but you can have hope that your life can still have meaning and purpose again, as you learn to live in a way that honors the life of your child instead of being stuck in the deep grief of his or her death. The Grieving Parents Sharing Hope podcast is an outreach of the nationa ...
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Waiting can be one of the hardest and most exhausting things to do. As parents who have lost a child from this earth, two things we seem to be waiting on the most are for it to stop hurting so much, and obviously waiting to be with our child again. This week Laura talks about waiting for it to stop hurting so much. Next week she will discuss waitin…
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After our child leaves this earth, most of us want to take Romans 8:28 out of our Bibles, especially when people throw that verse at us in a way that is supposed to make it all better. ( Remember, God promises to work everything out for good ) Laura has been in that place of suffocating darkness, and begged God to take her from this earth when her …
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If you know Laura, you know that she feels things deeply and tears come easily to her. Somehow, she manages to hold those tears back when recording the podcast episodes but not this time. A miracle is something only God can do, which is what we wanted (and even expected) for our children, either in a healing or in protection. When that doesn't happ…
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Mother's Day can be one of the most difficult days of the year for a mom after child loss. In this episode, Laura will be talking about both Mother's Day, and a special day the week before, which is International Bereaved Mother's Day, which is the first Sunday in May. Laura is very real and honest about her thoughts and feelings about all of this,…
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So much horrific pain and darkness comes with child loss. It doesn't matter how young or how old your child was when they left this earth. It doesn't matter if it was sudden or if it was long and drawn out. As pareavors (bereaved parents), we can bristle when others say they know how we feel, because of a different loss. We know what that feels lik…
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After the loss of a child, there are scriptures that used to get us excited that don't make any sense now. They seem untrue and maybe even cruel. In today's episode, Laura talks about one of those verses, Jeremiah 29:11, where God tells us He has good plans for us, to give us hope and a future. Links Mentioned in this episode: Click here for all th…
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Today's topic is one Laura gets asked about in emails, which is addressing the issue of losing friends we thought would be there for us in our time of grief. Laura and her guest, June Collins, talk about this from June’s experience of losing her 2-year-old son 12 years ago. Their conversation has a lot of nuggets that go beyond what or who we may l…
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If I am struggling with anger and confusion and my faith is rocky right now, shouldn't I pass on taking the elements of communion? In today's episode, Laura digs into 1 Corinthians 11, talking about the purpose of communion and what makes us unworthy . Based on scripture, Laura believes that we are not disqualified. Not only that, but occasionally …
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Easter Sunday can come with many different emotions for those of us who have lost a child. On one hand, we are thankful and want to celebrate the resurrection of Jesus, who made it possible for us to be reunited with our children, never to be separated again. On the other hand, many of us struggle with going to a church service for this purpose, fo…
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When we have a child who is no longer with us here on earth, we can feel like we have no more future at least not a good one. In today's episode, Laura looks at Philippians 3:12-14 and other scriptures, sharing that even if our future here is not what we thought it would be, we do not have to live out the rest of our time here with a heaviness that…
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When we lose a child from this earth, we want to be done here and go be with them. Even if our head knows we have reasons to stay, our heart struggles to accept it. The pain and darkness can be all-consuming, and we cannot believe life will ever be worth living without our child. Podcast host, Laura Diehl, knows what that is like. In this episode, …
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Have you felt frustration that you are not going through the five stages of grief that you have heard about? In this episode, Laura shares why that is not only okay, but even to expected. Note: Thank you to Basia and Sebastian for sponsoring today's episode in memory of their son, Gabriel. Links Mentioned in this episode: Click here to sponsor a po…
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There are a lot of listeners who know Laura's daughter, Becca, died from heart issues. There are fewer listeners who know the cause of the heart issues, and not very many who know the full story, because Laura doesn't share it very often. In this episode, Laura shares from her heart what happened, and the 26 year journey it put them on, wrapping it…
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When Laura's daughter died, she remembers feeling so very shattered that she did not think it was possible to find all the pieces, much less have God put them all back together. But as she continued this unwanted journey, she began to see and understand that brokenness can become something beautiful. In this episode, Laura's hope and prayer is that…
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When our child leaves this earth, there are plenty of unexpected things that happen as we go along on this unwanted journey. Sometimes it is based on things we expected that just don’t happen the way we thought they would, and other times these unexpected things seem to come out of nowhere. In this episode, Laura wants to help pareavors be more pre…
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Many grieving parents who have faced child loss share how hard it is that everyone around them just keeps going on with their life as if nothing has happened, when their own life has come to a screeching halt after the death of their child. Laura shares a specific time and place she had that exact painful thought and how she eventually saw that a c…
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Every year, since 1998, Laura has asked the Lord for a scripture of what He wants to work into her life for that year. Several years ago, she also ask Him for a specific word, and many times that word and the scripture flowed together. Laura has shared on this topic before, but felt led to talk about it again, because this past year's verse for her…
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After taking a short break for the first time in four years, Laura is back to share on the topic of hope and how wishful thinking is not true hope. Hopelessness can leave us feeling weary and defeated, leaving us caught in a negative circle and not see any way out. In today's episode, Laura looks at Proverbs 13:12 which implies this very thing, alo…
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Advent is a time of waiting. This time of year, advent means waiting for Christmas to arrive. As bereaved parents, our advent is waiting for the day we can see and be with our children again. Fortunately, Jesus coming to earth was out of God's love for us, so that our separation is only temporary. In the meantime, we grieve deeply because we love d…
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Joy is something that seems impossible to have ever again, after the death of our child. In today's episode, Laura talks about this, along with sharing some details about someone in the Bible who had an extremely difficult life (that included the death of her child) that most of us can relate to. We can have joy in our lives once again, but it is s…
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Peace can be hard to come by after the death of our child, and the Christmas season can make it even more difficult to find the peace we so desperately need. In this episode, Laura starts with a recording of the live reading from the book Hope for the Future: An Advent Journey for Bereaved Parents (Week 2 Day One) on the topic of peace within the C…
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The Christmas season can be brutal for those of us who have lost a child, especially the first few years. One year, when Laura was struggling deeply connecting to the reason for the season she found herself crying out to God to show Himself as Emmanuel, God with us. She felt led to dig out the family advent wreath and found herself writing out some…
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When our child dies, we feel like we have been left wandering in a wilderness with no way out. Recently, Laura saw how the wilderness may have more to it than how she has seen it in the past, and that there just might be a different perspective we can have while in this wilderness experience. Links Mentioned in this episode: See the webpage for the…
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As we are all very aware, this week is Thanksgiving. As grieving parents, child loss can make it feel like it is impossible to ever be truly thankful again. Laura shares her heart about this family holiday, in hopes that it will be a help and encouragement to you. (Note: Most of this episode is a replay of a previous one on this topic, giving Dave …
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Those of us who have lost a child can begin to dread the end-of-the-year holidays way before they arrive, especially the Christmas season. Several years ago, as Laura struggled with this, she ended up putting together her own advent time with God. Today she talks about this, and how you can join her on a special advent journey, specifically for ber…
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Many believers in Christ struggle with their faith after child loss. It can feel like God did not keep His end of things, and some scriptures feel like a slap-in-the-face reminder of this. Instead of refusing to read the Word because of those verses, Laura discovered there were scriptures that took on a whole new meaning after her daughter died, th…
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Today is another topic that can be such a huge struggle for so many of us, which is what to do with our children's things when they are no longer here. Is it okay that I have left everything exactly where it was? What if I lost an adult child, and I wasn't given the things I wanted that were special to me? These are some of the things Laura talks a…
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Last week (episode 233) Laura talked about struggling with guilt after child loss. If you did not hear it, you may want to listen to that one first. In this episode, Laura continues addressing the topic of guilt; specifically about some of the reasons we may have a hard time releasing ourselves from the guilt we carry after the death of our child. …
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Guilt. It is something we all struggle with after the death of our child. We believe it is somehow our fault and that we should have done something differently so our child would still be here with us. We feel guilty that we did not/could not keep our child safe. Listen in, as Laura talks about this struggle we all face, and why we do not need to c…
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For most of us, what used to be just a normal date on the calendar has become the worst day of the year. This week, Laura hits that calendar day once again, which is October 12. Listen in, as she shares some of her thoughts on this topic we all have to deal with, as bereaved parents. Links Mentioned in this episode: Click here to leave a review for…
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We can get very frustrated (even angry) when someone tries to compare their loss to our loss of the death of our child. No one can possibly know the suffocating pit it hurls you into, unless you have found yourself in that same pit of child loss. There is another comparison that can frustrate us, and it is one we can make among each other if not ou…
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Sometimes God uses a movie or TV show to speak something to our hearts. In today's episode, Laura shares how there are some things based on Dorothy's journey in the classic movie Wizard of Oz, that can open our eyes to see some things about God we might be having a hard time seeing after the death of our child. Links Mentioned in this episode: Clic…
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When our child dies, many of us struggle with not wanting to continue living here on earth. We want to go be with our child, even if we know in our heads there are reasons to stay, such as other children or a spouse, friends, ministries, or a job we enjoy. How can we get past that feeling and be okay with being here (for who knows how long) without…
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For many of us who have lost a child, it seems like God is silent when we need Him the most. We can be very angry how God seemed to be absent to keep our child from dying, and now He is absent in helping us through the darkness. Today is part two of this topic, with looking at how there was a painful silence for the disciples after Jesus died a cru…
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Why is God silent when I need Him more than ever? Does He not care? Has He abandoned me? Have I done something that has made Him mad at me? This week Laura shares from a book that addresses these thoughts, based on when God was silent after His Son was tortured and died a painful death. Links Mentioned in this episode: Click here to go to the GPS H…
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Laura recently heard something that caused her to see God's love in a different light than she has before. The statement, God loves us all the same , isn't really a comfort to most of us after the death of our child. Laura digs into this, as she also shares some recent communication between herself and a pareavor along this line. Links Mentioned in…
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Everyone who has lost a child is affected in some way in the area of grandchildren, making it a big topic with many angles. In last week's episode, Laura talked about those who have grandchildren through their child who is no longer here, and how quite often those grandchildren are removed from our lives (which Laura has personal experience with.) …
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Everyone who has lost a child is affected in some way in the area of grandchildren, making it a big topic with many angles. In today's episode, Laura talks about those who have grandchildren through their child who is no longer here, and how quite often those grandchildren are removed from our lives (which Laura has personal experience with.) She a…
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When our child leaves this earth, we feel so very lost in our identity. Who am I now? Does it even matter? How can I go on? Do I even want to? So much of our identity is wrapped up in being a parent, but we are still so much more than being a parent, even if it doesn't seem like it. In today's episode, Laura reminds us of this, along with helping u…
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What does this whole child-loss-thing look like, years down the road? Believe it or not, this is a question Laura has been asked a few times. Those first few years, we are just trying to get through the next minute, much less the next day or the next year. But after a while, when a pareavor realizes they have to figure this thing out for however lo…
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In today's episode, Laura talks with a guest who questioned if God was punishing her with child loss because of an abortion she had in her younger years (based on the shame of losing her image as a good Christian girl). This is an excellent talk for those who have the same question, wondering if God allowed your child to die as a punishment for som…
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Many of us struggle with our faith in God after He didn't answer our prayers for our children. We may have prayed daily for protection, but he or she was in an accident that took their life. We may have prayed for healing from an addiction, or a mental illness like being bi-polar or manic depressive, but our child is no longer here because they wer…
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Seven years ago this month, Laura's book When Tragedy Strikes: Rebuilding Your Life with Hope and Healing was released with Morgan James Publishing. We are very excited to announce that the audio version has finally being released. In today's episode you will be listening to the audio of another chapter, which is Chapter 11, The Pillars of Thoughts…
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Seven years ago this week, Laura's book When Tragedy Strikes: Rebuilding Your Life with Hope and Healing was released with Morgan James Publishing. We are very excited to announce that the audio version is finally being released this week. In today's episode you will be listening to Laura's audio, reading one of the chapters from the book, which is…
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When our child dies, we may have many reasons to stick around but none of them seem to matter. We cannot imagine being here for any length of time without our child here with us. Most of us are not suicidal, we just don't want to be here anymore and would be fine with something happening that would take us out of here to go be with our child. Laura…
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In this episode, Laura talks about something most parents who have lost a child think about. I am not the same person I used to be. I will never be that person again. Who am I now? Why do we have a word for someone who has lost a spouse, or someone who has lost both parents, but there isn't a word for me someone who has lost a child? Of course, we …
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Today's episode is a continuation of Laura's conversation with Melanie DeSimone on the topic of when people around us try to help, but end up hurting us. In today's chat, the two talk about: being in the range of normal grief of child loss within the first three to five years when we are made to feel shame by others (who have never lost a child) by…
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When our child dies, it is more than just a moment in time for us. It is a continual, ongoing loss. However, most of the people around us see it as an event; as something we should be able to get over, and it can really hurt. People we thought who would be there for us seem to go on with their lives, forgetting about our child and the huge gaping h…
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Last Sunday, May 28 was Pentecost Sunday. This is when the Holy Spirit fell on those in the upper room with power and anointing, fifty days after Jesus' resurrection. As believers in Christ, we are familiar with who Jesus is and what He did for us. We hear a lot about who God is as well. But how much do we know about the third part of the Trinity, …
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Do you feel guilty for laughing after your child died? Are humorous things that used to make you laugh no longer funny? How do we get past that? What if we don't want to ever laugh again? Laura's guest, Nancy Weil, is a certified laughter specialist, who combines it with being a certified grief worker. Laughter is something that is needed in our li…
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