All Episodes

When we are in that place of deep grief after child loss, all kinds of dark thoughts can go through our minds and hearts. God knows this. He knows all our doubts about who He is and all our shame and messiness that make us feel so very broken and unlovable. Not only does He know the darkest things about us that we might not even want to admit to ourselves, He wants to continue living inside us, wh...

Today’s episode is with guest, Alicia White, whose seventeen-year-old daughter ended her own life, very unexpectedly. As someone who had a well-established ministry, teaching families how to grow together spiritually, there was a lot of guilt and shame to work through, on top of grieving her daughter’s sudden departure from this world by her own hand. This is a powerful conversation about how Alic...

What do you do when you help your child fulfill their dream at a young age, only to have that dream be what ends your child’s life as a teenager? That is exactly what happened to Laura’s guest, Clint Hatton. His son, Gabriel, had a dream as a young boy to become a pilot. Clint and his wife got behind their son and helped him realize that dream. Gabriel got his pilot license even before getting his...

This is a continuation of Laura’s talk with Linda Dillow. If you did not hear Episode 195: Trusting God When It Doesn’t Make Sense, we strongly urge you to listen to that one first, as it will share Linda’s unusual story and it is a springboard to what you will hear from Laura and Linda in this episode. Last week led up to how and why Linda came up with her Declaration of Hope. Today we will hear...

Linda Dillow was a missionary for 18 years in Eastern Europe, including Russia when it was under communism. She has seen a lot and learned to trust God through many hardships. But nothing has caused her to fight darkness, despair, and hopelessness as much as the death of one of her two daughters, who were both battling cancer at the same time during the COVID pandemic. Linda has had to go back to...

A point of frustration for many bereaved parents after child loss is feeling like we are being judged for still missing our children. There are some people around us who think we should be “moving on” or be “over it” by now, as if the death of our child is like a bad cold. Yes, the death of our child was an event, a moment in time. But that moment has disfigured us for the rest of our lives. In to...

This is the time of year when we are surrounded by people talking about having goals for the new year and how to achieve them. For those of us who are in the darkness of child loss, we are probably not making lists of lofty goals. We just want to know how to simply survive the coming year without our child. Laura understands that one “goal” of survival, and also knows while it may sound simple, it...

After child loss, it can feel like the dagger in our hearts is being twisted as we head into a new year without our child, especially that first year. We feel like we are leaving them behind on a whole new level. Life is going on without our child and it isn’t supposed to! We desperately need hope to hang on. We need hope that God has not betrayed or abandoned us. Our head may know that, but somet...

This is a short episode, but an intimate and deep one as Laura reads a poem she wrote a few years after her daughter, Becca, died. Laura also closes out today’s episode with a prayer over the listeners, as they may be struggling heading into a new year without their child. Links Mentioned in th is episode: Join the discussion! Leave a question or comment on today’s talk here . Click he...

This podcast episode was sponsored by John and Tricia Ferreira in memory of their son, John Ferreira, Jr. Laura has decided to spend a couple of weeks during the holidays to talk about whether our children can give us signs that they are around at times or are able to communicate with us in some way after they die. This can be a very controversial topic in the Body of Christ, but it is an extremel...

Laura has decided to spend a couple of weeks during the holidays to talk about whether our children can give us signs that they are around at times, or be able to communicate with us in some way after they die. This can be a very controversial topic in the Body of Christ, but it is an extremely important one to tackle. Laura does not use any titles, but she has been an ordained minister since 2009...

With the Christmas season in full swing, it can make missing our child brutal. Finding the right gift to give others may not be on your radar right now, much less giving any gifts to yourself. However, those who have been on this journey for a while know how important it is find helpful ways to get through this painful time of year. In this episode, Laura helps us to be okay with giving gifts to o...

Last week Laura was talking with Lynda Cheldelin Fell about ten tips to help bereaved parents get through the end-of-the-year holiday season. They only got through eight of the ten. (You will want to listen to episode 186 first to catch up, plus it is full of things that are good to know, emotionally, mentally, spiritually and even physically.) In today’s episode, Laura and Lynda finish their conv...

As we come into the end-of-the-year holiday season, it can help to hear from others who are further down the road and can offer some encouragement and guidance. Lynda Cheldelin Fell is one of those pareavors. Lynda has ten tips to share with us as we go through the emotional kaleidoscope of missing our child during a time of year that is full of festivities and “joy”.   Lynda Cheldelin Fell i...

All the holidays are a struggle, but Thanksgiving is unique in that the entire purpose is to be thankful and grateful for the ways God has blessed us. If you are in those first two to three years of child loss, you may not feel even remotely blessed, believing it is impossible to have anything to be thankful for. This episode is not to pump you up, trying to help you find things to be thankful for...

The last few episodes have been discussing Isaiah 61:3 that says God will give those who mourn a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of joy for their mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of heaviness and despair. This verse continues to say they will be called oaks of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that He may be glorified. In this final episode on Isaiah 61:3, Lau...

Today’s episode is continuing to look at Isaiah 61:3 through the eyes of a parent who has lost a child from this earth. Laura has asked worship leader, Angelique Marketon, (who lost her 16-year-old son and only child in a senseless single-car accident) to join her in talking about the struggle of allowing God to give us a garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness and despair. Angelique Marketo...

Laura is taking a few episodes to dig into Isaiah 61:3 from the view of child loss. This week she is excited to share how the Holy Spirit shed new light on God giving us the oil of joy in the place of our deep grief. If you are a bereaved parent who struggles with the thought of having joy in your life again, be sure to listen. To comment or join in the conversation, click here . Links Mentioned i...

In today’s episode, Laura is joined by two ladies who have together, as a team, faithfully served those who have lost a child for twelve years. Carol Keefer and Pat Wentworth have been connected with GPS Hope from the beginning, inviting Laura to speak to their support group in Florida when Laura’s book When Tragedy Strikes first came out, which was even before GPS Hope became a full-time ministry...

This episode is the first of three, which will discuss the familiar verse of Isaiah 61:3 that says God will give beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning and a garment of praise for a spirit of heaviness. Laura begins this mini-series by bringing back Lin Findlay, to join her by talking specifically about beauty for ashes. Lin has been on this journey of  child loss for over thirty years, whi...

When our child dies, we don’t want to be here so we just don’t care what happens to us. Our health suffers dramatically because of that, plus our bodies are out of whack for a long time. After child loss, many of us turn to comfort foods in a big way, and we don’t feel like being active, which causes our weight to become out of control. When we get a few years down the road, at some point we reali...

The discussion between Laura and Teresa McCloy is a gold mine of depth and richness that is so desperately needed when facing the painful darkness of child loss. In this episode you will hear: The wisdom and heart of a mom whose son battled addiction for many years before succumbing to a heroin overdose. The importance of coming to a place of “being” instead of constantly doing. How a popular chil...

Shirley Thiessen is one of Laura’s first returning guests, which is saying a lot since the Grieving Parents Sharing Hope podcast has been going for over three years now! In the previous episode, Shirley shared an incredible story, about a little black funeral dress, and then she and Laura start discussing five things Shirley wishes she had known about grief before the death of her son, Jordan. It...

Shirley Thiessen is one of Laura’s first returning guests, which is saying a lot since the Grieving Parents Sharing Hope podcast has been going for over three years now! Her previous interview is our number one listened to episode, so it makes sense to have her back on, doesn’t it? In this episode, Shirley shares an incredible story, about a little black funeral dress, and then she and Laura...

Since September 11 is National Grandparents Day, Laura decided to do an episode about our parents, who are obviously the grandparents of our children who have died. The relationship between grandparents and grandchildren is very unique and special. With the death of a precious grandchild, the grandparents get hit with a double whammy. They’ve lost a big piece of their heart that will never be fill...