All Episodes

After the loss of a child, joy can feel impossible, like a door that has been permanently locked shut. In this episode, Laura gently shares three biblical, grace-filled keys that can help unlock your heart again after child loss.  Drawing from her own journey as a bereaved parent and from her book When Tragedy Strikes, Laura explores how thankfulness, the Word of God, and extending care to others...

After the death of a child, the idea of joy can feel unreachable, or inappropriate. In this tender episode, we explore a deeper understanding of joy that does not cancel grief or require happiness. Joy is not the same as happiness. Happiness depends on circumstances, but joy is a quiet, steady work of God within us. It is something that can exist even while sorrow still weighs heavily on the soul....

Entering a new year without our child bring heavy emotions for bereaved parents. The turning of the calendar can feel like we are leaving our child behind, especially if this is the first new year since their death. Even years later, the weight of time passing can still take our breath away. In this episode, Laura pulls up a recording from the archives, inviting listeners to hear from several expe...

As Christmas draws near and a new year approaches, this episode is a gentle pause; a sacred moment set aside to pray over grieving parents who are carrying love and loss side by side. The heart of the episode is a heartfelt Christmas prayer, spoken just two days before Christmas, acknowledging the unique pain this season holds for parents who are missing a child. Rather than forced cheer, this pra...

The holiday season can feel unbearably painful after the death of a child. While the world around us glitters with lights, gatherings, and celebrations, we grieving parents feel the weight of loss more intensely during this time of year. In this episode, Laura offers heartfelt guidance, practical support, and spiritual encouragement to help pareavors gently navigate the holidays with compassion fo...

Christmas can stir up a deep ache for any parent who has lost a child. The lights, the music, and the memories bring both beauty and pain, often side by side. In this week’s episode, Laura shares a tender and meaningful offering for this difficult season: she reads several comforting and encouraging daily entries (Tuesday through Saturday) from her book Hope for the Future: An Advent Journey for B...

When we lose a child, part of us dies too. One of the deepest questions a grieving parent asks in those early months and even years is, “Who am I now?” The identity we had as a parent suddenly shifts, and our role looks nothing like what we thought it would. Today’s episode looks at that identity after child loss and what it truly means to be a pareavor. Most of us never heard a word for a parent...

Today’s guest has lived life after losing a child for nearly thirty years, which means he brings decades of hard-won wisdom and the honesty of someone who still remembers the darkness well. Like most pareavors, Tracy Brinkmann never imagined he could climb out of that crushing place of grief. But his story is a powerful example of how one dad found meaning, purpose, and God again after the unthink...

In recognition of National Survivors of Suicide Loss Day (Nov. 22), today’s episode features a deeply heartfelt conversation with a remarkable pareavor, Carol Krawiec. Carol has endured the unimaginable, losing three of her five sons, with her most recent loss being to suicide. She opens her heart and shares the stories of her boys, the weight of navigating suicide loss, and how God’s steady prese...

The holidays can highlight our grief in painful ways when our child is no longer here with us. This week, Laura talks about how gratitude and grief can coexist — especially during the holiday season — and how God gently meets us in both. You’ll hear Laura share a deeply personal story about Becca’s last Thanksgiving — how supporting her desire to host created a bittersweet memory that has become p...

When our child leaves this earth before we do, it can feel like everything inside of us has died too. But God has already planted a small seed of hope deep within our hearts, because Jesus, the giver of Hope lives in us (through the Holy Spirit). However, we need to water that seed of hope after child loss. It is a seed that needs care, connection, and time to grow. In this heartfelt episode, Laur...

In this powerful conversation, Laura talks with award-winning novelist and journalist John DeDakis, who shares how writing became a source of healing after the death of his son, Stephen. Even if you’ve never thought of yourself as a writer, this episode offers hope and encouragement to help you process your grief in a deeply personal way. John and Laura talk about the soul-searching journey of fai...

When a baby is born after a pregnancy loss, it is often called a “rainbow baby”. We all know one child can never replace another, and it certainly does not remove the grief of the child who was conceived but is not here with us. However, most will agree that there is an ache that has been filled in having a baby after that devastating loss. But what about the parents who have a pregnancy loss and...

In this episode, One Step at a Time Through Our Grief, Laura shares how God used the beauty of His creation — mountains, rivers, the ocean, and even the warmth of the sun — to remind her that He is always present, even in the hardest moments of deep loss. As grieving parents, we often wonder how we’ll ever make it through another day. But through her gentle storytelling, Laura helps us see that ou...

The one-year anniversary of your child’s death is a day no parent ever wants to face. It can feel unbearably heavy, filled with painful “last time” memories and overwhelming emotions. In this episode of Grieving Parents Sharing Hope, Laura gently shares her heart on this topic, based on her own experience after the death of her daughter, Becca, and after walking along side others for over a decade...

When our child dies, life as we know it comes to a sudden stop. There is now a before and after. Today’s guest, Mick Wienholt, shares his story of losing his firstborn son, Luke, and how that loss changed not only his life, but his eternity.  Mick admits that before Luke’s death, he and his wife wanted nothing to do with God. But in their grief, they discovered that the deep hole left by Luke’s ab...

Have you ever taken the time to look at parents in the Bible who have lost a child as a powerful resource that speaks directly to the heart of  grieving parents walking through child loss today? In this episode, Laura takes us on a short journey of just a few parents in the Bible who experienced the death of a child. From Adam and Eve’s loss of Abel, to King David’s grief over his infant son, to J...

As grieving parents, we often find ourselves, understandably, holding tightly to the belongings of our child who has died. A favorite shirt, a treasured toy, a blanket, even something as simple as a toothbrush. These are not just objects. They are sacred reminders of the bond we still have with our child. In this episode of Grieving Parents Sharing Hope, Laura opens her heart about facing this ver...

Ever find yourself standing in your kitchen, forgetting how to peel an orange? Or panic in a parking lot because you don’t remember driving to the store, much less remember where you parked? You are not alone. In this powerful and deeply honest episode, Laura shares what it’s like to experience a “mental breakdown” in grief; the fogginess, the forgetfulness, the moments of overwhelming disorientat...

In this episode of Grieving Parents Sharing Hope: Can God Really Heal My Hurting Heart? , I sit down with Rachel “Wojo” Wojnarowski, who knows the deep pain of child loss firsthand. After miscarriages and saying goodbye to her precious daughter Taylor, who lived 22 years with courage and faith, Rachel learned to cling to prayer as her lifeline in the darkest valleys. Rachel shares Taylor’s story,...

In this episode of Grieving Parents Sharing Hope: Bringing Our Pain to God After Child Loss, I talk with Carol Renfro, a mom just two years into this journey of child loss. Carol’s only child, Jeff-Free (known as Free), died by suicide at the age of 33. Though her grief is still very fresh, she leans heavily on God and has found unexpected joy in the midst of deep pain. Carol shares her son’s stor...

After the death of our child, one of the first—and most desperate—questions we ask God is “Why?” Why my child? Why didn’t You stop it? Why couldn’t it have been different? But what if “why” isn’t the question that will bring us to a place of healing? What if there’s another question that opens our hearts to God’s love and help in the middle of our pain? In this episode, Laura shares her own journe...

In this heartfelt episode, we continue the conversation on how the death of our child impacts our relationship with God—specifically shifting from a transactional relationship to an intimate one built on trust, even when we don’t understand Him. Laura gently challenges us to examine the ways our fast-paced, internet-driven culture may be shaping our spiritual expectations, making it harder to trus...

This is one of the most honest and difficult topics we’ve ever addressed on the podcast—being angry at God after the death of your child. If you’ve felt intense anger toward Him, or even found yourself hating God for “taking” your child, know that you’re not alone. You’ll also hear Laura share a deeply personal moment she had with the Lord, and reflect on how God may have chosen to bless our...