Hope After Child & Sibling Loss/the empty chair endeavor

 "GOD rescued me when Austin went to Heaven by allowing me to understand that Heaven is a real place, more wonderful than we can imagine."  Kim Erickson, noted speaker, and author of "Surviving Sorrow: A Mother's Guide to Living with Loss." Losing her beautiful 3 year old son, Austin, to a strep throat infection in April 2008, Kim's life was shattered and put on a tra...

A continuation of Greg and Cathy Buffkin's story of losing our beautiful 26 year old son Ryan to suicide in October 2015. Ours is a journey from the brokenness of unspeakable loss and pain to experiencing GOD's goodness as He began making something beautiful from all those broken pieces and restoring meaning, purpose and hope to our lives.  Share any comments here *** Please take a minut...

In this 2 part interview, our friend Danielle Zapchenck , host of The Parable Podcast, guest-hosts for me as we dive into the journey my wife Cathy and I have been living since October 25, 2015 when our beautiful 26 year old son Ryan took his own life. While our story is one of deep tragedy and brokenness, it's more than that. It's one where GOD enters into our pain and suffering and dem...

What do we do when our deepest fear suddenly becomes our new reality? How do we even begin to process and navigate the pain and grief we never could have imagined? This is where Teresa Davis found herself on November 28, 2018 when she learned that her 32 year old son, Andrew had died when the plane he was piloting crashed in a very remote area, leaving behind a young wife and two children. Despera...

In this episode, well known author and speaker Vaneetha Risner and I talk about her long journey of loss and suffering beginning with childhood polio, several miscarriages, the death of her infant son Paul, post-polio syndrome, betrayal and abandonment by her first husband, and caring for young daughters alone while battling illness. We talk about how GOD lovingly met her in the fire of suffering,...

Every year, approximately 11,000 people are killed by drunk drivers, an astounding number. Jenny Leavitt's 17 year old son, Jacob, was one of them in August, 2015. Miraculously, her 29 year old son, Caleb, survived, but was left with catastrophic injuries requiring a long period of healing and recovery. How do parents survive and navigate something so traumatic and senseless? Jenny, already a...

As the day began to unfold on June 28, 2023, life as they knew it would never again be the same for Tobe and Amy as they learned their precious, beautiful 28 year old daughter Abbie had taken her own life after a long battle with depression and PTSD. Tobe and Amy had witnessed the pain and suffering of others as they grieved their loved ones in his role as a church pastor, but nothing could have p...

In our previous episode, Michael’s daughter, Jennifer Bullock-Moore, shared the story of the tragic loss of her beautiful son Miles to stillbirth in September 2021. Grandparents, like surviving siblings, are often overlooked following the death of a child, but their grief is just as real. In this episode, Michael describes the heartbreaking pain of losing his grandson and the intense weight of try...

2022 statistics from the National Institutes of Health mirror findings of an investigation by ProPublica into the U.S. stillbirth crisis in which more than 20,000 pregnancies every year are lost at 20 weeks or more with the baby being born dead. As the news anchor for the local NBC affiliate in Columbus, Ohio, Jenn’s pregnancy was celebrated and followed in a very public manner. But on October 11,...

In this episode, noted author, speaker and podcaster, Aubrey Sampson, talks with me about her personal grief journey and a crisis of faith following the sudden, tragic death of her cousin Cameron in a snow hiking accident. Describing Cameron as being like a brother, his untimely death resulted in a season of very deep grief and depression. As if that weren’t enough, after waking up one morning sud...

How is a parent supposed to accept and begin processing the sudden, unexplainable death of their child? Healthy 20 years don’t just die suddenly without warning or symptoms of some sort. Sadly, a phone call brought this devastating news to Tim Challies and his family on November 3, 2020. His precious son Nick, engaged to be married, and working towards a seminary degree, passed away suddenly while...

What do we do when the news we receive changes everything and we suddenly find ourselves in the middle of a crisis without warning? It leaves us paralyzed with fear and uncertainty so deep we don’t even know if we can pray, or how we can pray. If that’s where you find yourself as you’re reading this, please listen to this conversation. In this episode, authors, Jessika Sanders and Eric Schumacher,...

For Terry Sternad, the cold, icy December day on a horse ranch in Colorado, was to be one of watching his daughter take a riding lesson while his 5 year old son T.J. enjoyed exploring around the stables where he had played on previous trips. What happened over the next few hours would forever profoundly alter Terry’s and his family’s lives. In this episode, Terry and I talk about the heart wrenchi...

January 31, 2018 should have been a "normal", otherwise uneventful day for Stephanie Carducci and her family. They would soon discover that was not to be the case, when they learned their beloved 17 year old son, Daniel, had taken his own life. The death of a child by any cause is such an unthinkable, unspeakable event for parents, but suicide compounds the pain and trauma with all the u...

The death of a child at any age is a traumatic, unspeakable loss for parents. All too often, however, the emotional, mental, and even physical pain suffered by parents as a result of miscarriage or stillbirth isn't afforded the same level of compassion or understanding as loss from other causes. In this episode, author, pastor, and podcast host, Eric Schumacher joins me to discuss the impact...

As a licensed professional clinical counselor, Amy was well acquainted with clinical depression, it's prevalence and impact on the lives of teenagers, and associated risk of suicide. But on July 28, 2019 it suddenly became very personal when she discovered her precious, beautiful son Thomas had taken his own life at the young age of only 16. A single moment in time had turned her world upside...

The death of a child is so heart wrenching that it often leaves parents feeling as though they might suffocate under the weight of the grief. We desperately want answers about why it happened. How do we process such trauma and begin to navigate through the grief when there are no answers? Join me as Danielle Duffey sits down and shares the story of losing her sweet, beautiful 17 month old son, Bla...

When life takes an unexpected turn that leaves our comfortable, predictable world turned upside down, how do we respond? Listen as Jessika shares the story of having to face the fear of losing her premature baby boy during his 37 day stay in a hospital NICU followed a few weeks later with admission to the PICU. By GOD’s grace and mercy, along with skilled medical professionals, he survived and is...

For the majority of us, dates on our calendars represent a 24 hour segment of time that may be quite ordinary other than reminders of appointments, school events, etc. For some, however, a date on the same calendar represents a life shattering event that forever changes the trajectory of their lives. For Derek and Becky Farr, it came on September 28, 2021 when they received the news that their bel...

Sometimes, life deals such an unexpected, devastating blow that it leaves us crushed, and afraid that we won't be able to get back up because the pain and trauma cut so deeply. For Rudy Milton, it came on July 19, 2015 when she received the unthinkable news that her only son, Dominique, had been murdered on a public beach on Hilton Head Island, S.C. at only 17 years of age. In an increasingly...

Join us as Dr. Sonya Pitchford and I talk about the tragic, unexpected loss of her beautiful daughter Tanieka Coley to a massive heart attack at only 34 years of age on October 29, 2021, and how she is navigating through a journey of grief and healing with GOD's help. I believe you will be encouraged as Sonya candidly shares how GOD met her in the pain and brokenness of such trauma, and is no...

With warmest wishes for a holiday season filled with hope, joy, and GOD's peace for you and your loved ones! Share any comments here *** Please take a minute to leave a review on Apple Podcasts if you enjoy this podcast by clicking the link below. By doing so you help increase our visibility and discoverability for others, and we value your feedback! https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/hope...

Have you ever met someone who epitomizes joy and gratitude, only to discover how deeply their life has been marked by unthinkable tragedy and grief? Meet Charmaine Castillo, a mom whose life was devastated by the news that her 32 year old son, Curtis, died of injuries sustained in an altercation on August 9, 2017. Learning this news through social media posts, served to compound the initial grief...

Clinical depression is no respecter of persons, having impacted approximately 29% of the population of the U.S., according to the latest 2023 statistics, and these numbers continue to rise. Tragically, depression, all too often, results in suicide or attempted suicide, leaving in its path a wave of unspeakable pain and grief forever altering the lives of those left behind. July 18, 2018 would fore...

Suicide deaths continue to rise in the U.S., claiming approximately 49,500 people in 2022. Sadly, this translates into many times that number of survivors left behind to grieve their loved ones. It leaves countless unanswered questions, and lives shattered by the trauma. For Luis and Dora Perez, February 23, 2010 would forever alter their lives as they learned their  beautiful 23 year old son, Lui...