While We're Waiting® - Hope After Child Loss

You can learn a lot about someone from studying their Facebook profile.  Today's episode provides a little glimpse into Hannah's personality ... Thank you for joining me for another bonus episode of the While We're Waiting podcast in this year-long series in which I share our family’s experiences as our teenage daughter Hannah battled glioblastoma brain cancer from February 2008 thr...

Cancer has taken so much from us ... and from so many others.  It may seem strange to even think that it can give anything, other than pain and grief.  But God, through the mystery of his grace, can take something even as ugly and destructive as cancer, and bring some good from it.  So, in no particular order, here are ten "gifts" that our year with cancer brought to our family ...  Than...

"They are in a better place." "Grief shows a lack of faith." "Once you're done grieving, things will go back to normal." If you've heard any of these unhelpful statements since the loss of your child, you're not alone.  In our western culture, I believe we have a tendency to minimize grief ... to gloss over it with glib platitudes.  Austin DeArmond join...

Life isn't always good, but God is.   Thank you for joining me for another bonus episode of the While We're Waiting podcast in this year-long series in which I share our family’s experiences as our teenage daughter Hannah battled glioblastoma brain cancer from February 2008 through February 2009.  My desire is to process through the events of those twelve months with the perspective that...

I think, that as Christians, we sometimes assume that we should be immune from difficulties.  Clearly that is not the case.  So how do we keep our faith from falling apart like a cheap lawn chair when suffering or tragedy does come our way?  Prior preparation can help.   Thank you for joining me for another bonus episode of the While We're Waiting podcast in this year-long series in which I s...

This date sixteen years ago marked one month since Hannah's brain surgery.  Today I share an email I wrote that day to the many people who were praying for us ...  Thank you for joining me for another bonus episode of the While We're Waiting podcast in this year-long series in which I share our family’s experiences as our teenage daughter Hannah battled glioblastoma brain cancer from Feb...

People often commented on our "strength" during Hannah's illness and death, but this is a misunderstanding of God's grace. What appeared to be strength was actually human weakness bolstered by a total dependence upon God.   Thank you for joining me for another bonus episode of the While We're Waiting podcast in this year-long series in which I share our family’s experience...

I like for everything in my life to be in its place.  And up until February of 2008, my tackle box was in perfect order.  All the little pieces were exactly where I wanted them to be ... in nice, neat compartments where they belonged.  And then Hannah's cancer diagnosis came along, turned my tackle box upside down, and shook everything out ... Thank you for joining me for another bonus episod...

What if Hannah had been miraculously healed, like we so earnestly desired?  Would her life have had the same far-reaching effects it has had? Would lives have been changed and people saved? Or would people have just gotten a warm and fuzzy feeling about God, which would soon be forgotten? Perhaps her healing would have been dismissed as a misdiagnosis, or a fluke of nature ...  Thank you for joini...

When a child is battling cancer (or any life-threaning illlness), it's all about the "we".  Today's bonus episode explains what I mean by that ... Thank you for joining me for another bonus episode of the While We're Waiting podcast in this year-long series in which I share our family’s experiences as our teenage daughter Hannah battled glioblastoma brain cancer from Febru...

"Time heals all wounds."  "God will never give you more than you can handle."  "The lessening of pain indicates a lessening of love."  Have you heard any of these unhelpful statments since you experienced the loss of a child?  If so, you're not alone.  In our western culture, we have a tendency to minimize grief, to gloss over it with glib platitudes.  In today&a...

The year that Hannah went to Heaven, our dogwood tree that had always bloomed so faithfully in the spring ... didn't.  It was as if God allowed that tree to mourn with us that year.  Thankfully, the blooms returned the following spring, reminding us of His faithfulness.  Today's bonus episode describes those times when it doesn't feel like springtime ... Thank you for joining me for...

When our daughter Hannah was first admitted to Arkansas Children's Hospital sixteen years ago, I was called down to the financial office and encouraged to fill out an application for TEFRA, a supplemental insurance program for children with significant medical needs or disabilities.  I really didn't think we would need it (because in my mind Hannah was going to be fine!), but I completed...

Sixteen years ago this evening, our daughter Hannah took the first dose of the chemotherapy drug that we hoped would cure her cancer.  The day before, we had been regaled once again with a litany of possible side effects of this treatment, but we agreed those would be worth it if the drug was effective.  Imagine my dismay when I pulled up to the pharmacy window only to be told that a five-day supp...

Sixteen years ago on this date, we learned all about the plan for Hannah's chemotherapy treatments ...  Thank you for joining me for another bonus episode of the While We're Waiting podcast in this year-long series in which I share our family’s experiences as our teenage daughter Hannah battled glioblastoma brain cancer from February 2008 through February 2009.  My desire is to process t...

We HATE cancer and the devastation it has wreaked not only on our family, but on so many others.  There are some things about it, though, that we want to always keep.  Today's bonus episode shares some of those things ... Thank you for joining me for another bonus episode of the While We're Waiting podcast in this year-long series in which I share our family’s experiences as our teenage...

Sixteen years ago on this date, Hannah posted this on her Facebook page:  "I am a much stronger person."  And she was, because she was trusting God to carry her through her cancer journey.  In today's bonus episode, I share how that was not her typical nature: Thank you for joining me for another bonus episode of the While We're Waiting podcast in this year-long series in which...

During the year of Hannah's cancer battle, I made a conscious decision (only by the grace of God) to strive to live by Matthew 6:34: "Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own." Our time with Hannah was too precious to spend it worrying about what the next day held. I resolved to live each day we had with her...

Today's episode is a continuation of my conversation with John and Anne Downs.  If you missed last week’s episode, you’ll want to go back and listen to hear John’s personal testimony of addiction, which ultimately led to the founding of Lighthouse Prison Ministry, followed by the story of their son, also named John, who went to Heaven six years ago this month.    Today, John and Anne share pr...

Sixteen years ago today, Hannah began her first round of radiation treatments.  Those six weeks of daily trips to Little Rock remain some of my favorite memories from that year of cancer ...  Thank you for joining me for another bonus episode of the While We're Waiting podcast in this year-long series in which I share our family’s experiences as our teenage daughter Hannah battled glioblastom...

Sixteen years ago on this date was a momentous day in Hannah's recovery from brain surgery, when she was able to return to school!  Today's bonus episode describes that day ... Thank you for joining me for another bonus episode of the While We're Waiting podcast in this year-long series in which I share our family’s experiences as our teenage daughter Hannah battled glioblastoma bra...

Our experience with parenting a child through cancer was like enduring a series of tremors following a devastating earthquake ... Thank you for joining me for another bonus episode of the While We're Waiting podcast in this year-long series in which I share our family’s experiences as our teenage daughter Hannah battled glioblastoma brain cancer from February 2008 through February 2009.  My d...

Sixteen years ago on this date, Hannah was fitted with her radiation mask ... something she would wear five days a week for six weeks as beams of radiation were aimed into brain in an effort to prevent her tumor from returning. Thank you for joining me for another bonus episode of the While We're Waiting podcast in this year-long series in which I share our family’s experiences as our teenage...

On Valentine's Day in 1991, Brad and I went out for dinner at a Chinese restaurant.  My fortune cookie that evening read, "A happy event will soon take place in your home."  The rest, as they say, is history ...  Thank you for joining me for another bonus episode of the While We're Waiting podcast in this year-long series in which I share our family’s experiences as our teenage...

When a child or young person goes to Heaven "before their time", there's a natural tendency to view that person through rose colored glasses.  Hannah was a remarkable young woman, but she wasn't perfect.   Thank you for joining me for another bonus episode of the While We're Waiting podcast in this year-long series in which I share our family’s experiences as our teenage d...