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Sting
1 Corinthians 15:55 says: O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory? We as Christ believers carry eternity in our souls. We know there is victory in Jesus. Our reward is not in this world; it’s in Heaven. What glorious knowledge to carry in our hearts and minds that we have…
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Celebrate
I’ve written before about “grief seasons.” Bereaved parents often experience a period each year where their grief is especially strong because of recurring triggers within that timeframe. Most of these triggers are self-evident: your child’s birthday, death date, holidays, etc. Grief seasons aren’t limited to child loss, of course. There are similar triggers associated with…
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Memories
I am writing this on Thursday, October 30th. Tomorrow would be Rachel’s 39th birthday. After I typed that sentence, I had to walk around and compose myself a bit. Your child should never be in your past. I’ve talked before about what not to say to a bereaved parent. Pretty much any sentence that starts…
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Logical
A couple of years ago I wrote a blog post titled “It Could Happen Again.” I talked about my fear of losing another child or a grandchild. This fear is always in the back of my mind, no matter how much logic I talk to myself. For example, according to the National Center for Health…
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Words
Many of my friends who are writers have had a significant loss in their lives (child, spouse, parent, marriage, home, job, etc.). These losses are devastating even if they were foreseen. My mother died of breast cancer in 1995 at age 62. She was diagnosed with the disease five years prior and the doctors warned…
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Trouble
In the Our Daily Bread devotional for October 7th, Arthur Jackson talks about something Oswald Chambers wrote at the beginning of WWI. He references John 16:33 where Jesus warns his disciples of the “inevitability of peril.” Bad things will happen. Christ was specifically warning them about his upcoming arrest and crucifixion as well as the…
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Well Done
A sweet friend lost her brother unexpectedly last week. I attended his funeral yesterday. It’s been 8 ½ years since my younger daughter died, and I have attended at least five funerals in that interim. My heart still mourns for all the lost loved ones, but I’m mostly past being emotionally triggered at memorial services.…
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Good People
Every week when I sit down to write my blog post, I start with a prayer. Specifically, Psalm 19:14: May the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, my strength and my redeemer. I love to write. Putting words on paper helps me untangle my…
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Bitter or Better?
Recently I was invited to attend a ladies’ tea at a dear friend’s church. It was a fun and inspiring event. First of all, we got to dress up, which I confess is something I don’t do very often since I retired. And when I say “dress up” I mean we wore hats or fascinators,…
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Coffee
I’ve read countless posts in the bereaved parents’ groups that I belong to about grief triggers. I’ve written about them myself. If your child has been gone for a few years, you can usually anticipate and avoid (or at least prepare for) many triggers. Specific dates are obvious: your child’s birthday or homegoing date, your…
A Light for My Path
Carrying the torch for bereaved parents.
“Your word is a lamp to my feet, and a light to my path.” Psalm 119:105
Why I’m Here
It feels impossible that I have lived for more than eight years now (ed. 2025) without one of my children in my life. Yet, here I am. And, here I will be for however many more years I have in this world.
I’ve learned a lot in these ensuing years. Some lessons I didn’t want to learn and some I wouldn’t have learned any other way than through losing Rachel. I would give anything to have remained ignorant. I have learned that losing a child changes you fundamentally, just as becoming a parent does. I have learned that those changes can be hard on relationships. That members of the same family will grieve differently, and we have to give each other grace. That deep and lasting grief can be frightening or uncomfortable to others. That some of those others will pull away. That many more others will stand beside you even when your changed self is hard to be around, awkward, talking too much, silent, laughing inappropriately, or crying uncontrollably.
What doesn’t change is God’s grace and mercy. He is here in the midst of the deepest grief. His Spirit groans for us when we don’t know what to pray. And, in my case, He led me to a wonderful group of other hurting hearts who shared their loss experiences, their faith struggles, and their recognition that though we grieve, we grieve with hope (1 Thessalonians 4:13).
I’ve decided that just maybe I’ve attained enough life lessons to be of some help to other grieving parents. To that end, I launched this blog site and a companion Facebook page. They are open to all, but the target audience is parents who have lost a child and those who love and want to support them. My posts reflect my Christian beliefs and will follow Biblical principles. I welcome questions, comments, humor, soul-baring, vulnerability, doubt, strength, and support.
Laura 3/28/2022
We are all just walking each other home.
Ram Dass
A Light for My Path 