Tag: Childloss
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Lonely
I am lonely for my daughter. Not lonely because I am alone, abandoned, friendless, Godless. None of those things. In the past few years, I have been more intentional about paying attention to God’s presence. I remind myself that He’s always here; it’s me who wanders off sometimes. I appreciate friends more. I know I…
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Seeing Through New Eyes
I talked last week about being on a road trip with my granddaughter. I love going back to my hometown and the surrounding area, seeing how things have changed, some for the worse, but many for the better. What’s particularly nice about traveling with someone who has never been there before, especially a young person,…
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Road Trip
I just returned from a road trip to West Tennessee with my oldest granddaughter. I made the same trip last summer with her older brother. I grew up in a very small town about 40 miles NE of Memphis. My brother and his family live in Memphis and I still have many old friends and…
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Pray for Little Things
According to author Anne Lamott, there are three essential prayers: Help, Thanks, and Wow. I am embarrassed to admit that my prayer life has not always been what anyone would call robust. I was raised to say my prayers at bedtime and we always said the blessing over meals, my brother and I each reciting…
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What if They Forget?
Last week I posted about a concern a lot of bereaved parents have when their child’s spouse or significant other moves on to a new relationship. It feels like losing another part of their child. The world keeps turning even though there is a hard stop where their child’s earthly existence ceases. A similar fear…
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When People Move On
I belong to two online Christian faith-based bereaved parents’ groups. One has more than 2000 members and one has nearly 8000. Those numbers are staggering to me. And, of course, there are many more grieving parents who aren’t comfortable sharing their vulnerability with strangers. My heart breaks for all of us. I wish no one…
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How I’m Doing So Far
Two weeks ago I posted some of my journaling from just three months after my daughter died. Today I’m posting some words I wrote a week or into the second year of living without her. I want you to know that many grieving parents say the second year is harder in some ways than the…
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Let Us Rejoice (Really?)
On the first anniversary of my daughter’s death, I woke up to the verse of the day on my phone being Psalm 118:24. This is the day the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it. Psalm 118:24 I was stunned for a moment and then I prayed between sobs, “really God?…
A Light for My Path 