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.
You will also get to hear what others have done to get through that first year, and through the one-year anniversary of their child’s death. This episode both acknowledges the intense pain leading up to that day, as well as giving hope that you can get past it, doing it your own way as needed.
Whether you find yourself in tears, in silence, in stories, or even in laughter, there is no “right” or “wrong” way to move through this painful milestone. You are not alone. And as Laura reminds us, even in the darkest moments, there is still hope.
Links Mentioned in this episode:
💜 If you’d like more encouragement, Laura’s new book The Bible’s Grieving Parents is now available. You can find the Kindle version on Amazon, Link Here or get a PDF copy directly from gpshope.org.
GIVE AN AMAZON REVIEW HERE. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0FR7KM44G
Birthdays:
We lovingly remember and celebrate the lives of:
Jeffrey Dunkleman was born on October 10 and left us at age 53.
James Fielding was born on October 10 and left us at age 28..
Visit gpshope.org/birthdays to submit your child’s name and date so we can honor them, too.
The special song written for our children’s birthdays I Remember Well can be heard here.
Remember to Hold On Pain Eases; there is HOPE!
To have Laura come and minister at your event, contact us at office@gpshope.org.
Grieving Parents Sharing Hope (GPS Hope) is here to walk with parents through the darkness of child-loss, guiding them to a place of hope, light and purpose.
“Grieving parents and belongings” refers to the deep emotional connection between bereaved parents and the cherished items left behind by their child.
It is a safe place for anyone who has lost a child from this earth. There is no shame or judgment in where you are in this journey, including if you are struggling in your relationship with God or your faith has been completely shattered.
A Loss That Changed Everything
When our child dies, life is forever divided into a “before” and an “after.” That kind of loss is something no parent ever expects or prepares for. In a recent conversation with Mick Weinhold, he shared the story of how the heartbreaking loss of his firstborn son, Luke, became the turning point that changed not just his life, but his eternity — a deeply personal Father’s Story of Losing a Child.
But what makes Mick’s story so powerful is what happened after. He and his wife had grown up knowing about God, but had wanted nothing to do with Him. Rules and expectations without relationship had only pushed them further away. Yet in the raw pain of losing their first child, they found themselves crying out to God, not because they had it all figured out, but because they had nowhere else to turn. As Mick put it, “We felt like we had a Luke-shaped hole in our hearts. But what God showed us was that it was really a God-shaped hole.”
Mick was honest about the struggle. There was anger, confusion, and the hard questions we all wrestle with after losing a child: “If God is good, why didn’t He stop this?” Yet even in his anger, God met him. Mick shared how he once cried out bitterly about the unfairness of friends having a baby being born on Luke’s due date, and in that moment, he heard God speak: “You were supposed to pray for them.” It was a reminder that even in grief, God is present, guiding, and working in ways beyond our understanding.
For grieving parents, these blessings don’t make the loss go away. The hole our child leaves is real. But God can meet us in that place. He doesn’t replace our child, but He can bring us wholeness within the shatteredness. We can be complete in Him, even while still deeply missing our child.
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Mick’s story is one of grace and redemption. His firstborn son, Luke, was a full-term stillbirth. As a result of Luke’s death, everything changed for Mick and his wife, as their child’s death was the turning point where they both began a relationship with Jesus. Eighteen months after Luke’s death, Mick and his wife welcomed their first living child into their family. They were al so blessed to have identical twin boys, 7 years after Luke’s death and birth. 
If you have ever felt alone in the pain of losing your child, I want you to know that you are not walking this road by yourself. Together, as grieving parents, we walk through this valley with the God who promises to be our Shepherd. God Himself is with us, just as He was with the very first grieving parents in the Bible.
When Adam and Eve buried their son, Abel, after he was murdered by his own brother, I don’t think they even understood the full reality of death until they saw Abel’s lifeless body. They were the first to experience the heartbreak of child loss, and they weren’t the last. Scripture is filled with stories of parents who endured the death of a child, and their experiences hold encouragement for us today.
We can see in the stories of grieving parents in the Bible that God’s mercy and goodness carried them through, and He will do the same for us. His Spirit strengthens us to not only survive, but to one day share hope with others walking this same painful journey.
