This website or its third-party tools use cookies which are necessary to its functioning and required to improve your experience. By clicking the consent button, you agree to allow the site to use, collect and/or store cookies.
I accept

GPS Hope

  • HOME
  • ABOUT
    • About GPS Hope
    • Meet Dave & Laura
    • Our Becca
    • AUTHOR Laura Diehl
      • About the Author
      • Laura’s Books
    • SPEAKER Laura Diehl
    • Contact Us
    • MEDIA
      • In the Media
      • PRESS KITS
  • PODCAST / BLOGS
    • PODCAST
    • Weekly VLOG (YouTube Channel)
    • Expressions of Hope Blog
    • Friends of GPS Hope Blog
    • Archives
      • Gems from the Crown
      • Kidz Korner
  • RESOURCES
    • My Profile
    • BOOKS
    • COURSES
    • HOPE For Your HEALTH
    • Laura’s Music CD
    • Free Content Library
    • FACEBOOK
    • Wall of Rememberance
  • SUPPORT GROUPS
    • ARIZONA, Sierra Vista
    • FLORIDA, Deltona (H.U.G.S.)
    • MINNESOTA, Worthington
    • OHIO, Columbus
    • OHIO, Newark
    • OREGON, Grants Pass
    • SOUTH CAROLINA, Columbia
    • TEXAS, Livingston
    • WASHINGTON, Olympia
    • WISCONSIN, Janesville
  • EVENTS
    • Calendar
    • CRUISE Feb. 2026
    • RETREATS
      • OCT 2025 Long Island NY
      • FEB 2026 Florida
  • DONATE
    • DONATE NOW
    • Sponsor Memorial Heart Decal
    • Sponsor a Podcast Episode
    • Our Sponsors
  • STORE

September 6, 2020 by Laura Diehl Leave a Comment

When the Bible Seems to Contradict Life

In 1985 my world was turned upside down when our three-year-old daughter, Becca, was diagnosed with osteogenic sarcoma – bone cancer. Her tiny little left leg was amputated, and she went through nine months of chemotherapy.

God spared her life at that time. However, we found out several years later that an unknown long-term effect of one of the chemo drugs used was heart damage.

She was married at the young age of nineteen and became pregnant within the first few months. Because pregnancy causes such a stress on the heart, it escalated her moderate heart damage to the point of only being given a 50/50 chance of surviving the labor and delivery, whether it was by cesarean or vaginally.

God spared both her life and the life of our precious little granddaughter, and we were very thankful. But from that point on, her weakened heart was a major issue in her life.

For the next nine years she dealt with heart issues. They became so severe she needed to be placed on the heart transplant list but wasn’t healthy enough. On Becca’s 28th birthday, she had major heart surgery, putting in a pump to run the left side of her heart. For the next eighteen months, she had several major life-and-death issues, which caused a dozen ambulance rides and three med flight helicopter trips to her hospital, forty miles away.

On October 12, 2011, our daughter’s heart finally gave out, and she crossed over to meet Jesus face-to-face and to receive her full and complete healing. (Details of Becca’s story can be read by clicking here.)

Why am I sharing all of this? Because as someone who has lost a child through death, and as someone who grew up believing the Bible is God’s Word, the two can be hard to reconcile.

Before my daughter Becca died, there are so many verses that I could agree with, and cheer for as the truth in my life.  But now, there are many verses that I have to dig into for a deeper meaning, because what I thought some of those scriptures meant, no longer made sense in my deep pain and confusion.

For instance, Ephesians 3:20 tells us that God is “able to do exceedingly abundantly beyond all that we ask or imagine, according to the power that works in us.” I used to love that verse, because I could imagine a lot of good things, believing God would do even more than those great and wonderful things I could imagine! And that included awesome things for my kids. Yahoo!

But when the Holy Spirit showed me how to see that verse in a totally different way after Becca died, it became very precious to me. When we are in that place of suffocating darkness after the death of our child, we can’t ever imagine coming out of the darkness. We can’t imagine we can learn how to live a life of meaning and purpose without our child here. We can’t imagine living out the rest of our lives in so much pain, just living in a shell wanting and waiting to die to go be with our child.

But God can! God not only imagines all of that, He can do way above and beyond what we thought was possible in our lives. So often we can only imagine darkness for the rest of our time here on earth. But He can do so much more than what we can imagine. He can bring light. He can bring hope. He can give us a life of meaning and purpose again, not in spite of our child’s death, but because of his or her life!

Here’s another one.

1 Corinthians 2:9 says, “No eye has seen, no ear has heard, and no mind has imagined the things that God has prepared for those who love him” (GW). This was a verse that used to be so exciting to me! God has more for me than I could ever imagine! Wow! How awesome is that? Lay it on me, God!

Let me just say, the darkness and pain of my daughter’s death was definitely more than I could have imagined, and it is not awesome, it is horrible!

But wait…let me share with you what I have discovered. This verse isn’t talking about the great life we are going to have with awesomeness and wonderful things being poured out on us continually. It is talking about the mystery of the death of Jesus, and how God was going to use it so that our “faith would not be based on human wisdom but on God’s power” at work in us (verse 5).  Now that is a real wow; much deeper than the shallow “bless me with all kinds of good stuff, and I will follow You” kind of belief in God.

Verse 12 says, “We didn’t receive the spirit that belongs to the world. Instead, we received the Spirit who comes from God so that we could know the things which God has freely given us.” So what has God freely given us?

How about for a start:

  • Comfort
  • Peace in the storms (or tsunamis) of life beyond our own understanding
  • Hope
  • Joy that goes beyond our circumstances
  • Triumph and victory over tragedy
  • Resurrection power and life from death

I now see these verses in 1 Corinthians and Ephesians as more of a promise for those of us who have been thrown into a place of deep darkness. It is God’s promise that He is going to bring us out in a way that we can’t see or hear right now, and we can’t even imagine how, in our place of darkness. This new understanding makes a whole lot more sense to me than using this scripture as a u-rah-rah-Go-God type of verse to be excited about Him being some sort of Santa Clause bringing us all kinds of fun presents.

How about you? Are you in a place of deep struggle, wondering how God could possibly tell us He has so many good things for us? Is He lying to us? Was that just something to make us think He is good, to deceive us into believing in Jesus as our Savior? Let me answer that with a resounding no! God is good. Not only is He good, but He is perfect in all of His ways, or He would no longer be God. If I could turn Him into a magic genie to make my wishes come true, He would no longer be big enough to be God.

It comes down to a matter of trust. Do I trust that He can see what I cannot see? Do I trust that He can hear what I cannot hear? Do I believe that He knows the full picture, and that what I am going through fits into the plan of eternity, way beyond what my finite mind can comprehend of life here and now on earth?

I choose to believe the richness of the full depth of 1 Corinthians 2:9. My eyes cannot see, my ears cannot hear, and my mind cannot imagine what God is going to do with my darkness, but God can and will do so much more in my life, as He starts to bring glimmers of light into my darkness.

I have chosen to believe not only that He can, but that He will bring life from death itself. After all, that is His specialty! Will you join me?

 

Are you looking for help with your grief from a Christian perspective? We would like to send you chapter nine, A Spiritual Fireside Chat, from Laura’s book When Tragedy Strikes: Rebuilding Your Life With Hope and Healing after the Death of Your Child. (This will also allow you to join over 1,000 other parents who are receiving a Weekly Word of Hope, which you can unsubscribe from at any time.)

 

Expressions of Hope is written by author, speaker and singer Laura Diehl. She and her husband, Dave, are the founders of Grieving Parents Sharing Hope (GPS Hope). Dave and Laura travel full time in their Hope Mobile (a 38-foot motor home) to be more easily available for speaking and ministry requests, including being invited to hold one-day GPS Hope & Healing conferences.

 

If you would like more information about Laura as a speaker for your next event or want more information on hosting a GPS Hope & Healing conference, click here.

 

  • Check out the Grieving Parents Sharing Hope weekly podcast
  • If you are a bereaved parent, we encourage you to connect with us on Facebook.
  • If you are not a bereaved parent but want to support those who are, or want to follow us as we give hope to these precious parents, please connect with us at Friends of GPS Hope on Facebook.
  • Subscribe to Laura’s YouTube channel. 

Filed Under: Expressions of Hope Tagged With: 1 Corinthians 2:9 meaning, Bible verses after loss, child loss, Christian grief, Christian motherhood loss, death and eternal life, Ephesians 3:20 grief, finding hope after death, grief and faith, grief testimony, Jesus and suffering, losing a daughter, resurrection hope, trauma and hope, trusting God in grief

September 1, 2020 by Laura Diehl Leave a Comment

72: Losing an Only Child (with Sara Nelson)

It is devastating enough to have one of our children die, but to have your only child leave this earth gives a parent even more difficulties to have to fight against in working through the suffocating darkness.

Sara Nelson lost her only child, Jeanette, and feels called to help others through their grief, no matter the loss, but has a special place in her heart for those who, like herself, have lost their only child.

Sara Faith Nelson taught elementary and middle school grades for 15 years. Now she enjoys pursuing her love of writing. The primary focus of her writing has always leaned toward themes of hope, faith, and trust in the goodness of God. Since the death of her daughter and only child, she writes about her grief journey and surviving a devastating loss. She continues to write about trusting in God’s goodness and grace while grappling with the hard questions.

Sara and her husband, Dennis, live in Arizona.

(Note: The views and opinions of our guests outside of this podcast may not be in agreement with GPS Hope.) 
Links Mentioned in this episode:

Connect with Sara Nelson

Website: Footsteps of Hope

Email: writingsmiles2@gmail.com

Author  Facebook page

Find Footsteps of Hope on Amazon

 

Information to join GPS Hope on a cruise

Please remember to give this podcast a rating and review to help other parents who are looking for something that will encourage them.

Click here to become a monthly partner, giving hope to other parents, or to give a special gift to keep this podcast going, along with providing  other needed resources to bereaved parents.

(GPS Hope is a 501c3 nonprofit and runs on the financial support of those who believe in passing along the hope they have received to others.)

 

Birthdays:

Kevin Stoneburner was born on September 1 and is forever 27.

Raelyn Huffman was born on September 2 and is forever 22.

Toni was born on September 4 and is forever 24.

David Hector Toledo was born on September 5 and is forever 36.

Francesca Anne C. Agravante was born on September 6 and is forever 8.

Brady Keith Herbert was born on September 7 and is forever 30.

 

If you would like your child mentioned on the podcast the week of his or her birthday, click here to fill out the short form with the needed information.

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!

www.gpshope.org

 

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.

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.

August 25, 2020 by Laura Diehl Leave a Comment

71: I Can Breathe Again (with Ashley Pittman)

Ashley Pittman lost a set of twins, seven months into her pregnancy through premature labor. Will Jr. took his last breath in her husband’s arms and Aree’a took her last breath on Ashley’s chest.

Ashley struggled with her grief for the next several years, believing her pain is what kept her connected to the twins. During that time, her marriage started to unravel to the point that her husband had an affair.

Eight years after deeply struggling with this huge loss, God suddenly lifted the weight of grief, delivering Ashley from shame, guilt and sorrow, making her feel like she could breathe again.

Ashley encourages other parents not to give up on continually asking God to bring a healing to their broken soul, while giving them permission to move toward that healing and allow time for it to happen.

The interview ends with Ashley praying a beautiful prayer over the listeners.

Ashley K. Pittman had always desired to have a family, and almost as soon as her family was given to her, it was taken away. For a long time, she held on to the pain. She shut out the person who loved her the most, her husband. And even after they were blessed with more children, she still wasn’t free to live her life, to love freely, and be there for her children. She was simply existing through the shame and guilt she felt from the loss of her babies. Ashley is finally free of the heartache and grief that kept her crippled. She is now locking arms with other women and walking with them through the heartache to H.O.P.E. The freedom to breathe, love, and live again, especially after extreme loss is possible. 

(Note: The views and opinions of our guests outside of this podcast may not be in agreement with GPS Hope.) 

Links Mentioned in this episode:

 

Connect with Ashley Pittman: www.ashleykpittman.com

Ashley’s book on Amazon: I Can Breath Again

I want more information to join GPS Hope on a cruise

Please remember to give this podcast a rating and review to help other parents who are looking for something that will encourage them.

Click here to become a monthly partner, giving hope to other parents, or to give a special gift to keep this podcast going, along with providing  other needed resources to bereaved parents.

(GPS Hope is a 501c3 nonprofit and runs on the financial support of those who believe in passing along the hope they have received to others.)

 

Birthdays:

Kristina Michelle Lee was born on August 26 and is forever 26.

If you would like your child mentioned on the podcast the week of his or her birthday, click here to fill out the short form with the needed information.

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!

www.gpshope.org

 

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.

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.

August 18, 2020 by Laura Diehl 2 Comments

70: Happiness Versus Joy

If you are like many Christians, we have been taught that happiness is more of a fleshly thing, and that we shouldn’t be trying to be happy. “God isn’t interested in your happiness.”

Really???? Then what is heaven about? Why does God try so hard to get us to believe and receive His love for us?

Happiness should not be our main goal in life, but happiness should be part of the Christian life. It was in the days of the early church, and it should continue as His church.

Joy is spiritual fruit. Happiness is soul fruit.

Is it possible that the two are more related than we realized? Joy is an undercurrent in our lives. But joy can also be a visible excitement over God doing something in our life presently or hopeful anticipation for him to do something in the future, which is happiness.

We can (and should) have both, even after the death of our child. It won’t happen right away, but we can move toward it, allowing it to slowly make its way back into our lives.

Links Mentioned in this episode:

GPS Hope Members Library

Information on the December 2021 cruise

 

Please remember to give this podcast a rating and review to help other parents who are looking for something that will encourage them.

Click here to become a monthly partner, giving hope to other parents, or to give a special gift to keep this podcast going, along with providing  other needed resources to bereaved parents.

(GPS Hope is a 501c3 nonprofit and runs on the financial support of those who believe in passing along the hope they have received to others.)

 

Birthdays:

Katie Mullen was born on August 24 and is forever 19.

If you would like your child mentioned on the podcast the week of his or her birthday, click here to fill out the short form with the needed information.

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!

www.gpshope.org

 

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.

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.

August 11, 2020 by Laura Diehl 6 Comments

69: Our Children are Our Life

When our child dies, anything that gave us joy or made us feel fulfilled in life seems to be wiped out. Most of us aren’t suicidal; we just don’t want to be here anymore. We can’t imagine living life without our child being part of it and we know we can’t continue to live for years with this kind of pain.

We need something bigger than us, and bigger than our pain, to live for with our remaining time here on earth. If none of those things that were part of our lives before the death of our child are big enough, then the reason to continue living is for our child who is no longer here with us.

Living for our child, because of his or life, can be a step toward having joy back in our lives again. In this episode, Laura shares why and how to do this.

 

Links Mentioned in this episode:

Information on book When Tragedy Strikes: Rebuilding Your Life With Hope and Healing after the Death of Your Child

GPS Hope Members Library

Wall of Remembrance

“In Loving Memory” Heart Decals to put on the Hope Mobile

 

Please remember to give this podcast a rating and review to help other parents who are looking for something that will encourage them.

Click here to become a monthly partner, giving hope to other parents, or to give a special gift to keep this podcast going, along with providing  other needed resources to bereaved parents.

(GPS Hope is a 501c3 nonprofit and runs on the financial support of those who believe in passing along the hope they have received to others.)

 

Birthdays:

Travis M. Blair was born on August 9 and is forever 30.

Miracle Valentina Harvison was born on August 12 and is forever 2 ½ months.

Joshua Egloff was born on August 15 and is forever 22.

Jadyn Philipps was born on August 17 and is forever 18.

If you would like your child mentioned on the podcast the week of his or her birthday, click here to fill out the short form with the needed information.

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!

www.gpshope.org

 

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.

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.

  • « Previous Page
  • 1
  • …
  • 55
  • 56
  • 57
  • 58
  • 59
  • …
  • 102
  • Next Page »

Get Laura’s Newest Award Winning Book!

Click Image for More Information!


Get Your Copy of This Award-winning Book Now!

Click Image for More Information!

Get Laura’s Music CD

Click Image for More Details.

Get Your Copy Now!

Click Image for More Information!

Get your Copy Now!

Click Image for More Information!

What is a Pareavor?

Click to find out.

Get Your Copy Now!

Click Image for More Information!

Recent Posts

  • Finding Meaning and Purpose After the Death of a Child By Laura Diehl with Kim Harms
  • Is God Punishing Me for My Past? A Word for Grieving Parents Struggling with Guilt
  • When Dads Grieve: A Conversation on Faith, Family, and Holding On
  • Can I Trust God Leading Me?



LIKE US ON FACEBOOK

GPS Hope Page (for bereaved parents)

Events & Itinerary

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

BROWSEOUR STORE

Contact Us

guidestar

GPS Hope is a 501c3 not-profit Christian Ministry

Privacy Policy

2024 Illumination Award Medalist
Reflections of Hope

Available NOW!