Laura Diehl, Author at GPS Hope Page

March 31, 2020 by Laura Diehl 2 Comments

50: The Rainbow Baby in the Bible

Did you realize that King Solomon was a rainbow baby?

The scriptures that surround this situation can be confusing, and even hurtful, especially to those who have lost an infant. Podcast host (and ordained minister), Laura Diehl, spends most of the time on this episode doing her best to untangle these verses, giving listeners new eyes to see and know that God cares, and that He always has a plan for our lives and the lives our of children, no matter how long or short their lives were here on earth.

This episode is part of the series Parents in the Bible Who Lost a Child.

Links

GPS Hope YouTube Channel

Website: gpshope.org

Email Laura Diehl: laura@gpshope.org

Birthdays:

Jonda Steinkamp was born on April 2^nd and is forever 5 months old.

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.

March 24, 2020 by Laura Diehl Leave a Comment

49: The First Death in the Bible was a Son Who Was Murdered (with Angela Alexander)

In this new series, we will be looking at parents in the Bible who had a child die.

I don’t know about you, but there are so many things in the Bible that I see through new eyes after my daughter Becca died, and one of those areas is reading about the parents who lost a child and are recorded in God’s Word.

I find it pretty amazing that the first death in the Bible is one of the worst things that could ever happen to a person… not just the death of one’s child, but a son murdering his brother!

Angela Alexander is a bereaved parent and she has also gone through the horrible experience of her brother murdering her sister. Back in 2017, I did an interview session with Angela for our Virtual Summit (an online conference I put together of 19 sessions with over 20 different speakers on all kinds of topics for bereaved parents).

Part of this episode is an edited version of that conversation, when she shares about that murder and how it affected her family, especially her father. Her story is one of healing and redemption, which leads the way for many of us who struggle, especially if our child was murdered.

April 1, 2000, while Angela was in Japan on military duty her family in California was involved in a fatal car crash. Sadly her two eight-year-old sons Murice and Roger passed instantly at the scene. One of the many miracles is God allowed both to write and leave behind incredible good-bye letters. Since then Angela has retired from the Air Force Reserve. Now she’s an Author and Inspirational Speaker of her amazing testimony titled, Miracles in Action Turning Pain into Power and Grief into Peace.

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

Links mentioned:

How to contact Angela Alexander: Angela@MiraclesInAction.com

Miracles in Action

2017 Virtual Summit

Birthdays:

Waylyn McRae was born on March 25^th and is forever 17.

Michael Young was born on March 26^th and is forever 22.

Dakota Crandall was born on March 27^th and is forever 25.

Tommy Simmons was born on March 29^th and is forever 59.

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.

March 17, 2020 by Laura Diehl Leave a Comment

48: Does God Contradict Himself? (With Dave Diehl)

As I was doing some studying in the Word, looking at some of the parents in the Bible who had lost a child, I came across a scripture that just seemed to go totally against what I believe about God, and even what I have shared with others about God’s goodness, and how He doesn’t cause death.

I told Dave what I had just read and decided to put the podcast microphone between us to record our discussion and thoughts on this subject.

Warning: If your loss if fresh, or if your loss is an infant, there may be some triggers in here, because it is based on 2 Samuel 12:13-15 that says God struck King David’s child with an illness to cause him to die. This is something that goes against what we know about God being a loving Father and other scriptures, which can cause lots of pain and confusion in the death of our own child.

However, I felt it was important to share this conversation with our listeners, to let you know that I still grapple with things myself, and there are plenty of times that I just don’t have the answers I wish I had.

But that doesn’t mean I can’t trust God, which in itself also seems contradictory, doesn’t it?

The take-aways I hope you will find in this episode are:

God is too big to be understood with our small, finite brains. If we could figure Him out, then He wouldn’t be big enough to be God.
God IS love itself, which means it is impossible for Him to be or do evil. So, if I struggle in seeing Him that way, it means there is something about Him I don’t understand yet or am not seeing through His eyes.
As a believer in Christ we are under the blood covenant of Jesus, which means all of your sins have been paid for. Your child did not die because of a past sin!
God doesn’t promise that we are immune from the pain and suffering of this world, but He promises to be with us through those times, being everything we need, if we let Him.
This is not our home. Nothing here is permanent. When it is our time to leave this earth and arrive in our eternal home, we will either understand the whys, or we just won’t care anymore because of how wonderful it all is.

Dave and I are not Biblical scholars and don’t have the theological answers to why it seems God contradicts Himself, but we do know that peace comes when we choose to trust Him, in spite of what doesn’t make sense from our limited view and painful circumstances.

We have chosen to stay in relationship with Him because we don’t know of any other way to make it through our time here on earth.

Dave Diehl is retired from a career of over thirty years in IT. He is the cofounder of GPS Hope, doing all of the unseen things like technical support, planning the itinerary, and driving the Hope Mobile. Dave wrote a chapter in Laura’s book When Tragedy Strikes, and ministers directly to grieving fathers around the nation at the GPS Hope & Healing conferences and retreats.

Links referred to in this podcast episode:

Birthdays:

Kyle Moroney was born on March 20 and is forever 23.

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.

March 10, 2020 by Laura Diehl Leave a Comment

Episode 47: Getting Started Raising Funds for Your Cause (with Mary Valloni)

Sometimes we know what we want to do to help our child leave a legacy, but we don’t know how to get started with raising money to support that cause.

Professional fund raiser, Mary Valloni, and host, Laura Diehl, continue their talk from last week, and Mary shares some thoughts and encouragement in this area.

Two things discussed are:

It’s important to have clarity so you don’t push people away who are confused by your cause.
How it can help to have a “why” that goes even beyond leaving your child a legacy.

Mary Valloni is an author and a fundraising coach, consultant and speaker. She is known for her track record of successfully teaching individuals and nonprofit organizations how to dramatically improve their finances. She has raised millions of dollars for organizations like the American Cancer Society, the ALS Association, and Special Olympics. Her award-winning book, Fundraising Freedom, has effectively shifted the way individuals and organizations look at fundraising and finances, allowing them the freedom to focus on what really matters. Mary lives in St. Louis, Missouri with her husband and their two Dalmatians.

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

Links referred to in this podcast episode:

To connect, visit MaryValloni.com
To start learning how to raise funds with more freedom, listen to her podcast at fundraisingfreedompodcast.com.

When Tragedy Strikes Hope & Healing Course

“In Loving Memory” heart on the Hope Mobile

Ways to support GPS Hope in honor of your child

You can also contact us directly at office@gpshope.org

Birthdays:

Steven Kowalewski was born on March 11 and is forever 28.

Amy Rebecca Wetmore was born on March 13 and is forever 30.

Andrew Woulard was born on March 15 and is forever 23.

Jeffrey Macedo was born on March 15 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.

March 3, 2020 by Laura Diehl Leave a Comment

46: Six Rookie Mistakes in Raising Money for Your Cause (with Mary Valloni)

The last two episodes in this series on How to Help Your Child Leave a Legacy are with professional fundraiser, Mary Valloni. Since many of you are doing things in honor and memory of your children that involves raising money for your cause, I thought it would be helpful to get some tips from someone who has lots of experience in this area.

Mary has been on staff and raised millions of dollars for large organizations, but she now has her own consulting business to also be able to help those who are trying to raise smaller amounts for worthy causes, including missionaries getting out on the field.

GPS Hope has been using Mary’s personal guidance with learning how to be supported as a nonprofit and how to become fully funded, so I am very blessed to have her share some of her expertise with you. Both Mary and I hope the things you hear on these two episodes will be valuable to you, helping you not only raise the needed funds for your cause, but to bring in more than you thought possible, in honor of your son or daughter.

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

Links referred to in this podcast episode:

To connect, visit MaryValloni.com
To start learning how to raise funds with more freedom, listen to her podcast at fundraisingfreedompodcast.com.

When Tragedy Strikes Hope & Healing Course

Birthdays:

Christian Fafnis was born on March 4 and is forever 20.

Ava Jenkins was born on March 6 and is forever 2.

Jonathan Van Verdegem was born on March 6 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 judgement in where you are in this journey, including if you are struggling in your relationship with God or your faith has been completely shattered.