In those first few months (or even first two or three years) many pareavors (bereaved parents) have a hard time believing they will get to the point where they are not in the place of suffocating grief they have found themselves thrown into.
There are thousands of pareavors who are several years down the road, who thought the same thing. But once they find themselves out of that dark pit, is it healthy to purposely put yourself back into a place of painful darkness, remembering the depth of who and what you have lost, like listening to podcasts, or attending a retreat, or something like going on The Grief Cruise?
As Laura’s friend, Sara Nelson, recently experienced this when she attended the GPS Hope Weekend of Hope, Laura realized it would be good to have her on the podcast to talk about this.
Sara Faith Nelson, has been on this journey for ten years. 
She taught elementary and middle school grades for 15 years. Now she enjoys pursuing her love of writing. The primary focus of Sara’s 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, Jeanette, 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:
Click here to find out more about Laura’s book When Tragedy Strikes: Rebuilding Your Life With Hope and Healing After the Death of Your Child.
To look at the Hold On Pain Eases: There is HOPE shirts, click here.
Join us in February of 2025 on The Grief Cruise. Find out more here.
Birthdays:
Stephanie Wright was born on September 1 and is forever 26.
Bryanna Dugan was born on September 5 and is forever 22.
Alyshia DeFranco was born on September 6 and is forever 24.
Brady Keith Herbert was born on September 7 and is forever 30.
Jacob Sorouri was born on September 8 and is forever 32.
Emma Ho was born on September 9 and is forever 10.
Paul Murphy was born on September 9 and is forever 21.
Zachary Tyler was born on September 11 and is forever 18.
Petrina Charlean Bostic was born on September 12 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!
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.
This is a perfect example of how your beliefs drive your thoughts. If you believe that staying in your pain will keep the memory of your child alive, then you will continue in that emotional state of despair. You will not be able to live a life of peace, hope, and fullness (which includes living a life of meaning and purpose again, not in spite of your child’s death, but because of his or her life).
When God created us, He did an amazing thing. One of the ways He made us in His image is by allowing us to think our own thoughts. He does not control our thoughts, even though He could. He allows us to think He is the evil one.
pain and darkness you have ever faced and turn it into a lie that God doesn’t love you, or that He has turned His back on you.
What you focus on is what you will grow. So, if you continue to focus on the pain and loss, it will grow until it is ready to consume you and overtake you. But if instead you think about, focus on, and give thanks for what or who you still have, that is what will begin to grow, and eventually it will bring you out of that deep dark place.
Sharing Hope (
on June 22, 2019 from brain cancer, which sent her on a journey to rediscover who God is in the midst of such a horrible tragedy. She lives in Georgia, where she has been a correctional officer in a county jail for ten years. Whenever she can get away from her job, she enjoys spending time with her other children and grandchildren in Florida, and time on a beach somewhere.
Grieving Parents Sharing Hope (
As much as Mom knew and persisted through a deep depth of darkness as she fought to bring her children to adulthood, she clung desperately to her faith. She begged God for the reality of the words that she sang. She yearned for her God, and she knew the refuge He could give in sorrow. And, yes, she hid beneath His wings of love, shelter, and protection until Jesus called her home to Heaven.
wanted in my grief was to know with absolute certainty, that my God is right here – to know that I am not alone, and to know that my emptiness and my tears are softened and quieted by a presence that can come no closer.
And while I wait in the temporal, God’s redemptive faithfulness brings beauty from the ashes of tragedy. As I rest beneath the sheltering protection of His wings, I will also find that my child is not forgotten, and the light of my child’s short life can still shine.
she has watched God transform a childhood and youth of dysfunction, abuse, and wrong choices, and then the death of her daughter after a full term pregnancy, into outreaches of compassion and understanding.
