Laura Diehl, Author at GPS Hope Page

January 28, 2020 by Laura Diehl Leave a Comment

Episode 41: Paying it Forward (With Crystal Webster)

This second episode of the Helping Your Child Leave a Legacy series is with guest, Crystal Webster, who lost her one and only child eight hours after birth. Several years later, after coming out of the debilitating darkness of grief, she discovered something she could do that would help others who found themselves in that same place, be able to “pay it forward” when they came out of their own dark place of grief.

During our conversation, we also covered a few other topics within the world of grief.

Crystal’s suggestion to helping your child leave a legacy: Find something (and it doesn’t have to be big) that brings others happiness and yourself happiness.

Crystal Webster’s daughter, Madelyn Elizabeth, died just 8 short hours after birth while in her mother’s arms. As Crystal grieved the loss of her only child, she began to feel isolated and ill-equipped to handle her emotional journey. Vowing to honor her daughter’s brief life and to support others from feeling as lost and lonely as she did, Sharing Solace was founded, which brings together those grieving any type of loss by providing physical keepsake gifts intended to be ‘paid forward’ to others.

(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 find out more about Crystal, her book coming out, and Sharing Solace, click here.

Go to Laura’s publisher Morgan James Publishing

Go to My Book Hook for help on how to write a book, or sign up for an Author Secrets webinar that will also get you started and connected with AAE. (Note, both of these links are connected to Laura’s name, so that if you decide to publish your book through Author Academy Elite, GPS Hope will get a monetary thank you from AAE for the recommendation.)

Birthdays:

There are no birthdays to announce this week.

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.

January 21, 2020 by Laura Diehl Leave a Comment

Episode 40: Texting and Driving (with Patti Small)

Today is an interview with the first guest for the How to Leave Your Child a Legacy Series.

Patti has had quite the journey for over twelve years since the death of her daughter, Megan. I am sure you will take away some valuable thoughts, especially the word of encouragement that hope and helping others, go hand-in-hand.

Patricia Small grew up in the beautiful upper peninsula of Michigan. While doing her medical internship in Houston, she met her husband, Kevin, and they had two children, Megan and Jacob. Their children were the center of their world and life was good, filled with the typical sports and school events.

But Patti’s life changed forever on November 25, 2007.

Her daughter, Megan, was returning to Baylor University after Thanksgiving break when she was killed instantly in a head on collision by a young college student who was texting behind the wheel of his truck.

In March of 2010, a jury in a civil trial found this young man responsible for the wrongful death of Megan Marie Small after only 2 and one-half hours of deliberation. The landmark verdict established a precedent for distracted driving accident victims across Texas and throughout the country and continues to make reckless drivers responsible.

Since that time, Patti has honored her daughter’s life by becoming an advocate for distracted driving awareness in the state of Texas. She is now also an advocate for Texas statewide “hand-free” legislation and looks forward to her retirement years when she can become a full-time advocate and speaker in the local schools and student driving facilities.

(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:

Email Patti Small at triish2424@aol.com

Listen to podcast episode 32: Why Should I Go to a Retreat?

I am interested in sponsoring a podcast in honor of my child.

Birthdays:

Richie Rudkin was born on January 27 and is forever 27.

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.

January 14, 2020 by Laura Diehl Leave a Comment

Episode 39: Helping Your Child Leave a Legacy

We can make sure our child’s legacy continues to live on in a way that makes a difference in this world, even if he or she never took a breath outside the womb.

This episode is laying the foundation for the series Helping Your Child Leave a Legacy. For the next few weeks we will be talking to parents who have done everything from starting a local support group, to raising money for a cause, to writing books, to starting businesses and non-profits, to helping change laws.

Your child’s life mattered! The fact that your child died matters; it matters to society and it matters to the world. And your pain matters! YOU are the one who can make sure your child is remembered and that his or her life will continue to touch others even though he or she isn’t here on earth any more.

We can take our horrific pain and allow God to help us use it for something good.

Links referred to in this podcast episode:

I want to know more about placing a heart on the Hope Mobile in loving memory of my child.

I am interested in sponsoring a podcast in honor of my child.

I want to be part of Hope for Hundreds, providing resources and support for other pareavors.

I want to add my child to the GPS Hope Wall of Remembrance.

I want to give a special gift or become a monthly partner with GPS Hope.

Birthdays:

Joshua Caldwell was born on January 16 and is forever 28.

Jeanette Marie was born on January 19 and is forever 36.

Hugh Brown was born on January 19 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.

January 7, 2020 by Laura Diehl 2 Comments

Episode 38: The Top Podcast Episodes of 2019

As we start 2020, we decided to use this episode to look back and listen to a few minutes of each of the top five podcasts of 2019. (To go directly to these episodes to hear the full discussion, use the links in the “Links referred to” section below.)

The very first Grieving Parents Sharing Hope podcast went out on April 23rd, and that first one ended up being the fifth most popular. This was the first of eight episodes that deal with the difficult and necessary subject of forgiveness.

#5 – Episode 1: Is Forgiveness Really Necessary?

The episode that came in next, was the first one in a series about fears we deal with after the death of our child. There are so many fears we now must constantly fight our way through. The episode that laid the foundation for talking about some of the specific fears was number four.

#4 – Episode 12: Facing Our Fears After the Death of our Child

The third most popular episode of 2019 was from the series on how to take care of ourselves, body, soul and spirit. The episode where I talked about how the death of our child affects us emotionally seemed to be of interest to a lot of us.

#3 – Episode 22: The Emotional Breakdown

The podcast episode that came in second was part two of an interview with Glen Lord. Glen lost his 4 ½ year old son in 1999, so he has been on this journey for over twenty years and has so much wisdom and guidance for bereaved parents.

#2 – Episode 20 Finding Your Direction Again (with Glen Lord)

The number one Grieving Parents Sharing Hope podcast episode for 2019 was also with a guest. Ron Kelly has a passion for grief within the workplace, including how it affects employers, co-workers, and us as employees after the death of our child. This episode was packed with all kinds of help and information that goes beyond just the workplace.

#1 – Episode 9: Grief and the Workplace (with Ron Kelly)

So those are the top five podcast episodes for 2019.

Thank you for being a listener. With all the things going on in your life, we don’t take it lightly that you would take the time to hear what we hope is encouraging and helpful on this unwanted journey we have found ourselves on.

If you have a subject you would like to be discussed, or someone you think would be a good guest, I would love to hear from you. Let me know by emailing me at laura@gpshope.org.

Links referred to in this podcast episode:

NOTE: Any podcast can easily be found by using the URL: gpshope.org/podcast/# but instead of the # put in the actual number of the podcast, such as gpshope.org/podcast/28.

#5 – Episode 1: Is Forgiveness Really Necessary? (The other episodes in this series are 2-8.)

#4 – Episode 12: Facing Our Fears After the Death of our Child (The other episodes in this series are 13-18.)

#3 – Episode 22: The Emotional Breakdown (The other episodes in this series are 23-27.)

#2 – Episode 20 Finding Your Direction Again with Glen Lord (Part one is episode 19.)

#1 – Episode 9: Grief and the Workplace with Ron Kelly

I want to keep this podcast listener supported (either with a special gift or become a monthly partner).

Birthdays

Ryan Hines was born on January 7 and is forever 27.

Adrienne was born on January 11 and is forever 19.

Jake Kalicki was born on January 12 and is forever 17.

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.

January 5, 2020 by Laura Diehl 4 Comments

A New Year Means New…?

Every time a new year shows up, it brings lots of emotions for many of us bereaved parents, especially if this is the first time the calendar has turned since your child died.

There are lots of words that can describe what we think and how we feel. Numb, regret, anger, sorrow, fear, confusion… I am sure you could add quite a few of your own words to this list.

These are all valid, for sure! And as you can see, they are all negative. So, how can we start to move the needle toward the positive, especially if we don’t see how that is even possible? Or maybe you are someone who doesn’t know if they even want to?

I believe there is a word that is the bridge between the two.

HOPE

When we have no hope, we have no desire to live.

We know the enemy is out to steal from us and kill us. If he can’t do it physically, he will do it emotionally. When our child dies, we have the biggest red target on us for the enemy to do exactly that. He steals our hope, leaving us wanting to die to go be with our child. Even if we have other children, a wonderful marriage and had a life full of purpose and passion before our child’s death, it all comes crashing down and we are left in a world of darkness and hopelessness.

However, the death of our child did not blindside God like it might have done to us. That means we do not have to stay a slave, chained to our prison of darkness with no hope. Jesus came to break every chain that could ever try to keep us bound. He will carry us through this valley of death, back into a place of abounding hope.

There is a seed of hope already inside of you! It may be dormant at the moment, but it is there. It just needs to be nurtured, and in time, in its season, it will begin to break through the hard ground and begin to sprout.

And that brings up another word.

TIME

Time can be terrifying to us now. Time means we are getting further away from our child. In the beginning, I used to dread the day my daughter would be gone for five years, and I couldn’t imagine her not being here for ten or twenty years or more. The thought of it can take my breath away and bring stinging tears!

And yet, as time goes by, it also means we are getting closer to seeing our child again, and that makes me excited!

The pendulum of time…it is all in our perspective.

I don’t believe that saying, “Time heals all wounds.” That is impossible when it comes to the death of our child. But I do believe what we do with our time makes a big difference in how long we stay in that place of suffocating darkness.

And one thing we can do, that can bring a huge shift is to

SURRENDER

This is not easy to do, especially if we feel like God betrayed us by allowing our child to leave this earth (and even more so if it was a traumatic departure).

During grief, people either move toward God or away from Him. But the truth is, when we move away from Him, we are moving away from the One who can help us the most. God wants to walk with us through this valley of death. He wants to give us comfort and strength. He wants to give us hope and yes, even a vision for our future that still has good things in it.

These are all things we desperately need. But if we choose to move away from Him, we will continue to desperately need these things.

Grieving the death of your child is a time to get as close to God as you possibly can.

It makes me think of a distraught child crying uncontrollably and his father bending down to embrace and comfort him. The son is so upset he is kicking and screaming and fighting, not wanting to be picked up and loved on. Eventually the child runs out of strength and relaxes in the embrace of his loving father. And now that child can receive the comfort, strength and hope he wants and needs.

It is the same with us. Don’t fight the One who can give you the very things you need. Surrender, allowing Him to embrace you and carry you in His strong arms of love.

In talking about surrender, I mentioned another word:

FUTURE

Like I said, the death of our child did not blindside God. In His eyes, we still have a life to live. He has a plan for us, and believe it or not, it is a good plan. Does it seem next to impossible to believe that? How can a good plan for our future be one that is without our child in it?

I had to learn the reality of the truth that my plans are not God’s plans. His ways are not my ways. His thoughts are not my thoughts. I have grown into a deeper faith in how awesomely powerful my God is. That He really can take something as horrific as the death of a child, and somehow, miraculously, bring good from it.

If my focus is on my loss, I cannot rise above it to face my future. But if my focus is on my promised future, then it is much easier to rise above the loss and step forward into that future and the good things God still has for me. (And don’t forget about the future we will have in eternity, never to be separated from our child again!)

Not only do we still have a future with good things in it, our life can have meaning and

PURPOSE

Each of us has a set number of days here on this old earth, and then we move on to the glorious side of eternity. Our child’s time here was much too short as far as we are concerned, and we were supposed to go first. But the fact remains, our child has now moved on to his or her permanent home and is more alive and full of life than we are! For reasons we don’t understand, their purpose on earth was completed before ours was.

So now it is important that we continue moving forward in our earthly purpose, so that when we join our child who is waiting for us, we will both hear the wonderful words, “Well done, good and faithful servant…Enter into the joy of your Lord.” (Matthew 25:21 NKJV)

And that brings me to my final word:

LIFE

Bad things happen to good people. Horrible and evil things happen to God’s people. You have paid what many will say is the ultimate price of sacrifice on this earth—the death of your son or daughter. (Sound familiar? I know someone else who paid the price of His Son a little over two thousand years ago.) But you did not give your child willingly or have a choice.

The question is: Are you going to let it be a wasted sacrifice? Are you going to become bitter or better? What value are you going to place on the life of your child? That is where the mind shift happens. Life or death?

I refuse to let death cause more death! I will not give the enemy that kind of a victory! Because Jesus lives, I can live. I have allowed my God to make good on His promises in my life, to give strength to the weary and hope to the hopeless. And I will allow that hope to continue to grow as it becomes joy that reaches beyond death, both my child’s and mine.

I hope and pray in this new year, you decide to make the same choice.

I want to encourage you to ask God to give you a specific word for this year: a word that represents what He wants to work into your life through this grief journey. My word is joy. I want and need the fullness of His joy back in my life again. I would love to know in the blog comments what your word is!

Much of this blog was taken from the My Grief Journey: Coloring Book and Journal for Bereaved Parents. It has forty-two words that describe our life after the death of our child. Each word has a coloring page, a journaling prompt, a thought about that word, and an appropriate scripture. Here is a list of those words:

We would like to offer our readers the same recent discount as our listeners to the Grieving Parents Sharing Hope podcast. You can purchase When Tragedy Strikes: Rebuilding Your Life with Hope and Healing After the death of Your Child for $1 off, PLUS receive a FREE copy of My Grief Journey: A Coloring Book and Journal for Bereaved Parents!

Just click here, put the When Tragedy Strikes book in your cart and use the promo code PODCAST37.

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.