Laura Diehl, Author at GPS Hope Page

September 3, 2019 by Laura Diehl 6 Comments

Episode 20: Finding Your Direction Again (with Glen Lord)

When our child dies, most of us don’t believe we can find our way out of the darkness, much less have a life with meaning or purpose again.

Or if we believe it is possible, we don’t know how to get there.

That is one of the purposes of Grieving Parents Sharing Hope (GPS Hope). We are here to walk with parents through the suffocating darkness of child-loss, guiding them to a place of hope, light and purpose.

Host, Laura Diehl, recently heard Glen Lord teach a workshop titled Finding Your Direction Again. It was so good that she invited him on the podcast to share it with the listeners.

Be sure to grab paper and pen, as you will be asked to pause the podcast to write some things down as Glen takes you through some practical steps of finding purpose and meaning after the death of your child.

Glen Lord was on the fast track to accomplishing his goal of being a CEO of a fortune 500 company. The death of his son, Noah, in 1999 put brakes on the life he had so carefully planned. As Glen sought a new path, he realized that there was a need for genuine, accurate grief information. This realization, plus his extensive business experience, fueled the founding of The Grief Toolbox and creation of the Walking Through Grief® program, both offer a community of grief resources around the world and a marketplace of grief and memorial products. Glen is past president of the national board of directors of The Compassionate Friends. He is a sought after keynote, inspirational presenter and workshop leader.

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

Birthdays

David Hector Toledo was born on September 5 and is forever 41.

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

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. (It is the song that plays in the background of the birthday segment.)

Links referred to in this podcast episode:

Find out more about sponsoring an “In Loving Memory” heart on the Hope Mobile, in honor of your child.

Please remember to give this podcast a rating and a review on iTunes or where ever you listen to it.

To go to the Grief Toolbox or contact Glen Lord, click here.

Remember to Hold On Pain Eases; there is HOPE.

www.gpshope.org

I want to partner with GPS Hope financially to help give support to grieving parents.

You are safe here. No masks needed…

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.

To have Laura come and speak or sing at your event, contact us at office@gpshope.org.

August 27, 2019 by Laura Diehl Leave a Comment

Episode 19: Having Hope (with Glen Lord)

No matter how dark it is after the death of our child, as a follower of Christ, we all have a seed of hope inside of us.

Host, Laura Diehl, and her guest, Glen Lord, talk about how to nurture that seed of hope so that it can grow, allowing you to live a life worth living once again.

Yes, it will look very different and we will remain broken, but we can get to the point where we choose to remain closed in that brokenness, or become open and beautiful, allowing the life of our child to continue through us.

Glen Lord was on the fast track to accomplishing his goal of being a CEO of a fortune 500 company. The death of his son, Noah, in 1999 put brakes on the life he had so carefully planned. As Glen sought a new path, he realized that there was a need for genuine, accurate grief information. This realization, plus his extensive business experience, fueled the founding of The Grief Toolbox and creation of the Walking Through Grief® program, both offer a community of grief resources around the world and a marketplace of grief and memorial products. Glen is past president of the national board of directors of The Compassionate Friends. He is a sought after keynote, inspirational presenter and workshop leader.

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

Birthdays

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

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

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. (It is the song that plays in the background of the birthday segment.)

Links referred to in this podcast episode:

Please remember to give this podcast a rating and a review on iTunes or where ever you listen to it.

To go to the Grief Toolbox or contact Glen Lord, click here.

Remember to Hold On Pain Eases; there is HOPE.

www.gpshope.org

I want to partner with GPS Hope financially to help give support to grieving parents.

You are safe here. No masks needed…

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.

To have Laura come and speak or sing at your event, contact us at office@gpshope.org.

August 20, 2019 by Laura Diehl 2 Comments

Episode 18: I Am Afraid My Child Might Not Be in Heaven

Season Topic: Facing Our Fears After the Death of Our Child

Laura and her guest, Pastor Lynn Breeden, talk passionately to those parents who live in fear, not knowing if their child who died is in heaven.

They share things we know about God such as:

• His desire that no one perish without Him
• That nothing can separate us from His love
• How Jesus opened the door for the thief on the cross as that man was dying

Fear and faith come from the same root; it is our response to the unknown. We get to choose if we are going to live in the torment of fear (which comes from the enemy) or to rest in faith that God’s love found a way through the darkness and your child accepted His offer of salvation. It could have been earlier in life and you didn’t know it, or even in those moments of transition of leaving this earth.

Laura and Lynn talk about how it is not only possible, but probable that God reached out to your child and he or she grabbed ahold of Him. You can choose to have faith that your child is in heaven, and rest in that hope.

Lynn closes by praying over the listeners.

Lynn Breeden’s life was forever changed on October of 1987, when her son Joel Brian died of cancer at the age of five. After coming to terms with this loss, her greatest desire was to help other moms through their own loss, so they do not have to grieve alone. Lynn founded Mourning to Dancing, which is a non-denominational ministry, with the sole mission to offer comfort, hope, and encouragement to mothers who have suffered the loss of a child. She also currently serves as the Pastor for Bremen United Methodist Church in Bremen, Indiana.

Birthdays

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

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. (It is the song that plays in the background of the birthday segment.)

Links referred to in this podcast episode:

To find out more about GPS Hope retreat(s) click here.

To contact Pastor Lynn Breeden, click here, or go to her ministry, Mourning to Dancing on Facebook.

If you have a topic you would like to hear discussed on the Grieving Parents Sharing Hope Podcast, email Laura Diehl.

And please remember to Hold On Pain Eases; there is HOPE.

www.gpshope.org

I want to partner with GPS Hope financially to help give support to grieving parents.

You are safe here. No masks needed…

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.

To have Laura come and speak or sing at your event, contact us at office@gpshope.org.

August 13, 2019 by Laura Diehl 2 Comments

Episode 17: I Am Afraid I am Losing My Mind

Season Topic: Facing Our Fears After the Death of Our Child

“Grief fog” or “grief brain” is a very real thing. There are chemical changes in our brain with deep grief, and it can affect us for a very long time, as in years. Some of us feel like we have permanently lost our sharp minds and the ability to think quickly.

You are not getting early Alzheimer’s – what a relief! It is just part of grief, and it is normal to have that fogginess increase at difficult times of year like our child’s death anniversary date, their birthday, etc.

Host Laura Diehl and her guest for this series on Facing Our Fears after the Death of Our Child, Lynn Breeden, tackle the subject of how grief affects us more than just emotionally, but also physically.

Birthdays

Jadyn Phillips was born on August 17, and she 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. (It is the song that plays in the background of the birthday segment.)

Links referred to in this podcast episode:

To let us know where you live, based on our travel itinerary to possibly meet or have us speak to a group, email us at office@gpshope.org.

To sponsor a heart on the Hope Mobile, click here.

To contact Pastor Lynn Breeden, click here.

Find Mourning to Dancing on Facebook.

And please remember to Hold On Pain Eases; there is HOPE.

www.gpshope.org

I want to partner with GPS Hope financially to help give support to grieving parents.

You are safe here. No masks needed…

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.

To have Laura come and speak or sing at your event, contact us at office@gpshope.org.

August 11, 2019 by Laura Diehl 4 Comments

Are You Tired of Disappointments?

Is unrelenting disappointment leaving you heartsick? Are you feeling hopeless in your situation?

Constant disappointment can leave us feeling weary and defeated. When we are weary from disappointment, we can get caught in a negative circle and not see any way out. And we have all been there.

Proverbs 13:12 is a Scripture that is probably familiar to you. I grew up with the King James Version which says, “Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but when the desire comes, it is a tree of life.”

Here is the first half of the verse in some other translations.

“Unrelenting disappointment leaves you heartsick” (MSG). Boy, that’s true, isn’t it?

How about, “When hope is crushed, the heart is crushed” (GNT).

And this one, “Hope which is delayed tormenteth the soul” (WYC).

We can get to a place where we have absolutely no hope in the situation in which we find ourselves. We can truly feel tormented because we can’t see any light in our place of darkness. Or if we can, it’s the “I can see the light at the end of the tunnel and it’s probably a train” kind of thing. Only we aren’t joking, because it really feels that way.

The second part of Proverbs 13:12 states, “When the desire comes, it is a tree of life.” Several translation say, “But a fulfilled longing is a tree of life”. At least one version adds, “There is life and joy” (TLB).

Obviously, when we find ourselves in a very dark situation and we can’t see our way out, we need hope.

I address this in When Tragedy Strikes. This book was written after emerging from the darkness of the death of my daughter. When you bury your child, you can’t find your way out of that dark pit with a false hope, or a “wishful thinking” kind of hope. You have to have the real thing.

Waiting, Trusting, Hoping

I read somewhere that waiting, trusting, and hoping are like three strands of a rope. Trust is the middle strand, and hope and waiting are the two strands that wrap around it. This is a good description of how I have gotten to the place I have, with the grace of God.

“Brothers and sisters, we do not want you to…grieve like the rest of mankind, who have no hope” (1 Thessalonians 4:13 NIV).

When I talk about hope I am not talking about wishful thinking. I am talking about something we know is coming that we anticipate. A great example is a little girl who hopes she will get married someday. That is the wishful thinking kind of hope. But one day a young man comes into her life, they fall deeply in love, and he gets down on one knee with a question and a ring. Her getting married is no longer wishful thinking. It is something she actually starts planning for with anticipation, knowing it is coming.

That is the kind of hope God talks about and gives us in the Bible. Wishful thinking won’t get you out of your black hole of grief, but hope will. True hope. The anticipation of knowing that God will pull you out and put you on a path of life that leads you to fullness and satisfaction in walking out the destiny and purpose He still has for you. Death and life…the two can truly merge together as we get past our own death caused by the loss of our child. In God’s kingdom, life always comes from death. Allow God to plant His seed of hope right in the middle of your pain, and watch it grow into life.

Facing your pain is hard to do—it’s never easy to face those things that make us feel so alone and broken. But every time we do, we grow a bit stronger, and we take one more step in the direction of healing.

No matter how broken you are today, tomorrow promises new hope.

Waiting, trusting, and hoping. We can actually make a decision for each of these.

We can choose to wait and allow God to do the work behind the scenes, or we can make a choice to be impatient and try to help God out by doing things our own way. This is not recommended, as it usually makes a mess of things. (Such as when Sarah tried doing things her own way in making sure Abraham had a son, by giving him her handmaid to sleep with.)
We can make a choice to trust God, even when we can’t see the outcome. It is better than choosing fear, when we can’t see the outcome.
We can choose to not give up. That is hope. And you can always lean on or borrow someone else’s hope for you, until your own hope returns.

These three, woven together, shine a light to get you back on the path of living again. Not just surviving, but thriving.

Remember, no matter how broken or hopeless you feel, tomorrow always promises new hope. Keep moving into a new tomorrow, until your tree of life is blooming once again.

Laura Diehl is an award-winning author, national speaker and singer. 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.

If you would like to receive monthly updates on their travel adventures click here and submit your name and email at the bottom of the page.

Looking for a speaker for your next event or want more information on hosting a GPS Hope & Healing conference? Click here.

GPS Hope exists to walk with grieving parents through the suffocating darkness of child-loss to a place of hope, light and purpose.

We also support families, friends and coworkers who want to know how to support these parents both short and long-term.

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.

If you are a bereaved parent, we encourage you to connect with us on Facebook, subscribe to Laura’s YouTube channel for grieving parents.