Season Topic: The Many Facets of Forgiveness
Welcome to episode – #1, our very first podcast!
There are so many other things you could be doing, so I am honored that you have chosen to check us out and are considering spending the next few minutes together.
Are you struggling with unforgiveness?
Most of us do, in at least one area after the death of our child. It is not uncommon for parents not to even realize it, until it is brought to their attention.
This first season of the Grieving Parents Sharing Hope podcast is about forgiveness. When a child dies there can be so much unforgiveness it completely paralyzes a person.
Within this important topic, today’s episode is specifically about the need to lay the foundation of forgiveness to be able to rebuild your life, allowing one to move forward and not stay paralyzed in that place of darkness.
A Lesson from elephants
Did you know that a baby elephant can help us let go of the thought that we just can’t forgive? Listen in, as I share this interesting nugget with our listeners.
Where is God in all of this?
Even if you are angry at God, or don’t believe there is a God, the need to let go and forgive is still a necessary part of getting out of the darkness.
Coming up soon…
The following several episodes will cover the different people we may need to forgive, such as
• those who had something to do with the death of our child, either directly or indirectly
• those who have hurt us by not understanding the way we need to grieve the death of our child
• our child for leaving us here without him or her
• God for not stepping in to stop it
• Ourselves, as we are filled with “I should have’s”
You are safe here. No masks needed…
This 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.
Links referred to in this episode
In this podcast, I briefly share about the loss of our oldest daughter, Becca. If you would like to read about Becca’s story in more detail, click here.
Birthdays: Each week I will announce the birthdays coming up of our children who are no longer here, so that our listeners can remember them with you. If you would like your child added to the list, click here to fill out the form with the needed information.
This week we celebrate
- Becca Diehl Howard, birthday 4/13/82, who is forever 29
The original song I Remember Well can be heard here.
As shared in the podcast, we want to bless you with a thank you gift for listening within the first five days. Please submit your name and best email address below by April 28 to receive the free eBook Triple Crown Transformation. Unfortunately this offer has now expired.
To get in on the 20% discount on all of our books during the month of April, go to our store and be sure to use the promo code BECCA when checking out.
For information on the retreat click here.
If you have any recommendations of guests to have on this podcast, or any suggestions, please contact us at office@gpshope.org.
And please remember to Hold On Pain Eases; there is hope.
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. www.gpshope.org
To have Laura come and speak or sing at your event, fill out this form.
Thank you just listened to my first ever pod cast! Having a bad Kyle day! The absentee father just texted me wanting half of Kyles ashes! I prayed about this because it will be like giving a man who abandoned him half my son! I needed to hear about forgiveness! Thank you your are my life line ???
Oh Susan, that sounds so hard! Glad we are here for you, and that the podcast helped. Virtual hugs to you!
I just started listening to your podcast…thank you for this. I also have a son Kyle who passed. He passed away suddenly on Good Friday and these podcasts have been comforting to me as I am just beginning to come out of my fog/shock. Kyle was only 11 and was such a special boy. I still can’t believe he isn’t with me here…but I know that he is with Jesus. I can feel Kyle’s peace and happiness. I imagine him running, laughing and playing with other children in heaven – just waiting for the rest of our family to join him. Kyle was always so scared to be alone so I know that Jesus and others are with him in Heaven while he waits for us. It is the only thing bringing me peace right now.
Michelle, I am so very sorry. Kyle was so young, and I am sure it was such a huge shock. I also love to picture our children in heaven, perfect, whole, and loving a perfect life to the fullest! So thankful God made a way that our separation isn’t permanent! Thanks for letting me know the podcast seems to help in some way. Hugs!
A friend of mine sent me this link and I just listened to the first podcast. My son, Dominic passed away about 6-7 weeks ago. He was 24 he passed six days before his 25th birthday (June 28, 1994). Dominic had stage four brain cancer (Glioblastoma Multiforme). I had to watch my son die knowing there was nothing I could do to stop this except pray. So I prayed everyday believing that God would heal him. Believing the verse in the Bible that said if you pray with faith and believe that you will receive what you are praying for. But my prayers went unheard. You talk about forgiveness and being angry with God and getting past that but I don’t think I’m there yet. Because even when he in his last few hours and all his strength was going into breathing I still sat there and prayed for him. But God let him die I nor my son got the miracle I was praying for.
Hi Vickie, I am so very sorry about Dominic. If you look at our website and read “Becca’s Story” (under the About tab) you will see that our daughter had cancer at three years old, went through chemo and had her little left leg amputated. I had prayed in faith, standing on the same scriptures that she would not have that amputation. It sent me on a journey to figure out what all this faith stuff is about, and who God really is. (I was raised as a pastor’s kid, so I was full of scripture and who I believed Him to be.) One of the chemo drugs had a long-term affect of heart damage, which plagued her the last 10 years of her life. Becca’s last 18 months were terrible, with a dozen ambulance rides, three medical helicopter rides from a stroke and sudden cardiac death, and when the pump that was running the right side of her heart malfunctioned. She needed a heart transplant, but never even made it onto the list.
All of that to say that you are in such fresh grief, and I understand your thoughts and the anger and confusion. I hope you listen to more of the podcasts and connect with us. The series I am doing right now is with someone who lost her 5 year old son to an aggressive cancer over 30 years ago. One of the best things you can do is connect with those of us who “get it”, and have also been in the suffocating darkness after the death of our child. And give yourself lots of grace. Those around you may not understand, but we do, and we will walk with you, and not just this first year, but the second, the third, and on. We are all on this journey together.