We talk a lot after loss about giving ourselves permission to grieve. And that’s important! But we don’t talk as much about giving ourselves permission to laugh. To sing. To feel joy, even here. So consider this permission. I’m sharing three practices I’m adopting to welcome joy into my life.
Episode 10: Even When There Are No Magic Words To Make It Stop
When we've tried everything - kicking, screaming, resisting, begging, pleading - and the pain still doesn't go away, we're tempted to believe that God is inactive, distant, and aloof. But what if God is more present than ever, waiting out our pain with us, and delivering us through the very trial we're in.
Episode 9: Even When Hope Is Hard To Find
10 Helpful Ways To Comfort Friends While They Grieve
When I think back on the hours leading up to Imogen’s birth and the few days afterward, I have no idea how we made it through. It is only the Lord’s grace that allowed us to keep breathing and moving forward through those horrible days. But we survived. And now that we’re a few months out, I have such a deeper understanding of grief and how to support those in the middle of the fog.
God Is Good In the Midst of Our Pain
Peter and I delivered our first baby girl, Imogen Dorothy, on June 14, 2019. We had found out the day before (at 40 weeks 6 days) that she no longer had a heartbeat, and delivered her stillborn one week past her due date. We are devastated. There are no words to describe the depth of our pain and grief. And, yet, we know this is not the end of the story.