All Episodes

This talk with Kelly Gerken was so full of good stuff that instead of editing things out, it was turned into two separate episodes.

In this first half, Kelly shares her story about losing her twins, Faith and Grace, before they were born, along with her son Thomas six hours after his birth.

Then Laura and Kelly turn a corner as Kelly shares her struggle with the internal question, “Where is your God now?” and the whole issue of what it means to “have faith” when our prayers don’t get answered the way we thought they would or should. They also talk about how having faith and trusting God isn’t easy to do, especially in the midst of such a dark, horrific circumstance. Hebrews 11 is where much of the discussion seemed to land.

Another part of the discussion is how God’s grace plays a big part in our lives when our child dies, giving us what we need for each moment, when we are willing to reach out and receive it is as well. This is not based on our performance, including being a “good” Christian. It is based on His heart to be near to the brokenhearted, and His desire and ability to give peace in the midst of the pain.

Kelly Gerken is the founder of Sufficient Grace Ministries, serving thousands of grieving families worldwide since 2004, comforting others with the comfort she received in her time of grief. She is the mother of five children, three who dance in heaven, and two who fill her days with boyish antics on this earth. Kelly is a featured speaker at hospitals, churches, women’s groups, and a leader of educational seminars for hospital staff and caregivers. She is also a certified SGM Perinatal Loss Support Doula, building a comprehensive perinatal hospice birth and bereavement program to support bereaved families. Kelly’s book “Sufficient Grace” addresses many of the questions people ask in the face of tragedy.

I would love to announce your child’s birthday. Click here to fill out the short form with the needed information. And be sure to let other bereaved parents know that their child can be celebrated with our listeners!

The full song I Remember Well (which is the background song during the birthday segment) can be heard here.

To connect with Kelly Gerken: Sufficient Grace Ministries

Click here to check out the GPS Hope & Healing Virtual Summit.

For information about the retreat in Iowa in October, click here.

Find out more about the GPS Share & Care Support Groups.

I want to partner with GPS Hope financially to help reach more 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. 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.

To have Laura come and speak or sing at your event, contact us at [email protected].

This week Laura talks to Ron Kelly about a subject many of us are forced to deal with way too soon; going back to work when we are in such deep grief.

This was a very packed discussion and longer than the normal podcast, but well worth it. Some of the things covered on this subject are:

Laura and Ron also talk a bit about false anger and blame and how men and women tend to grieve differently, which affects us at work as well.

Be sure to share this episode with others who would benefit from this information, both employees and employers, grievers and non-grievers, as it affects everyone at some time.

Glenn Kelly, or Ron to his friends, lost his sixteen-year-old son and only child in 2013 to a rare congenital heart defect. Today, he is the published author of several grief support books, a Grief Keynote and Workshop Presenter, Motivational Growth Speaker, and Business Grief Coach. He has discussed grief healing on CBS television, Trinity Broadcast Network, New York Cable TV, broadcast radio programs, universities, hospitals, and in such big businesses as Delta Air Lines and Coca-Cola. He has served as an Executive Board of Directors member with the Bereaved Parents of the USA, and as a Board of Advisors member with Le Bonheur Children’s Hospital in Memphis, TN, where his dear child passed away. First and foremost, however, today Ron remains the loving father of his late son, Jonathan Taylor Kelly.

I would love to announce your child’s birthday. Click here to fill out the short form with the needed information. And be sure to let other bereaved parents know that their child can be celebrated with our listeners!

The full song I Remember Well (which is the background song during the birthday segment) can be heard here.

How to contact Ron Kelly or find out more about his books, etc.: rglennkelly.com

Click here to see the government page on the Parental Bereavement Act of 2017 (to add grieving the loss of a son or daughter to the FMLA. (You may also want to consider contacting your representatives in the senate, asking them to get it passed.)

Yes, I want to partner with GPS Hope financially to help us reach more grieving parents.

www.gpshope.org

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. 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.

To have Laura come and speak or sing at your event, contact us at [email protected].

This is part two of the discussion on forgiving God for allowing our child to die. If you missed part one, you will want to go back and listen to episode 7.

We start out by picking up where we left off in talking about the big question of “WHY?” and I share how you can turn a corner so that “why” doesn’t continue to plague you.

In this episode we talk about what it really means to have God’s favor, along with the difference of a “wonderful plan” for our lives and being full of wonder at how God is with us through the blessings and the painful tragedies.

During grief, people either move toward God or away from Him. But when we move away from Him, we are moving away from the One who can help us the most.

I deeply encourage you to make the same choice to forgive God that I have asked you to make to forgive your child and others (including yourself). There is no prayer written out to forgive God like I gave in the first six episodes with those we need to forgive. This is one that you need to say from your heart, and once again, visit it over and over again, until it takes root and you can lean on Him instead of stiff arming and pushing Him away.

We will eventually be reunited with our child, never to be separated again.  And THAT is something a good God has done for us!

Calvin Joseph Kendricks Jr. was born on June 17 and is forever 28

I would love to announce your child’s birthday. Click here to fill out the short form with the needed information. And be sure to let other bereaved parents know that their child can be celebrated with our listeners!

The full song I Remember Well (which is the background song during the birthday segment) can be heard here.

Since we have just finished the first series. I would really appreciate your feedback, because this podcast is for YOU! What did you like or not like about it? What topic would you like to have discussed? Is there something I can do to make it better?

Would love to hear from you. Leave a comment on the page with the show notes here, or email me directly at [email protected]

GPS Hope Retreat: If you would like to get away for a weekend in a beautiful setting with myself and Dave and a small group of just 12 bereaved parents, make sure you check out our retreat scheduled in October.

Give Hope to Others: If GPS Hope has brought you hope and light in your grief journey, please consider helping us reach more grieving parents who find themselves hurled onto this same unwanted path. Click here to support GPS Hope monthly or to give a special gift.

And please remember to Hold On Pain Eases, there is HOPE!

www.gpshope.org

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. 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.

To have Laura come and speak or sing at your event, contact us at [email protected].

I cannot offer an easy fix or solution to this issue of needing to forgive God.

The best thing I can do isn’t to try and convince you why forgiving God is the right thing to do (or why you should stop being angry at Him), but to tell you what I have learned about God in my journey here on this earth, why I still trust Him, love Him and follow Him, why I can say He is faithful and how it has gotten me where I am today.

In this episode we discuss several misconceptions, how our perspective can change our thoughts about God, and start tackling the question of “Why?”

Since this topic is more than what we can tackle in one discussion, we will finish it next week.

Flora Mae Sparger was born on May 24 and is forever 12 days old (my step sister I never knew)

Shaun Klein was born on June 1 and is forever 33

Riley Whitehead was born on June 3 and is forever 19

The full song I Remember Well (which is the background song during the birthday segment) can be heard here.

Giving Hope to Others: To help us continue and increase our reach to other grieving parents, click here to give a special tax-deductible gift or to set up monthly giving.

And don’t forget to check out the GPS Hope & Healing Retreat.

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

www.gpshope.org

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. 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.

To have Laura come and speak or sing at your event, contact us at [email protected].

I think we will all agree that there is no wrong way to grieve, especially when grieving the death of your child, until it comes to our spouse (or someone close to us) and then they are doing it wrong if they aren’t doing it like we are!

Laura’s husband, Dave, joins her on this podcast for a candid discussion on how they grieved Becca’s death differently, and some of the reasons.

Laura and Dave go into depth on these three suggestions

• Plug into a local support group

Sibling grief will be its own series at some point, but Laura and Dave share briefly on why your other children may be doing things like pulling away from you.

We encourage you to be determined that your child’s death is not what will be the death of your marriage or other important relationships. At least not on your end. The way to do that is to accept and respect the needs of that other person in how they are grieving and take care of your own needs.

Each week Laura has been sharing a different prayer with you to say out loud based on the topic and this week isn’t any different. This week’s prayer can be for anyone close to you who is not grieving the same way you are, including your other children, a parent, close friend, and of course your spouse.

If you would like a PDF of these prayers, just submit the information below.

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Isaiah Santell was born on May 22 and is forever 16.

I would love to announce your child’s birthday. Click here to fill out the short form with the needed information. And be sure to let other bereaved parents know that their child can be celebrated with our listeners!

The full song I Remember Well (which is the background song during the birthday segment) can be heard here.

GPS Hope Share & Care Groups – find out how easy it is to facilitate your own group

GPS Hope library (to download the free eBook From Ring Bearer to Pall Bearer)

To find out more about Laura’s award winning book When Tragedy Strikes, click here.

Give Hope to Others: If GPS Hope has brought you hope and light in your grief journey, please consider helping us reach more grieving parents who find themselves hurled onto this same unwanted path. Click here to support GPS Hope monthly or to give a special gift.

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

www.gpshope.org 

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. 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.

To have Laura come and speak or sing at your event, contact us at [email protected].