Hope After Child & Sibling Loss: An Empty Chair Endeavor Podcast

By Greg Buffkin/Trauma Recovery & Healing Journey Host

This is a Christ-centered podcast offering hope and encouragement to parents and families who are learning to live again after the devastating death of a child or sibling.

... more

4.7

2323 ratings

FAQs about Hope After Child & Sibling Loss: An Empty Chair Endeavor Podcast:

How many episodes does Hope After Child & Sibling Loss: An Empty Chair Endeavor Podcast have?

The podcast currently has 102 episodes available.

Best of Hope After Child & Sibling Loss: An Empty Chair Endeavor Podcast

The most played episodes among Podcast App listeners.

Number 1: Faith After Losing a Child: Can Faith Survive the Unthinkable Loss?, with Sandy Cooper, Noah’s Mom
What happens to a parent’s faith after losing a child? Sandy Cooper shares her deeply personal journey after the sudden death of her nine-month-old son, Noah. We talk honestly about child-loss grief, the shock and confusion that follow, anger and questions about God, and learning to live when life is forever changed. Sandy also shares what helped her survive those first days and months, what grieving parents need from family and friends, how child loss affects marriage, and how Christian faith can survive even when God seems silent. If you are grieving the death of a child—or walking alongside someone who is—this conversation offers honest companionship, understanding, and hope. Send us Fan Mail *** If you find this podcast helpful and encouraging, please leave us a review by clicking one the links below: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/hope-after-child-sibling-loss-the-empty-chair-endeavor/ https://www.podchaser.com/HopeAfterChildSiblingLossTheEmptyChairEndeavor You can contact us by email at: [email protected] If you would like to share your story on an upcoming episode, please send us an email so that we can talk with you about it. Thank you for listening!
September 15, 20261h 1min
Number 2: “I Still Believe” with Janette Henning, Melissa Camp’s Mom
A 21-year-old newlywed. Ovarian cancer. A mother watching the unthinkable unfold while trying to keep breathing. I’m joined by Jeanette Henning as she tells the story of her daughter, Melissa Camp, who died in February 2001 just three months after marrying Christian music artist Jeremy Camp. The details are tender and raw: the surprises in the hospital, the moments that felt like miracles, and the shock of realizing that even when you’re praying hard for healing, the outcome can still break your heart. We talk honestly about what grief does after child loss, not just emotionally, but physically and relationally. Jeanette shares how different family members grieve in different ways, why that can feel isolating, and what she learned when she stopped expecting her husband or her kids to fill the void. If you’re a bereaved parent searching for Christian grief support, we spend real time on lament, the freedom to bring anger and questions to God, and the slow work of learning how sorrow and joy can coexist over decades. Jeanette also explains how Melissa’s journals became a lifeline and later a message for the world through the book Melissa: If One Life, plus a devotional journal focused on intimacy with God. We connect that legacy to the film I Still Believe and the ripple effect that continues as people write in to say, “I’m the one life.” If you need hope after tragedy, or you’re trying to understand faith in suffering, this conversation offers a steady place to land. Please share this with someone who needs it, and leave a review with the line that hit you hardest. To learn more about Janette, Melissa’s story, and Umbrella Ministries, click the links below. *** https://www.janettehenning.com/about *** https://www.umbrellaministries.com/ Send us Fan Mail *** If you find this podcast helpful and encouraging, please leave us a review by clicking one the links below: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/hope-after-child-sibling-loss-the-empty-chair-endeavor/ https://www.podchaser.com/HopeAfterChildSiblingLossTheEmptyChairEndeavor You can contact us by email at: [email protected] If you would like to share your story on an upcoming episode, please send us an email so that we can talk with you about it. Thank you for listening!
September 01, 202658min
Number 3: Navigating Life After Suicide with Melissa & Todd Shaffer, Tristan’s Parents
A teen can look like he is just “being a teenager” while he is privately fighting for his life. We talk with Todd and Melissa Shaffer about the loss of their 18-year-old son, Tristan, to suicide after a long, confusing road that included isolation, anger, depression, and warning signs nobody around them could clearly name. Their story is honest about what it feels like to miss what you did not know how to see, and what happens to a family when clinical depression and suicide risk finally break into the open. We also dig into the complicated realities behind mental health diagnoses, including how OCD can fixate on a person, how bipolar symptoms can be overlooked, and why emergency rooms and short evaluations often fail families in crisis. From antidepressant warnings to the stigma that still lingers in our culture, we discuss the tension many Christian families feel between “spiritual bandaid” advice and the need for counseling, specialists, and wise medical care. If you care about teen mental health, suicide prevention, or supporting bereaved parents, this conversation offers language and perspective you can carry into real life. Most of all, we talk about the grief journey after suicide loss and what actually helps: finding other parents who understand, living one day at a time, and learning to pray again when words disappear. Todd and Melissa share how Scripture, journaling, and the often-neglected practice of lament became lifelines, and how they now serve others through ministries like Christian Suicide Loss and Surviving Child Loss while building Sparrow Falls Ministry. Tune in for more conversations like this, share this with someone who needs it, and leave a review with one thing you want the church to understand about mental health and grief. https://sparrowfalls.org/podcast/ Send us Fan Mail *** If you find this podcast helpful and encouraging, please leave us a review by clicking one the links below: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/hope-after-child-sibling-loss-the-empty-chair-endeavor/ https://www.podchaser.com/HopeAfterChildSiblingLossTheEmptyChairEndeavor You can contact us by email at: [email protected] If you would like to share your story on an upcoming episode, please send us an email so that we can talk with you about it. Thank you for listening!
May 12, 20261h 2min
Number 4: Grieving the Loss of a Son to Suicide: A Mother’s Story of Grief, Faith & Hope with Anne Starke, David’s Mom
What is it like to grieve the suicide of a son? Anne Starke shares the story of losing her 16-year-old son, David, and the grief, questions, guilt and depression that followed. We talk about suicide-loss grief, the questions parents carry after a child’s suicide, the impact of depression, the isolation that grieving families can experience, and the difficult journey of finding hope again. For parents grieving a suicide loss—or for someone trying to understand and support them—this is an honest conversation about grief, faith, compassion and hope. If you’re walking through child loss, suicide bereavement, or supporting someone who is, this conversation offers real language, real hope, and permission to be honest. Share this with someone who needs it, and leave a review so more grieving families can find these stories when they feel most alone. Send us Fan Mail *** If you find this podcast helpful and encouraging, please leave us a review by clicking one the links below: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/hope-after-child-sibling-loss-the-empty-chair-endeavor/ https://www.podchaser.com/HopeAfterChildSiblingLossTheEmptyChairEndeavor You can contact us by email at: [email protected] If you would like to share your story on an upcoming episode, please send us an email so that we can talk with you about it. Thank you for listening!
April 28, 202649min
Number 5: A Mom’s Journey After Suicide with Deana Morris, Travis's Mom
By most accounts, March 18, 2023 was just another ordinary day in Abilene, Texas. For Deana Morris and her family it was the day that turned their lives upside down as they discovered their dearly loved 28 year old son Travis had taken his own life. Suicide blindsides loved ones, leaving them with unbearable pain, a lifetime of too many unanswered questions and an additional layer of complication to their already unspeakable grief. Join us as Deana and I talk about her journey over the past several months; discover the importance of having strong community when we’re hit by the storms of life, and how GOD reveals Himself to crushed, brokenhearted people, breathes new life into us, and restores hope, purpose and meaning from the ashes. Send us Fan Mail *** If you find this podcast helpful and encouraging, please leave us a review by clicking one the links below: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/hope-after-child-sibling-loss-the-empty-chair-endeavor/ https://www.podchaser.com/HopeAfterChildSiblingLossTheEmptyChairEndeavor You can contact us by email at: [email protected] If you would like to share your story on an upcoming episode, please send us an email so that we can talk with you about it. Thank you for listening!
November 26, 202446min