I first shared this eight years ago so it may shock some folks that while I have finally tossed most of the things in my fridge that once belonged to Dominic, I’ve got a giant bottle of hot sauce I’m still using. Every time I add spicy flavor to chili I think of him. I’m not looking forward to the day it runs out because it will be one more link dissolved between the living son I knew in the flesh and the memories I have to settle for now.❤

Those hours before I planted one last kiss on my son’s forehead, I held his hand.   I nodded at the people filing past to pay their respects with my arm tucked behind me, desperate to cling to my child. And I’m still clinging.   I will not let him go.   I don’t care how many days or months or years march on taking me further from the sound of his voice, the touch of his hand or the brightness of his smile-I refuse to release my grasp.

My heart is that no one sitting in the darkness of child loss is left to think that darkness is all there is. I want to bring the light of hope to them wherever they are. You can help me do that.

I’m learning to stand up and speak my truth even when others don’t understand it. None of us chose to be bereaved parents.

Jealousy is a green-eyed monster and I want no part of it. I have to focus on the gift and not the loss.  I can't always do that.

when my son died suddenly in an accident and a deputy came to my door,  it changed me.  It modified who I am and who I will be.

It’s different for every heart. But each of us who know child loss have a season of sorrow. It’s more than “just” the day our child left.

If you can, join us.  You may be nervous up to the very minute you show up or log on but I PROMISE you will not regret it. 

It is neither helpful nor healthy to pretend that sorrow and sadness don’t follow loss.  

I lean into the Word of God and trust in, rely on and affirm the victory of Jesus Christ. But I still GRIEVE.  

You think...that you are forgotten because of your nothingness and weakness and poverty. This is the very reason you are remembered.

A pastor friend says, “Your misery is your ministry.” I think he’s right.

Life is hard. Death is awful. But thanks to Jesus, death doesn't have the last word.

Join me for a month of exploring what the Bible says about grief. It's a great way to begin a new year & to feed hope to your heart.

 Bereaved moms can join me in a quiet setting for a weekend of rest, renewal and restoration through fellowship, Scripture and sharing.

So many people think grief grows smaller over time.  But that’s not it at all.  Grief occupies exactly the same space in my heart.

Why is it, when we need them most, many friends-and I mean really, truly FRIENDS-just can't hang in and hold on?

It's normal that Dominic is less and less a part of his friends lives over time. But it still hurts...

Oh how I love you! Your brother’s untimely departure has opened my heart in a whole new way to the glory that is your presence.

So much of this battle has been fought in my mind. Really, even more than my heart. What I dwell on makes a difference.