While We're Waiting® - Hope After Child Loss
This is a podcast FOR bereaved parents BY bereaved parents. Join your host, Jill Sullivan, as she talks with parents who have lost children of all ages to all types of circumstances. This is a podcast of stories ... stories of devastating loss and grief and heartbreak and struggle ... and stories of hope and healing and faith, and yes, even joy. Underlying every conversation will be the hope we have in Jesus Christ, which makes it possible to not just survive the loss of a child, but to live well while we're waiting to see them again in Heaven one day. Visit our website at www.WhileWereWaiting.org for more information about our nonprofit ministry to bereaved parents.
Episodes
498 episodes
298 | A Faithful Paradox (Part One) with Kirsten Black
In this episode of the While We’re Waiting – Hope After Child Loss podcast, Jill Sullivan begins a two-part conversation with Kirsten Black, author of the Faithful Paradox blog.Kirsten shares about her son Ezra, a gifte...
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Episode 298
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33:52
297 | Romans 8:28 for the Broken
If you’re a regular listener, you know that we typically feature conversations with parents who have experienced the loss of a child on this podcast. However, when a good friend posted a link to this sermon on Romans 8:28 in our private “...
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Episode 297
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27:11
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296 | One Chapter at a Time (Part Two) with Tricia Patrick
"God doesn’t ask us to live the whole story at once. He walks us through it chapter by chapter.” In this second half of my conversation with Tricia Patrick, we move beyond the events of February 2014 and into the long journey that f...
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Episode 296
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34:11
295 | One Chapter at a Time (Part One) with Tricia Patrick
“You don’t have to resolve every layer of grief at once. God works in chapters.” Today's episode begins a two-part conversation with my new friend Tricia Patrick. In this first episode, you’ll get to know her son Jeremy — a miracle ...
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Episode 295
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35:38
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294 | Shaken, But Not Abandoned (Part Two) with Kristi Kirk
If you’ve lost your song, that doesn’t mean it’s gone forever.In this second half of my conversation with Kristi Kirk, we focus on what healing can look like over time after devastating loss. Kristi reflects on the long road of gr...
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Episode 294
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31:34
293 | Shaken, But Not Abandoned (Part One) with Kristi Kirk
When life no longer feels safe or predictable, trust in God can feel fragile.In this first half of my conversation with Kristi Kirk, we talk about what it means to be shaken to the core by loss—and how faith can be tested, reshape...
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Episode 293
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33:03
292 | A Life Worth Living (Part Two) with Ken and Mary Sue Grein
Today, we resume our conversation with Ken and Mary Sue Grein as they recount the events surrounding their son Jacob’s unexpected passing in 2019, the way their family was gathered together, and the profound sense of God’s presence in those hou...
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Episode 292
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36:50
291 | A Life Worth Living (Part One) with Ken and Mary Sue Grein
Today I’m joined by Ken and Mary Sue Grein as they begin sharing the story of their son Jacob—a story that would shape their family, their faith, and their understanding of what gives a life meaning.Our conversation takes us into the ear...
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Episode 291
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45:48
290 | When the House Grows Quiet (Part Two) with Dawn Helms
Today's episode features a continuation of my conversation with Dawn Helms as we focus on life after the loss of her only child, Ben.Dawn shares practical, compassionate wisdom for parents in the early days of grief—about accepting help,...
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Episode 290
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27:23
289 | When the House Grows Quiet (Part One) with Dawn Helms
Today's episode features the first half of my recent conversation with Dawn Helms, in which she shares the story of her only son Ben and the long journey of loving him through significant mental health challenges.For years, Dawn lived in...
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Episode 289
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29:51
288 | Grace for the Year Ahead
“Moving forward doesn’t mean leaving my child behind.” As one year ends and another begins, many people are eager to turn the page. For bereaved parents, however, the arrival of a new year can feel heavy and overwhelming. A ne...
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Episode 288
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11:22
287 | Five Gifts for Broken Hearts
“The first Christmas came with gifts meant for broken hearts.” Christmas is often one of the hardest seasons for parents grieving the loss of a child. Today, I reprise a solo episode originally recorded in 2020 during the heig...
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Episode 287
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11:04
286 | When Christmas Feels Broken
Christmas can feel especially heavy after the death of a child. Traditions that once brought joy may now magnify the absence, and the expectations of the season can feel overwhelming for a heart that is grieving.In this episode, I gather...
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Episode 286
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31:21
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285 | "GodPrints" in the Shattered Pieces (Part Two) with Jenny Leavitt
In Part Two of my conversation with Jenny Leavitt, we continue exploring the GodPrints—God’s gentle fingerprints of presence and faithfulness—woven through her family’s grief journey after the loss of her son, Jacob.Jenny shares how she ...
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Episode 285
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31:42
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284 | "Godprints" In the Shattered Pieces (Part One) with Jenny Leavitt
In this first half of a two-part conversation, I sit down with Jenny Leavitt — pastor’s wife, author of GodPrints, and bereaved mom — to hear the story of her son, Jacob, and the unmistakable “GodPrints” woven throughout her family’s j...
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Episode 284
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31:25
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283 | When God Holds the Thread (Part Two) with Debra Amick
In this second half of my conversation with Debra Amick, we explore what life looked like after Chase went to Heaven and how God gently led her from deep grief toward renewed purpose.A meaningful part of this episode centers on four a...
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Episode 283
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32:34
282 | When God Holds the Thread (Part One) with Debra Amick
When God Holds the Thread: Chase’s StoryIn this first half of my conversation with Debra Amick, she shares the story of her son Chase—a talented artist, musician, and gentle soul whose life touched so many. Debra opens up...
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Episode 282
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30:29
281 | The Valley and the Shepherd with Meshea Ingram
“Even in the darkest valley, the Shepherd is still good—and He never lets go.” In this week’s episode, I talk with Meshea Ingram, a mom who has walked through the deepest valley imaginable and found her Shepherd faithful every step ...
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Episode 281
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48:51
280 | We Are Held with Cheri Fletcher
“What if hope isn’t about holding on—but about being held?” In today's episode, I had the privilege to sit down with Cheri Fletcher—a writer, speaker, and flash mob aficionado—who shares the story of her daughter Annie, a vibrant yo...
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Episode 280
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43:01
279 | An Immeasurable Love with Cindy Shufflebarger
In this week’s episode, I’m joined by Cindy Shufflebarger, who shares the story of her daughter, Ashlynn Faith, and how God’s immeasurable love met her family in the midst of unimaginable loss. Diagnosed with Trisomy 18, Ashlynn...
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Episode 279
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51:10
278 | Marking Time With Hope
Today's episode is a little bit different than what you usually hear on the While We're Waiting podcast. I've invited my husband Brad to join me to reflect on our daughter Hannah’s birthday. She would have turned 34 years old today—which ...
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Episode 278
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25:01
277 | A Dad's Journey to Hope (Part Two) with Terry Sternad
In the second half of my conversation with grieving dad Terry Sternad, we see what grief—and faith—can look like more than forty years after the death of a child. Terry’s six-year-old son, TJ, went to heaven in 1983, and while the ache of missi...
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Episode 277
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33:06
276 | A Dad's Journey to Hope (Part One) with Terry Sternad
When a father loses a child, the world shifts forever. In this first half of my two-part conversation with grieving dad Terry Sternad, he takes us back more than forty years to the day his six-year-old son, TJ, went to heaven—and the remarkable...
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Episode 276
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32:53
275 | He Will Hold You Fast (Part Two) with Julie South
“Surrender is not a moment; it’s a posture I’ve had to return to again and again.”With these words, Julie South describes the ongoing journey she’s walked since her daughter Bellah’s homegoing. In this second part of our convers...
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Episode 275
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40:16
