From Sorrow to Service: How God is Using My Grief

Hosting my podcast, leading Finding Hope and Hope After Loss meetings and preparing for Mini Mom retreats is what I spend my time on usually but May has brought some new experiences for me. I was asked to be a speaker at a Our Child Lives luncheon this month and it turned out to be very rewarding. I was in a room full of parents that had lost a child in a variety of ways. My past speaking engagements in the past have been to audiences that had lost someone to an overdose related death. Our Child Lives Ministry was introduced to me by the founder of the non-profit organization, Lynn Gilkey. Her sister found my interactive grief journal, Remarkable You: Revisiting Love, Regrets & Celebrations, at our local bookstore in Wichita. Watermark Books is a quaint local neighborhood book store that has a section for local Authors and that is where you might find it! Lynn reached out to me immediately and invited me to have coffee with her. The invitation to speak was an honor. When you lose a child you need to surround yourself with others who have experienced that kind of loss. They understand and are able to be there for you in a way others can’t.

The other speaker, also named Rhonda, was a local Pastor who had lost her daughter as well. She was a dynamic Christian speaker and truly brought us into the presence of the Holy Spirit. I told my story about who Lacy was and how she was introduced to pain medication in high school after two knee surgeries. In the time I was given, I explained that addiction can happen to anyone, even a smart & beautiful, dream filled young woman who came from a loving family. Lacy spent her young years involved in church groups and attended a small Christian school. She was safe, or at least I thought she was. Lacy struggled in her early to late 20’s with pill addiction and never was able to win the battled.

There are certain verses in the Bible that come to life for you when you’re walking in a dark place that are filled with never ending days, months and years of grief. One is “Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted” Matt 5:4

Grief is being in darkness draped in deep pain, mourning is expressing that pain thru different outlets like journaling and talking about that pain with others.

Every emotion is so very close to the surface these days. This is the price of being willing to share your story. If God is leading you to share part of yours with others, please keep asking him how, where and when! He will lead you to the places and people that need to hear from you. We are all called to something. What is God calling you to do for his kingdom?

Our Child Lives Event in May 2025