Finding Hope In The Death Of A Child

From my own experience, the loss of a child is one of the most difficult experiences we ever face in life. The pain and darkness are indescribably intense, and there are no easy answers to comfort the hurting heart. Can there be any hope in such a situation?

Following is a summarization of the tribute delivered [...]

November 13th, 2009 | Category: Audio Messages, Death, Death of a child, Faith, Grieving, Hope, Poems | Leave a comment

The Last Times Of That October

I saw her for the last time on such a rare and wonderful autumn day as this. With fall crispness charging the air, our long, lingering stroll around the campus let her enjoy the unique texture of October breeze and sun upon her cheeks.

Our visit completed, I offered my goodbyes–without realizing she was hearing them [...]

November 10th, 2009 | Category: Children, Death, Death of a child, Favorites, Grieving, Nostalgia | 7 comments

The Two-Fold Secret Of Sorrow

The threads of our lives intertwine in surprising ways. And if we begin to gently unravel them, we may discover how they tangle in common experience. Consider this letter my wife recently wrote to her niece.
—–
I have never been through what you have recently experienced–the carrying of a child in my body whose spirit has [...]

March 4th, 2003 | Category: Bulletin Insert, Children, Death, Death of a child, Disappointment, Dreams | Leave a comment

Flowers Of Childhood

With ever-loving tender care
The Gardner plants His flowers where
A family's beauty's incomplete,
His flowers of childhood, frail and weak.

A few, it seems, do poorly fare
In soil of trial and earthly care.
So those He specially, gently treats,
Those flowers of childhood, frail and weak.

And laying them upon His breast
He moves them when the time is best
To where in [...]

January 1st, 2001 | Category: Children, Death, Death of a child, Grieving, Poems | Leave a comment

In Spring

As a young man, I never understood an activity that the "older" folk seemed to take some pleasure in doing. But my outlook has changed quite a bit in the last few years. Now, each time I visit a cemetery I am confronted with reminders of powerful truths that need frequent reinforcement.

Wander among graves and [...]

June 1st, 1999 | Category: Bulletin Insert, Children, Death, Death of a child, Grieving, Poems | Leave a comment

Lost Upon The Sea Of Time

There are times when I really miss our daughter Jenny. In so many ways, our brief time with her, which once seemed so protracted and difficult, is now like a dream. But occasionally something will happen to bring her back to my mind with a remarkable clarity and presence. And in such moments she still [...]

March 25th, 1999 | Category: Children, Death, Death of a child, Favorites, Grieving, Poems | Leave a comment

Different Paths

Two lads conceived for special deeds
Down different paths the Lord would lead.

One strong, one weak, but both would seek
To serve their Master, hear Him speak.

For came the day He’d clearly say,
“It’s time to go your separate ways.

“Though one take breath, the other death,
Your parents’ roots will find new depth.

“It’s for their sake I heal and [...]

January 1st, 1999 | Category: Children, Death, Death of a child, Grieving, Poems | Leave a comment

In Spring

In Spring, when sunlight gently falls
In golden heaps of dappled rays,
There open windows of recall
To other Springs in other days.

This Spring, on such a wistful day
'Twas out of love two freely gave
A gift of more than words could say:
A blooming rose to grace a grave.

Each Spring, that blooming rose's pow'r
For touching hearts will e'er suffice
To [...]

January 1st, 1999 | Category: Children, Death, Death of a child, Grieving, Hope, Poems | Leave a comment

I Could Have Lived My Life Again

It doesn't seem so long ago
That she was born.
Though fleeting years brought many trials
That mounted fast,
She stayed ahead of one who ran
In close pursuit.
But two and twenty years were all
That she could last.

He overtook her and at last
Led her away.
Her hasty flight left in its wake
A sober thought
Enveloped in the loss of one
Who'd been so [...]

January 1st, 1998 | Category: Children, Death, Death of a child, Grieving, Nostalgia, Poems | Leave a comment