About a month ago, I posted an entry about the longevity of grief. The number of readers who responded reinforced the wisdom shared by the grieving parents featured in the post. Grief takes a long time. Parents will be sad for a long time. It’s okay for them to be sad a long time, and it’s important for those surrounding parents to support them throughout the process. Nancy Guthrie Nancy...

Talking to parents who have lost a child isn’t easy. It’s about the hardest thing about working with families of children with special needs. Because many of those children are medically fragile. Many of them will die young, too young. The Unknowing Friend’s Take Those of us who have never lost a child share some misconceptions about grieving the loss of a child: We think it’s...

When you hear that a child has died, what should you say? Just as important, what shouldn’t you say? Every word counts at such an emotionally charged time, and we would all do well to think and pray before speaking to grieving parents and families. Words of Comfort for Times of Loss You can find answers and guidance in a new book by Cec Murphey and Liz Allison, Words of Comfort in Times of Loss....

Not too long ago, I shared with you about the death of Evan Newport, a little boy with Noonan’s Syndrome. When Evan was born, doctors told his parents, Scott and Penni, not to expect their baby to live more than a year. But the amazing little boy survived longer than anyone expected. Evan Lessons In seven short years of grace, Evan taught his family and all who met him many important lessons....

A few months ago, I posted an update about Evan Newport, a little boy featured in A Different Dream for My Child. The blog post told about Evan taking part in the festivities surrounding the Big House/Big Heart Run in Ann Arbor, Michigan this past October. Now it’s time for another update on Evan and his family. Early Friday morning, the day after Thanksgiving, a brief email arrived from Evan’s...

In the previous post, you met Cec Murphey and learned a little about his new book, When God Turned Off the Lights. Today, you’ll get a sample of the advice he gives in the book. You’ll also learn how to enter the drawing for the gift basket he’s giving away. What to Do When the Lights Go Out by Cec Murphey If you sincerely desire to follow Jesus Christ, life won’t always be...

DifferentDream.com posts usually address the issues facing parents of really sick, chronically ill, and special needs kids. But today, it looks at When God Turned Off the Lights by Cec Murphey, the best-selling author who wrote 90 Minutes in Heaven with Don Piper. He’s a champion of wannabe writers who uses the royalties from 90 Minutes to provide scholarships to writing conferences. As a writer...

For parents with a prenatal diagnosis indicating a fatal birth defect, there are dozens of questions and no easy answers. If your unborn baby has received such news, I am so sorry. I have no answers for you, but hope this post and video will help your family in the difficult days ahead. Trisomy 13 The video, posted on the Dallas Morning News website, was created with the Laux family’s permission, ...

When I wrote A Different Dream for My Child, the meditations addressing the death of children were the hardest ones to complete. Why? Because my child lived, and I felt hypocritical trying to comfort parents who have lost much more than I have. God’s Holy Work If my editor hadn’t insisted, I wouldn’t have tackled the subject. And even though several parents agreed to share their...