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
402 episodes
Bonus 164 | Hannah's Little Red Laptop
At some point during that year, I began to carry Hannah's red laptop with me on every trip to Children's Hospital. This laptop had been a surprise birthday gift for her back in October ... made even more special because all of our extende...
•
3:29
Bonus 163 | Facing Her Giants
Just a couple weeks prior to a family gathering, the four of us had watched the movie "Facing the Giants" together. We had seen it before, when it was in the theaters, but when we watched the DVD at home during this season of our lives, t...
•
4:08
Bonus 162 | So Much Love
We were loved so well during Hannah's year-long cancer journey. My "summary" email from the day before prompted a virtual flood of emails filled with prayers, well wishes, encouraging words, and above all ... love. Even now, sixteen...
•
3:07
238 | She Died, I Didn't (Part Two) with Courtney Mount
Today's episode is a continuation of my conversation with Courtney Mount, whose daughter Millie died from neuroblastoma cancer in July of 2020. Courtney is a homeschooling mom of nine, a blogger, a freelance writer, and the author of the...
•
Episode 238
•
33:02
Bonus 161 | The Telephone Game
Do you remember playing the Telephone Game when you were a kid? It was best played with a large group of kids sitting in a circle. The first kid would think of a sentence (the longer the better) and whisper it into the ear of the ki...
•
9:33
Bonus 160 | Platelets and Pasta
Hannah's appetite was good at this point, probably stimulated by the steroids, and she still enjoyed going out to eat. With her poor vision and motor skills, it was a bit of a challenge getting her in and out of restaurants ... but if she...
•
2:42
Bonus 159 | A Heavy Burden for Small Shoulders
At this point, I rarely went anywhere other than back and forth to Children's Hospital every other day. I was no longer working, I was unable to attend church, and even my trips to Walmart were rare. As Hannah's motor skills and vis...
•
4:45
Bonus 158 | Manna for Each Day
When I was a little girl, sitting in my Sunday School class in the basement of First Baptist Church of Phillips, Wisconsin, I learned all about the Israelites wandering in the wilderness for forty years, and how God gave them manna to eat. Our ...
•
6:57
237 | She Died, I Didn't (Part One) with Courtney Mount
I’m excited to welcome another return guest to the podcast today, my friend Courtney Mount, whose daughter Millie went to Heaven in July of 2020 following a battle with neuroblastoma cancer. Courtney is a homeschooling mom of nine, a blog...
•
Episode 237
•
33:11
Bonus 157 | Wheel of Fortune
The increasing intracranial pressure impacted Hannah's pupils, making it impossible for her to read or do anything that required close-up vision, such as text on her phone or look at social media. She was able to see the television fairly...
•
4:22
Bonus 156 | Reeling
The remainder of that brief hospital stay passed in a blur. The sudden roller-coaster plunge of the last couple of days had taken a toll on us. The news that the "very faint stuff" seen in the area of the original tumor on Hannah's ...
•
3:17
Bonus 155 | A Body Blow
We woke up that morning with a renewed hope that maybe ... just maybe ... the treatments were working. Maybe all the increased issues we'd been seeing weren't actually signs she was leaving us, but just side effects of the chemo. Af...
•
3:51
Bonus 154 | An Emergency Room Visit
We were truly thankful for the time Hannah was able to enjoy with our extended family over the Christmas season, because once the holidays were over and everyone had headed home, her health unexpectedly began to decline. Double vision had...
•
5:25
Bonus 153 | Platelets with Family
After Christmas, my brother and sister-in-law came to spend a few days with us. This was a very special treat because they are career missionaries, and years could pass between their visits. They were able to accompany us to one of our Children...
•
2:50
236 | The Mindful Marriage with Ron and Nan Deal
Maybe you've heard the statistics ... that upwards of 80% of marriages fail after the loss of a child. Did you know that is actually a myth? Of course, the loss of a child is disruptive to all of our relationships, not just the marr...
•
Episode 236
•
56:48
Bonus 152 | Christmas Break Concerns
We enjoyed some good visits with our extended family over Christmas break that year. Spending time with her cousins, aunts and uncles, and grandparents was one of Hannah's favorite things to do. When we traveled to northern Arkansas...
•
2:39
Bonus 151 | A Word from Hannah's Dad
On the day after Christmas, we headed back to Children's Hospital for an uneventful platelet infusion. That evening, at his request, I handed the computer to Brad and he wrote our email for that day ...Thank you for joining me for...
•
3:28
235 | Christmas Hope
This is the first time since starting the podcast a little over four years ago that an episode was due to be released on Christmas Day. I considered skipping it, knowing that many people would be busy with family gatherings or church services a...
•
Episode 235
•
19:33
Bonus 150 | Grace Like a Fitted Sheet
Cancer doesn't take a break at Christmas time. Christmas fell on a Thursday in 2008, and Hannah needed platelet infusions on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. The Hematology/Oncology Clinic at Children's was closed on Wednesday for Chr...
•
5:46
Bonus 149 | A Unique Christmas Gift
As Christmas 2008 approached, we found ourselves in a very surreal position ... Profoundly grateful for the fact that Hannah was still with us, yet fully aware that without a miraculous intervention from God (and we absolutely believed that was...
•
3:24
234 | Hope After Only Child Loss (Part Two) with John and Carrie Guenther
Today's episode is a continuation of my conversation with John and Carrie Guenther, whose only child Gideon went to Heaven in the fall of 2020. Today we go deeper in our discussion, including the Guenther’s advice for newly bereaved parents, th...
•
Episode 234
•
34:57
.png)
Bonus 148 | Finally ...
It was chemo day at last! Almost two months after this new chemo was recommended to start, it was finally underway. We weren't given the go-ahead because Hannah's platelet issues were resolved; no, we were starting in spite of the f...
•
3:04
Bonus 147 | Unexpected MRI
Today was the day Hannah would finally be starting her long-postponed chemotherapy treatments, and a predicted ice storm was not going to keep us away! We were anxious to find out when her new MRI would be scheduled so we could get some a...
•
5:25
Bonus 146 | Rising Concerns
After our appointment on Monday, we expected that Hannah would continue with school since she was still not able to start chemo. Instead, the ongoing side effects from the radiation began to unexpectedly intensify. The morning nause...
•
4:57
233 | Hope After Only Child Loss with John and Carrie Guenther
I am so excited today to introduce you to my friends John and Carrie Guenther. We met the Guenthers when they attended our very first While We’re Waiting Weekend in Ohio back in September of 2023. As they shared the story of their s...
•
Episode 233
•
44:16
.png)