The Joyful Mourning - A Podcast for Women Who Have Experienced Pregnancy or Infant Loss

Latest Episodes:

130. Navigating Faith After Two Infant Losses (Life-Limiting Diagnosis) with Lindsey Dennis Sep 16, 2021

Show notes

This week I invited my friend Lindsey Dennis back to the podcast to talk about her spiritual journey and walk with God amidst anticipatory grief and the grief that followed the loss of her two daughters, Sophie and Dassah -- both from life-limiting diagnoses.

Lindsey shares honestly as she answers questions like:

Did you ever get angry with God?
Did you doubt His goodness?
Did you doubt your faith completely?

I also asked Lindsey how she wrestled through the idea that God was powerful enough to heal her babies… or was He? Or did He just choose not to? And if He chose not to, is He still good?

We also discuss the question: did I do something wrong to deserve this loss? A question that many of us have probably thought about or asked at one point or another in our grief journey.

We end our time talking about heaven and what the Bible has to say for us as grieving moms and the hope we have to see our babies again one day.

Whether you have been following God for a long time, if you are new to the christian faith, or if you are searching or angry or confused or questioning everything you thought you believed -- you are in good company, friend. You are not alone and I think this episode will encourage you today right where you are.

FREE DEVOTIONAL Download a free 7 day devotional written specifically for women who have experienced the loss of a baby. 7 days of bible passages with a short devotion and prayer.

www.themorning.com/hope

SHOW NOTES www.themorning.com/blog/episode130

FREE PRIVATE COMMUNITY www.themorning.com/community

129. How Can I Trust a God Who Let My Son Die? Navigating Faith After Miscarriage & Infant Loss with Vaneetha Risner Sep 09, 2021

Show notes

This week I have the privilege of interviewing Vaneetha Risner -- a woman who has walked through an incredible amount of pain in her life, experienced loss and suffering and yet joyfully says 'God does not make mistakes." During our time together Vaneetha shares the story of her son Paul and what her relationship with God looked like after his death.

We talk about asking God all the 'why' questions, why me, why him, why this way? We talk about whether it's ok for Christians to ask God why. We talk about navigating feelings of guilt that come after a baby dies as we relive all the things we could have done differently that would have resulted in our baby living. We talk about what it means to lament, this word we see in the Bible but don't hear very often -- what it means and what it looked like in Vaneetha's life. We talk about what it feels like when God is blessing everyone around you -- does that mean you did something to deserve this or does God love those other people who have not experienced loss more? We discuss the question, where is God in all this, did He cause it? Is He still good? Could He have stopped it and chose not to? Does that make Him a cruel God?

We talk about all these spiritual faith questions and more -- if you have been wrestling with similar questions or wondering where God is in all of this, you are going to love this episode and you are going to love Vaneetha.

Remember the truths we are sharing here are not from a pious mountain top where everything has gone perfect -- no these truths, the answers and thoughts shared here are from two women who have experienced both pregnancy and infant loss. Vaneetha has endured an incredible amount of suffering and still says, God does not make mistakes.

Also, it's ok if you aren't there yet. If you aren't able to say those words. God isn't angry or disappointed with you -- He loves you. He will never leave you. No matter where you are on your faith journey amidst grief, I pray this episode would remind you of God's great love for you, give you the freedom to lament, to sit in your grief, and to cry out to Him with your pain.

Vaneetha is the author of the book Walking through Fire which I reference throughout our time together -- in this memoir she tells her story in depth and I highly recommend picking up a copy. It was the first book I've read in a long time that I couldn't put down. Her story-telling and honesty is powerful and hope filled. Walking Through Fire, by Vaneetha Risner.

FREE DEVOTIONAL Lastly, we have a free 7 day devotional that I would love to share with you. You can find that and a few other resources about navigating the christian faith after the loss of a baby over themorning.com/hope.

SHOW NOTESwww.themorning.com/blog/episode129

128. Life-Limiting Diagnosis (Trisomy 18) , Parenting Living Children, Marriage & When There is No Rainbow Baby with Kelly Griffin Sep 02, 2021

Show notes

Kelly Griffin joins me on the podcast to share the story of her son Reeves who was given a life-limiting diagnosis of trisomy 18. Kelly shares with me what it was like receiving a life-limiting diagnosis and what advice and wisdom she would give to a mom who has received a similar diagnosis. We cover a lot of topics about life after loss and even life amidst anticipatory grief in this episode as well.

Kelly shares her experience and wisdom about parenting living children amidst a life-limiting diagnosis and after the loss of a baby -- Kelly shares how she explained to them her son's diagnosis, what it was like to walk with them as they grieved the loss of a sibling, why she chose to invite them into the grief in the ways she did. Her wisdom on this is incredibly helpful and very honest.

We also talk extensively about marriage amidst anticipatory grief and after the loss of a baby -- the wisdom she shares about this is insightful and challenging and wonderfully practical and of course full of so much hope.

We also spend some time talking about a topic that we haven't talked about very much on this podcast and something that is still very tender for Kelly and that is what if you do not go on to have a living baby after you have lost a baby -- Kelly talks honestly about what that has looked like for her and she addresses how our culture puts a lot of hope in the idea of a healthy living child after the loss of a baby, a rainbow baby; emphasis put on how a new baby will be our redemption, our healing -- she talks directly to that and to the woman who is experiencing that reality. The hope that Kelly shares here is invaluable and even if you go on to have living children after the loss of a baby, this hope, this truth is for you too.

FREE GIFT: ULTIMATE RESOURCE BUNDLE

Before we jump into the episode I wanted to tell you about something really amazing that we have been working on for months and months. We have pulled all of our best and most helpful resources together in one place so that you can easily and quickly access the things you need when you need them. The bundle includes:

Links to our favorite episodes
Understanding & Processing Your Grief
Preparing for Labor & Delivery
Memory Making checklist (for after your baby is born)
Planning a Funeral or Memorial Service
Resources for Marriage after Loss
Resources for Faith after Loss
Resources for Remembering & Honoring your Baby

All of our best and most helpful resources in one place. And the best part is, we created one for each type of loss so the resources are specific to your loss journey and it is FREE. This 25+ page Resource Bundle is totally free and you can download it today. Download the Ultimate Resource Bundle that is specific (there is one for Pregnancy Loss, Infant Loss & Life Limiting Diagnosis) at themorning.com/resourcebundle.

SHOW NOTES www.themorning.com/blog/episode128

127. Due Dates & Milestones After Miscarriage with Alison Waldrop Aug 26, 2021

Show notes

Over the past few weeks we have been talking about navigating milestones after the loss of a baby. Milestones like birthdays or difficult anniversaries like a diagnosis day. Today my guest Alison Waldrop joins me to talk about her experience with pregnancy loss and how she navigated her due date and loss day and all the other milestones a grieving mother faces after the loss of a baby.

She shares details about the meaningful and intentional ways she chose to honor her baby, why she chose to honor her baby in those ways and what advice she would give to a mom who is anticipating a due date or other difficult milestone.

This episode is going to be particularly helpful for the woman who has experienced miscarriage and may not feel like your loss is worth recognizing -- maybe you are comparing your loss to others who have a seemingly more significant loss or maybe you are feeling the pressure from others to just get over it or you are believing the lie that if you grieve or intentionally mark your milestone days that you are being dramatic or silly.

If you have wanted to celebrate your baby but have been hesitating for one reason or another -- this episode is for you. I am so grateful for Alison and her example. Above all, I pray this episode reminds you that a life has value no matter how long they lived. And that you are free to grieve in whatever way feels right and helpful and good to you.

COMING SOON If you have found this series on navigating milestones helpful, we think you are going to really benefit from this exciting project we have been working on. While it won't only be about navigating milestones, it will give you the most helpful resources possible to navigate grief and life after the loss of a baby, including important topics like honoring and celebrating your baby.

Imagine getting to have this conversation, and many others that are relevant to you in your grief right now, in a more intimate setting with tangible and practical steps you can take at home and with the support of other grieving moms who are in a similar season, working through similar things. While we weren't planning on spilling any of the details quite yet, we thought this was a great opportunity to give you a super sneak peek at what we've been working on -- head to themorning.com/comingsoon for more details and to sign up to be among the first to know when this special project is live.

SHOW NOTES www.themorning.com/blog/episode127

126. Birthdays, Anniversaries & Milestones After a Life-Limiting Diagnosis Aug 19, 2021

Show notes

Meg Walker joins me to talk about navigating milestones and important dates after the loss of a baby due to a life-limiting diagnosis. She shares with us what those milestone and important or difficult dates are for her. Specifically we spend some time talking about her son's diagnosis day and what that looks like for her every year -- as Meg says "that's the before and after for me -- the day everything changed."

Meg talks about what has surprised her about navigating those milestone days, how she plans for those days and how she cares for herself amidst the more difficult seasons in her calendar year and practically what those days look like for her. How she celebrates her son's birthday, why she doesn't sing happy birthday and how she grieves on the anniversary of his diagnosis. She also shares helpful wisdom about knowing when to include others and inviting them into these days.

And as you heard at the beginning of this episode, my favorite part of this episode is when Meg reminded all of that no matter what we as grieving moms do, whether we plan elaborate events or cry in our bed or do nothing out of the ordinary at all on those milestone or important days, what we do or don't do doesn't take away from how important and meaningful our babies are.

This conversation is honest and candid and very tender to both of us as you will hear -- we both share what we have learned over the past few years and how our view of milestone days have changed, mistakes we have made, false pressures we have put on ourselves, what still feels hard but also the beautiful moments we have experienced.

FREE GUIDE

Last week, in episode 125, Erica McAfee talked about how she writes her son a letter on his birthday as a tangible way to mother him and celebrate him and also to grieve on that day. This was such practically helpful and tangible advice that I wanted you to be able to incorporate it into your milestones and important dates too. I created a writing guide for you that you can download and use on days that feel particularly important -- this is not just for birthdays but for any date where you want to intentionally spend time reflecting on your baby or processing your grief or simply to spend time tangibly mothering your baby. Download the guide here: www.themorning.com/letter

SHOW NOTES www.themorning.com/blog/episode126

JOIN THE PRIVATE COMMUNITY www.themorning.com/community

125. Navigating Milestones & Important Dates (Birthdays, Due Dates, Anniversaries) after Baby Loss with Erica McAfee Aug 12, 2021

Show notes

In this episode I am talking with Erica McAfee. Erica is a mom who has experienced considerable loss throughout her motherhood journey. In Episode 98 she shared her story with us and today she is back on the podcast to chat with me about navigating milestones like birthdays, due dates, anniversaries and all those important dates after the loss of a baby.

She shares with us what her important dates are, what they look like for her, how they have changed over the years, and how she and her husband navigate those days differently. Erica's wisdom in this episode offers a ton of freedom as well as practical insight for navigating those important dates and milestones that we as grieving mothers have.

At the beginning of the episode you heard a snippet of Erica talking about how she writes her son a letter on his birthday as a tangible way to mother him and celebrate him and grieve on that day. This was such practically helpful advice and I wanted you to be able to incorporate it into your milestones and important dates too. So, I created a letter writing guide with more than 10 journal prompt ideas that you can download and use on those days. (This is not just for birthdays but for any date where you want to intentionally spend time reflecting on your baby or processing your grief or simply to spend time tangibly mothering your baby.)You can download that letter writing guide at themorning.com/letter.

SHOW NOTES: www.themorning.com/blog/episode125

JOIN THE FREE COMMUNITY: www.themorning.com/community

DOWNLOAD THE FREE LETTER WRITING GUIDE: www.themorning.com/letter

124. Founder's Story of Miscarriage & SIDS and Finding Hope & Purpose Aug 05, 2021

Show notes

Season 04 is here and I am so, so grateful to be back. In this special first episode of season 04 I am joined by my friend and Morning Team Member Meg Walker who takes the role as host. Today she is asking me all the questions and I am sharing my story in a way that I have never shared before.

I answer questions about how grief has changed in my nearly 13 year journey, what it's like to share our son in heaven with our living children, what encouragement and words of wisdom would I give to a newly grieving mom. I also get to share why I started The Morning, some things you probably didn't know about our organization and my hopes and prayers for us in this next season.

This episode is not without its tears, in fact we even had to take a tissue break, but even amidst the tears this episode is full of so much hope and I pray it is a reminder to you today that you are loved and not alone.

To commemorate this new season of the podcast we have a couple things for you today:

New T-shirts! Check out our newest t-shirts in the shop -- head to themorning.com/apparel, i think you are going to love them!
Free Art Print & Verse Card Set Download: I created an art print and verse card set for this new season that you can download absolutely free. Head to themorning.com/season4 to grab those!
A Giveaway: We have put together an amazing giveaway to celebrate this new season of the podcast that you are going to love. To enter that giveaway head to themorning.com/season4giveaway

SHOW NOTES: www.themorning.com/124

JOIN THE COMMUNITY: www.themorning.com/community

123. What is Motherhood: An Honest Conversation For the Mom Who Has Experienced Pregnancy or Infant Loss | Part 4 May 27, 2021

Show notes

This is part 4 of our special 4 part series called: What is Motherhood. All month long we have been talking about what motherhood means to the woman who has experienced pregnancy or infant loss. In this round table conversation I talk with five women, each with different types of loss from as recent as 6 months ago all the way to 35 years ago -- these women share honestly about their journey of loss, grief, and finding hope.

In this week's episode, part 4 of our 4 part series, I ask my guests three questions:

What does being a mom teach you about yourself?
What does being a mom teach you about God?
What encouragement do you have for other moms in the thick of motherhood and grief?

Their answers to those questions are incredibly insightful and challenging and hope-filled and honest.

If you missed any part of this series, make sure to listen go back and listen to those so you can get to know each of these women and their unique motherhood stories -- this series starts at episode 120 so just skip back a couple episodes to start from the beginning.

For more details about each of our guests and to get connected with them, visit themorning.com/motherhoodseries.

FREE WORKBOOK We created a workbook that goes along with this podcast series to give you an opportunity to answer these questions for yourself as you consider your own motherhood journey. No matter where you are in your grief journey this workbook will be a tangible way to help you find healing in a new way. To download that workbook head to themorning.com/motherhood.

SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT

We wanted to give you an important update about the podcast. For the last 122 episodes we have shown up weekly, and in some seasons we have shown up daily, to meet you in your grief, to walk alongside you, to bring you comfort, hope and reminders of joy. To remind you that you are not alone.

In order to continue to do those things and to serve you best, to continue creating resources, not just here on the podcast but on our blog, in our community and in our shop we have decided to move to a seasonal format. That means, moving forward we will have two seasons a year, a spring season, likely February thru May and a fall season, August thru November, taking a short break through the summer months, June and July and potentially December and January as well.

We are hopeful this decision will enable us to continue to create the most helpful and hope-filled resources for you possible . Our last episode of this season will be episode 123 which will air on May 27 but go ahead and mark your calendar for August 5, when the first episode of next season will air.

We are already so excited about what we have planned for next season, so make sure you are subscribed to the podcast so you don't miss a single one of those episodes!

GET CONNECTED / STAY CONNECTEDAs a note we will still be around this summer, just not on the podcast. So come connect with us in our community, on the blog and social media. We listed out the 5 best ways to get connected or stay connected with us this summer -- head to themorning.com/getconnected for those details.

QUICK RECAP

This is our last episode of the season (episode 123)
We will be back on August 5 with brand new interviews and topics we have never discussed before in such depth.
We are so thankful for each of you and incredibly honored to be on this journey with you.
We want to stay connected with you throughout the summer, so head to themorning.com/getconnected for 5 simple ways you can get connected with us for the first time or stay connected with us while we take this short break from the podcast.

122. What is Motherhood: An Honest Conversation For the Mom Who Has Experienced Pregnancy or Infant Loss | Part 3 May 20, 2021

Show notes

This is part 3 of our special 4 part series called: What is Motherhood. All month long we are talking about what motherhood means to the woman who has experienced pregnancy or infant loss. In this round table conversation I talk with five women, each with different types of loss from as recent as 6 months ago all the way to 35 years ago -- these women share honestly about their journey of loss, grief, and finding hope.

In this week's episode, part 3 of our 4 part series, I ask my guests three questions:

How has your loss shaped your motherhood?
What challenges do you find in being a mom?
What are some joys you experience in motherhood?

Their answers to those questions are incredibly insightful and challenging and hope-filled and honest.

If you missed part 1 or part 2 of this series, make sure to listen to those episodes first so you can get to know each of these women and their unique motherhood stories -- this series starts at episode 120 so just skip back a couple episodes to start from the beginning.

For more details about each of our guests and to get connected with them, visit themorning.com/motherhoodseries.

SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT

We are already so excited about what we have planned for next season. Some things you can look forward to when we are back August 5, a series on how to celebrate those special days such as birthdays, anniversaries, and due dates, a series about faith after loss -- we are bringing in experienced theologians for that series to ask all those faith based questions you may have been asking or have wanted to ask -- questions like did God cause this, could He have stopped it, Is God still good? Why does suffering exist? Is God powerful enough to heal my baby? Or did He just choose not to?. We will also bring back the series 'What your grieving friend wants you to know' as we continue to try and equip those who love someone who has experienced loss with the tools to love them best in this season.

As you can see we have a lot of really great content ahead so make sure you are subscribed to the podcast so you don't miss a single one of those episodes!

QUICK RECAP

Next week is our last episode of the season (episode 123),
We will be back on August 5 with brand new interviews and topics we have never discussed before in such depth.
We are so thankful for each of you and incredibly honored to be on this journey with you.
We want to stay connected with you throughout the summer, so head to themorning.com/getconnected for 5 simple ways you can get connected with us for the first time or stay connected with us while we take this short break from the podcast.

121. What is Motherhood: An Honest Conversation For the Mom Who Has Experienced Pregnancy or Infant Loss | Part 2 May 13, 2021

Show notes

This is part 2 of a special 4 part series called: What is Motherhood. A special series about what motherhood means to the mom who has experienced pregnancy or infant loss. Listen in to our first ever round table conversation with six women, each with different types of loss from 6 months to 35 years ago, as they share honestly about their journey of loss, grief and finding hope. No matter what type of loss you have experienced and how long ago you experienced that loss, I hope this conversation would make you feel known and understood and less alone in this journey.

In this week's episode, part 2 of our 4 part series, I ask my guests two questions:

How has grief impacted your everyday life?
What does grief look like for you today? How is it different or how has it changed?

Their answers to those questions are incredibly insightful and challenging and hope-filled and honest. If you missed part 1 of this series, make sure to listen to that episode first so you can get to know each of these women and their unique motherhood stories, that's episode 120. For more details about each of our guests and to get connected with them, visit themorning.com/motherhoodseries.

SHOW NOTESwww.themorning.com/blog/episode121

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