Hope After Child & Sibling Loss/the empty chair endeavor
This is where grief is allowed to be brutally honest, faith is allowed to wrestle with hard questions, and hope doesn't mean forgetting after the unthinkable loss of a child or sibling, from a Christ centered perspective. Our conversations are real and often raw as we talk about what happens to faith, family, identity and purpose when the empty chair becomes permanent … and how GOD can meet us there.
When someone we love dies, life changes forever. Faith can become complicated. Questions about GOD can become unavoidable, joy can feel disloyal, and the empty chair at the table can remain painfully real.
This podcast doesn't offer easy answers or ask you to "move on." Instead we walk together through the hard questions of grief -- anger, doubt, faith, marriage, family, surviving siblings, holidays, anniversaries, and what it means to build a life you never imagined living.
Through personal stories and conversations with bereaved parents and siblings, as well as honest reflections about GOD and scripture, we explore what it means to grieve deeply while still holding on to hope.
Because hope doesn't forget the empty chair!
Hope After Child & Sibling Loss is part of the Empty Chair Endeavor - a place where grief is welcomed, faith is allowed to wrestle with difficult questions, and those who have lost someone they love can discover that they are not alone.
The host, Greg Buffkin, brings his personal experience with grief into this role, after he and his wife Cathy experienced the devastating loss of their 26 year old son Ryan to suicide in October 2015.
DISCLAIMER: The views, beliefs, and opinions expressed by our guests may not necessarily be shared by this podcast or its host. We believe there is only one triune GOD: the Father, His son Jesus Christ, and His Holy Spirit. We believe that
Jesus humbled himself to become fully human, conceived by the virgin Mary through the Holy Spirit, retained his divine character and identity, lived a sinless life, executed on a Roman cross as an atonement for the sinfulness of mankind, buried, and raised back to life three days later to offer the hope of eternal life to all who would receive his free gift by grace through faith. Jesus tells us in John 14:6 "I am the way and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me."
* Reaching over 100 countries with messages of hope.
Hope After Child & Sibling Loss/the empty chair endeavor
A Conversation with Luis and Dora Perez, Luis Jr.'s parents
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Suicide deaths continue to rise in the U.S., claiming approximately 49,500 people in 2022. Sadly, this translates into many times that number of survivors left behind to grieve their loved ones. It leaves countless unanswered questions, and lives shattered by the trauma. For Luis and Dora Perez, February 23, 2010 would forever alter their lives as they learned their beautiful 23 year old son, Luis, Jr. had taken his own life. As in so many cases, there were no obvious warning signs or behaviors, intensifying the shock and trauma for parents, siblings, extended family, and friends left behind.
With refreshing transparency, Luis and Dora talk with me about how GOD showed up in their dark journey of pain and disbelief keeping them from despair, and leading them through a season of healing and restoration. You will hear how GOD strategically placed people in their lives to support, encourage, and grieve with them, eventually restoring meaning, purpose, and joy!
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You can contact us by email at: hope@emptychairendeavor.com
If you would like to share your story on an upcoming episode, please send us an email so that we can talk with you about it.
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