So Much to be Thankful for... Always
November 20, 2021 — Gary and Laura House
In today’s post, we want to veer from the usual blog topics to take a few moments to share with you about all that is happening with Our Hearts Are Home. We also want to present three ways that you can become involved if you would like: help us spread the word, partner in prayer, and/or help support the ministry financially.
When COVID began in 2020, we wondered if offering gatherings online would be effective, and we were pleasantly surprised and grateful that the virtual platform brought bereaved parents together in a beautiful way. It actually opened up opportunities for parents to join from across the country, and a few from international locations. So we continued to offer multiple events online in 2021, as well as some on-the-ground gatherings, blogs, care packages, and our first online conference.
But we are even more grateful for the opportunities that 2022 has in store.
Gatherings: Online and in-person gatherings are planned throughout the year and offer parents an opportunity to spend time with others who have experienced the loss of a child. Gatherings offer hope, build relationships, and challenge those attending to turn to the Lord to bring comfort.
Book Studies: Online book studies bring bereaved parents together offering an opportunity for growth, a time to share, and an environment to learn from others who are walking the same road of grief.
YouTube Channel: We are grateful for our area university student volunteers who are assisting us in creating videos for this channel. By January 2022, we will have produced multiple videos to help answer many of the important questions that bereaved parents face. As we have funds, we will be launching Google ads to help newly bereaved parents find the channel when they are searching for help online.
Book: We are in the final stages of editing our first publication, a book entitled, Our Hearts Are Home — Stories of Loss and Hope. We are so grateful to the many families who have contributed to the book, beautifully sharing about their children who have gone ahead to Heaven, and of the hope they’ve found in Christ. The book is scheduled to be available by February 1, 2022.
Monthly Support Group: Our online support group meets on the first Sunday of each month. It’s a time for parents to be with others who are navigating the grief of child loss.
GriefShare: As we did this fall, we will be co-hosting a 13-week GriefShare session starting in February for parents who have lost children by suicide. (If you’ve lost anyone dear to you, whether a parent, child, sibling, relative, spouse, or friend, we highly encourage you to consider joining a GriefShare near you or online. You’ll find more information at GriefShare.org.)
Blog and Podcast: Many of you already follow our blog, but we will finally be adding a podcast in 2022! The podcast will cover a variety of topics that challenge us to better understand the purpose of suffering and what it can mean to our lives.
Conference and Roundtable: Our first conference, Until Then — An Online Conference for Bereaved Parents, took place on February 20, 2021, and is stored on our website and YouTube Channel. We will be hosting an Until Then — Roundtable on April 23, 2022. We'd like to share a note about why we are so excited about these events.
After losing Nathan we searched the Internet, hoping to find a conference to attend, to learn, connect with others, and find comfort and hope for the painful journey we had begun. Much to our amazement, we had great difficulty finding resources or any events that pointed grieving parents to Jesus, the only one who can truly comfort our broken hearts. Our hope for online events is that those in attendance, and the many who find the recordings afterward, will discover helpful resources, answers to their questions, and find comfort and hope from the stories of others who have traveled the same road.
Care Packages: Friends of a bereaved parent can order an OHAH care package. These packages include a devotional, The One Year Book of Hope, our new book, Our Hearts Are Home — Stories of Loss and Hope (2/1/22), a scripture magnet, a metal feather bookmark with a scripture card, a scripture keychain, and other resources that we have found to be helpful.
Social Media: Our social media posts offer Scripture memes. Our college student volunteers have created an assortment of beautiful images with a verse. Nothing is more powerful than the Word of God, and we hope the page will encourage followers to turn to the Bible for strength, guidance, and comfort.
We invite you to join us in one or more of the following ways!
1. Share our website with any bereaved parents you know. We hope that the events and resources will be helpful to them.
2. Join us as a prayer partner. We’ll send occasional emails with specific requests and updates about events.
3. Partner with us financially. We are hoping to raise the needed funds to fully support Our Hearts Are Home for 2022.
Thank you for allowing us to share all of this with you! As we head into the week of Thanksgiving, we have so much to be thankful for … always.
Colossians 2:6-7— “So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live your lives in him, rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness.”
Psalm 100:4-5—” Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name. For the Lord is good and his love endures forever; his faithfulness continues through all generations.”