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The Latest from Cheri’s Desk
God, I Remember: An Easter Reflection on Loss, Love, and Sacrifice
Remembering What Matters I’ve been thinking about how we remember August 24—The day we lost Annie. How much it means when someone remembers.And how much it hurts when they don’t. The Three Days God...
“Is There Any Other Way?” — Grieving with a Savior Who Says, “Me Too”
One day, I was lying in Annie’s room— the kind of ache filling my chest that makes you almost wish it would explode, just so you could have some relief. And I said out loud, “Jesus… I MISS HER SO...
Being Heard Might Already Be an Answer: When God Asks for the Leash
A Monday Evening Reflection It’s Monday evening, and I’m just getting home after spending about twenty-four hours caring for my two-and-a-half-year-old grand-niece. There is something about being...
HELD: Watching Psalm 139 Come Alive
Sometimes the deepest lessons about being HELD don’t come from a sermon — they come while sitting across from someone brave enough to begin again. For the past four and a half months, I’ve been...
Glory Bringer: When Rest Is the Bravest Next Step ~ with guest Bethany Howard
Sabbath has become an invitation and a practice I return to again and again. Not because I’ve mastered rest—But because grief has shown me just how much I need it. Grief doesn’t arrive gently.It...
When “I’m Fine” Isn’t True: Learning To Live Gently When Life Says You Should Be Fine
The new year has a way of making people assume things. Fresh start.Clean slate.Better days ahead. But when a new year begins after loss—or after your body, energy, or sense of safety has changed—it...
The First New Year After Loss: Leaving the Year That Still Held Them
Milestones and holidays are always especially hard for those who have lost a loved one—especially a child. But if I’m honest, the hardest milestone for me to cross was the first New Year. This...
The Firsts After Loss: Why They Never Really End
Many people misunderstand “the first year” after loss—thinking it’s simply about surviving the firsts without someone we love. It’s easy to believe that once we face the first birthday, the first...
The Heart of Christmas: God’s Promise to Bring Us Home
“Oh, there’s no place like home for the holidays…” It’s a simple lyric, but it reached places in me I didn’t quite understand when I was young.Even then, I felt it —the longing, the homesickness,...
A Thanksgiving Prayer for the Grieving Heart
Thanksgiving can be a complicated day when someone you love is missing. There’s gratitude, yes — but there’s also an ache that tends to rise a little closer to the surface. If your table looks...
Being Discovered or Helping Others Discover: What Truly Lasts
At the first writing workshop I attended, someone asked the speaker a question that made the whole room go quiet: “How long did you do this before you were discovered?” Something in me tightened. We...
Held: What I’ve Learned About Grief, Community, and the God Who Never Lets Go. Guest on While We’re Waiting, Hope After Child Loss Podcast, with Jill Sullivan
When someone is going through something hard, people often say, “Just hang in there.”I know they mean well, but that phrase has never settled right with me. Even before we lost our daughter, Annie,...
