One in twelve teenagers in the United States loses a parent or a sibling, and most don't want to talk about what they're going through.

Today’s guests, Fiona and Clarissa Moll discuss their book Hurt Help Hope, a valuable resource that offers teens a space to ask honest questions and find gospel-centered answers to navigate their grief.

In this episode, they talk about:

• Grief as a companion

• Perspectives on loss from a mother and teen

• What to expect from a grieving teenager and how to help

Clarissa Moll is an award-winning writer and podcaster who helps bereaved people flourish after loss. She is the author of the Beyond the Darkness and the Beyond the Darkness Devotional.

Fiona Moll is a college student whose dad died when she was 13 years old. Fiona’s research interests include biology and the natural world, a place that brought her comfort and hope as she processed her loss as a young teenager. She loves hiking, reading, and spending time with her family. Hurt Help Hope is her first book.

Other Resources

Hurt Help Hope: A Real Conversation about Teen Grief and Life after Loss by Clarissa and Fiona Moll

Mom and Man event for single and widowed moms and their fatherless sons

Mom, you are not alone!

Join our private Facebook group for more encouragement and community: https://bit.ly/widowmom

For more information and helpful resources, check our website: PerspectiveMinistries.org & follow us on Instagram @PerspectiveMinistries

When a teenager loses their earthly father, they mourn not only his absence but also the life they once knew and the dreams they had for the future. Unlike children, teens navigate grief in their own unique and complex way.

Today’s guests, Fiona and Clarissa Moll talk candidly about losing their dad and husband suddenly in a hiking accident and what it was like to navigate this with a family of five.

In this episode, they discuss:

• The changes experienced in grief

• Communication is a key to healing

• Wrestling with anxiety, doubt, and the impact that suffering has on our faith

• Practical encouragement for fatherless teens and their mothers

Clarissa Moll is an award-winning writer and podcaster who helps bereaved people flourish after loss. She is the author of the Beyond the Darkness and the Beyond the Darkness Devotional.

Fiona Moll is a college student whose dad died when she was 13 years old. Fiona’s research interests include biology and the natural world, a place that brought her comfort and hope as she processed her loss as a young teenager. She loves hiking, reading, and spending time with her family. Hurt Help Hope is her first book.

Other Resources

Hurt Help Hope: A Real Conversation about Teen Grief and Life after Loss by Clarissa and Fiona Moll

Mom and Man event for single and widowed moms and their fatherless sons

Mom, you are not alone!

Join our private Facebook group for more encouragement and community: https://bit.ly/widowmom

For more information and helpful resources, check our website: PerspectiveMinistries.org & follow us on Instagram @PerspectiveMinistries.

When we think about the Proverbs 31 woman, for most of us, a list of standards we will never achieve in our own strength comes to mind. This “excellent” woman who sews, takes a ship to gather food, rises early, and stays up late describes someone we cannot relate to. We wonder, what is her secret to the smile on her face in anticipation of the future?

Although Proverbs 31 outlines admirable qualities, when considering the Proverbs 31 woman as the Bride of Christ, the church, we understand the beauty of the body of Christ in spiritually dark days.

In this episode, Lori teaches the following:

• The spiritual meaning of Proverbs 31:10-31

• Understanding the spiritual clothing described

• The challenge to sow the Word of God into the souls of our children

• The church as a light in a dark world

Other Resources

Combatting Fear Podcast Episode 125 with Lori Apon

Mom and Man event for single and widowed moms and their fatherless sons

John Gill’s Commentary on Proverbs 31

Mom, you are not alone!

Join our private Facebook group for more encouragement and community: https://bit.ly/widowmom

For more information and helpful resources, check our website: PerspectiveMinistries.org & follow us on Instagram @PerspectiveMinistries.

Fear is something that everyone can relate to. When God called someone to a task requiring faith, He would often offer the admonition, "Do not fear." We all struggle with fear at some point, whether based on real or imagined concerns. For example, when a child loses a parent, the enemy instills a deep fear within their hearts. They often worry that something else terrible might happen - something that could leave them orphaned or lead to further feelings of rejection, abandonment, and pain.

The best way to fight this battle of anxiety and fear is to place our trust in God and the promises of His word.

In this episode, Lori talks about:

• Examples in Scripture

• Faith as the antidote to fear

• The promises of God to combat fear

• Practical suggestions on how to help children when they are afraid

Other Resources:

How to Help our Children when they are Afraid

Mom and Man special event for Single and Widow Moms and their fatherless sons | September 29, 2024 | Dahlonega, GA

Mom, you are not alone!

Join our private Facebook group for more encouragement and community: https://bit.ly/widowmom

For more information and helpful resources, check our website: PerspectiveMinistries.org & follow us on Instagram @PerspectiveMinistries.

Our children don’t come with an instruction manual. Navigating the different seasons of their development requires wisdom. We can gain that wisdom by gleaning from the Word of God and trusting the Holy Spirit to guide us.

When a child loses a parent, guiding them in their grief and suffering adds a new layer of care in such uncharted territory. In this episode, Lori discusses 5 things a single mom might want to avoid, along with 5 helpful things to implement as she shepherds her child through the valley of loss.

Other resources:

Guiding Children through Grief

How to Help Children Who Have Experienced Trauma Podcast Episode 28 with Lori Apon

Mom, you are not alone!

Join our private Facebook group for more encouragement and community: https://bit.ly/widowmom

For more information and helpful resources, check our website: PerspectiveMinistries.org & follow us on Instagram @PerspectiveMinistries.

Raising foster and/or adopted children is a special calling with unique circumstances to navigate. Today’s guest, Matt Lawson, was given up for adoption soon after Roe vs. Wade was legalized. His adoptive parents brought Matt home from the hospital - a long-awaited answer to prayers for a child. Never knowing his birth parents, Matt considered his adopted mom and dad his parents. His story is a picture of the grace of God in the redemptive story of adoption.

In this episode, Matt talks about

• The fears of abandonment

• What it looked like to grieve the death of his adopted dad at the age of 21

• Practical tips for fatherless young men who grieve the loss of their dad

• The importance of godly mentors, including men who step in years later

• Wisdom for adopted children

Matt is the Executive Pastor of First Baptist Woodstock and the Founding Pastor of Story City Church in Burbank, CA. He is the author of a book on leadership as well as a contributing author to four other books. Before starting Story City, Matt  served in student ministry for 14 years at First Baptist Woodstock. Matt graduated  from Clemson University with a degree in Accounting as well as a Master of Divinity from Southeastern Seminary. He has been married to his wife for 18 years and they have three children.

Mom, you are not alone!

Join our private Facebook group for more encouragement and community: https://bit.ly/widowmom

For more information and helpful resources, check our website: PerspectiveMinistries.org & follow us on Instagram @PerspectiveMinistries.

When your dad, the one who should be your protector, becomes your perpetrator, many layers are added to grief. Forgiveness is messy but necessary for freedom from ongoing destruction. And forgiveness is a choice. Understanding the Gospel and the forgiveness offered to each one of us is the model we must follow.

In part two of Whitney’s story, she poignantly discusses:

• Acknowledging the depth an offense that requires forgiveness

• Practical steps of forgiving

• What it looks like to wrestle to a place of rest

• Accepting God’s sovereignty, knowing that He could have stopped or kept us from circumstances of suffering

Other resources:

From Ashes to Beauty Episode 121 with Whitney Van Matre Part 1

Forgiving What You Can’t Forget by Lysa TerKeurst

Dark Clouds Deep Mercy by Mark Vroegop

Whitney Van Matre is a wife, and mother, and is actively involved in her church. She enjoys encouraging women who are walking through loss, infertility, and adoption. Whitney’s life is a story of how God turns ashes into beauty through full surrender.

Mom, you are not alone!

Join our private Facebook group for more encouragement and community: https://bit.ly/widowmom

Some of the most amazing stories are those where beauty rises out of ashes. Isaiah 61:3 gives this hope to those in the midst of suffering. Our guest today shares her story of God’s faithfulness in using what the enemy meant for evil for good in her life when death at the hand of her father was planned.

In this episode, Whitney Van Matre talks about

• God’s protection in public devastation with Dad in prison

• The billowing role of grief. It is messy, uncomfortable, and often delayed but yields great fruit.

• Provision and the power of the body of Christ

• The coexistence of joy and sorrow and the promise of Psalm 126:5-6, “Those who sow in tears shall reap with shouts of joy (Psalm 126:5-6 ESV)!

• Practical tips for mothers raising adopted children

Whitney Van Matre is a wife, and mother, and is actively involved in her church. She enjoys encouraging women who are walking through loss, infertility, and adoption. Whitney’s life is a story of how God turns ashes into beauty through full surrender.

Mom, you are not alone!

Join our private Facebook group for more encouragement and community: https://bit.ly/widowmom

For more information and helpful resources, check our website: PerspectiveMinistries.org & follow us on Instagram @PerspectiveMinistries.