While We're Waiting

Ministry offering FREE faith-based retreats & support for bereaved parents. Seeking to live well while we're waiting to be reunited with our children in Heaven!

[While We're Waiting @WhileWeRWaiting]

❤️‍🩹"One ordinary morning became the day our world cratered."

Today's guest on the While We're Waiting podcast is Heather Oden of Sterling, Kansas. Heather is a woman who wears many hats ... She's the executive director of a nonprofit called Light Up the Dark, a worship leader at her church, the wife of a fifth-generation farmer, and the mom of five children. Today, she joins me to share the story of her son, Jacob.

Jacob was an athlete, an encourager, and a young man with a remarkable gift for noticing people who were hurting and speaking life into them. But on August 3, 2016, Jacob and his older brother, JJ, were driving home for lunch when their pickup was struck by a driver under the influence. JJ survived. Jacob did not.

In this first half of our conversation, Heather introduces us to Jacob and shares what those early days of grief were like after losing him so suddenly. She talks honestly about the shock, the questions she brought to God, and the unexpected ways God brought comfort in the midst of unimaginable pain.

This is a conversation filled with sorrow, certainly, but also with deep faith and the quiet reassurance that God is near to bring light to the darkness. I believe you'll be blessed by listening in.

Listen on your favorite podcast app or follow this link: https://t.co/SozcWGDD17

[While We're Waiting @WhileWeRWaiting]

🌿 "Forgiveness is trusting God with the results."

After his wife, Amanda, and unborn daughter, Evie, were brutally murdered in a home invasion in 2015, Davey made national headlines when he publicly extended forgiveness to the men responsible. But as he explains in this episode, forgiveness was not a feeling that came naturally. It was a decision that was rooted in faith and continually renewed over time.

In this conversation, Davey shares how his understanding of forgiveness has evolved over the years and why he believes forgiveness is ultimately about trusting God with justice. He offers a perspective that is both challenging and freeing for those who have been deeply wounded by the actions of others.

We also explore the growth of Nothing Is Wasted Ministries, the organization that emerged from Davey's journey through grief. He reflects on what it means to steward pain well, how God can redeem suffering without minimizing it, and why our greatest impact often comes through simple obedience rather than grand plans.

Davey also has a word of encouragement for those who are still in the early stages of grief and simply cannot see any purpose in their pain. Rather than offering easy answers, he reminds us that healing is a process, faith is often borrowed from community, and that God is patient with our questions.

Listen wherever you get your podcasts, or follow this link: https://t.co/68SDzYSy6X

#daveyblackburn #nothingiswasted #paintopurpose #whilewerewaiting #childloss

[While We're Waiting @WhileWeRWaiting]

"Sometimes faith isn't having answers. Sometimes faith is staying in the wrestle."

In 2015, Davey Blackburn's life changed forever.

What began as an ordinary Tuesday morning ended with the loss of his wife, Amanda, and their unborn daughter, Evie. In an instant, the future he had imagined disappeared.

In this first episode of a two-part conversation, Davey shares the story behind that devastating day and the difficult months that followed. We talk about grief, shock, unanswered questions, parenting a toddler while mourning unimaginable loss, and the unique pain of losing a child he never had the opportunity to meet.

One of the things I appreciate most about Davey's story is his honesty. He doesn't pretend the answers came easily. He talks openly about wrestling with God, struggling to understand what had happened, and learning that faith isn't the absence of questions—it's choosing to bring those questions to God.

As Davey says, "The alternative to wrestling with God is far more destructive."

If you've ever found yourself asking:
• Why did this happen?
• Where was God?
• Can I trust Him again?
• What do I do with all these questions?

I think you'll find encouragement in this conversation.

🎙️ Listen here: https://t.co/oBdfNEXxT1

#WhileWereWaiting #HopeAfterChildLoss #DaveyBlackburn #NothingIsWasted #ChildLoss #Grief #BereavedParents #ChristianPodcast #FaithAndGrief #HopeAfterLoss