Losing My Child, Finding My God: From Grief to Belief

By Stacy Wons

Have you or a loved one lost a child?

Circumstances vary, but losing a child is a pain like no other.

We all grieve uniquely, but as Stacy writes from experience, "Misery does love company, and misery morphs into something else in the midst of company - something kind of lovely."

You are in good compa

• Language: English
• Publisher: Trilogy Christian Publishing
• Release date: Jan 1, 2024
• ISBN: 9798890412515

Stacy Wons

Stacy Wons, because of the events described in this book, has become a woman of unshakeable faith, joy, and prayer. She left landscape architecture to raise her young children, but as they've grown, she has served her churches and schools in many capacities. When she is not leading a Bible study, a prayer group, or serving on her school board, you can find her trying to keep up with her husband and teenage sons in the Colorado outdoors.

Book preview

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Losing

My Child,

Finding My God

From Grief to Belief

by Stacy Wons

Trilogy Christian Publishers

A Wholly Owned Subsidiary of Trinity Broadcasting Network

2442 Michelle Drive

Tustin, CA 92780

Copyright © 2023 by Stacy Wons.

All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise noted, are taken from the New American Standard Bible® (NASB), Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. www.Lockman.org.

Scripture quotations marked amp are taken from the Amplified® Bible (AMP), Copyright © 2015 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. www.Lockman.org.

Scripture quotations marked csb are taken from the Christian Standard Bible®, Copyright © 2017 by Holman Bible Publishers. Used by permission. Christian Standard Bible, and CSB®, are federally registered trademarks of Holman Bible Publishers

Scripture quotations marked (NIV) are taken from THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

Scripture quotations marked nkjv are taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this book or portions thereof in any form whatsoever.

For information, address Trilogy Christian Publishing

Rights Department, 2442 Michelle Drive, Tustin, Ca 92780.

Trilogy Christian Publishing/ TBN and colophon are trademarks of Trinity Broadcasting Network.

Cover design by: Sierra Deyoe using assets from Freepik.com

For information about special discounts for bulk purchases, please contact Trilogy Christian Publishing.

Trilogy Disclaimer: The views and content expressed in this book are those of the author and may not necessarily reflect the views and doctrine of Trilogy Christian Publishing or the Trinity Broadcasting Network.

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available.

ISBN  979-8-89041-250-8

ISBN 979-8-89041-251-5 (ebook)

Dedication

For my heavenly Father. I dedicate my whole life story to You.

For my husband, Richard. Being married to you is an epic adventure love story!

And for you, who have lost a child. I wrote this for you. I did not write for my healing. God healed me and gave me the burning desire to write down the revelations of what He did in a book for you.

Acknowledgements

Jesus, first and foremost, thank You. Without You, this would just be a super sad story, ending in death. But in Your seemingly backwards way, Trinity’s death was actually the beginning of the most significant part of my life when I began to really comprehend that earthly death is not the end…and how that understanding changes everything. Thank You that You have Trinity, safe and sound, that I will see You and her one day, and that we truly will live happily ever after! Thank You for giving me this writing assignment and the words to complete it. I never wanted to be a writer, and it awes me how You call the unqualified so that Your message far outshines the messenger. Thank You for providing every single thing, material and otherwise, I have needed to complete this assignment.

Richard, my amazing husband, where do I even start? You have lived every moment of this story with me, and then endured the on-again off-again writing process, for double-digit years. You have invested thousands of dollars (let’s not do the math) on writers’ conferences, a nice laptop, and every resource I have needed to complete this massive undertaking, even when it looked like this book might never materialize. Thank you for your love, support, encouragement, and perseverance.

Our twin sons, I’m so proud of you two. As I write this, you’ve just finished your freshman year of high school, and you are both great students, athletes, and musicians. You are maturing into young men of high character and capability. Thank you for the extra help in cooking and cleaning so I could focus on finishing this monumental project.

Our families, who are far away geographically, you are more near in our hearts than you know. Thank you for dropping everything to come be with us during the worst time of our lives.

Each of you who were with us during the time that we lost Trinity, during the twin pregnancy and after they were born—all our old swing dance friends and church friends, thank you for the countless selfless ways you took care of us. There are way too many of you to list, but you know who you are, and you will always have a special place in our hearts.

Joanne Lee, we have a very special thanks reserved for you, one of our oldest and dearest friends, and an incredibly gifted photographer. I am in awe of how God has intertwined our life paths, literally from coast to coast. Your beautiful work graces the walls of our home. Thanks to you, we even have photos of the night I first had feelings for Richard. But most precious are the photographic treasures of Trinity. You drove an hour the morning she was born, predawn, to capture her birth. None of us knew how important those photos would be. And thank you for your continued support through the memorial service, the birth of the twins, and now fifteen years later, your help preparing these photos for publication. We cannot thank you enough.

Mountain Top Writers’ Group ladies, thank you for all the support, encouragement, and fun we’ve had over the years.

Jen Coet, thank you for donating my headshot. You actually made this non-model feel fairly comfortable and even drove me to and from the photoshoot.

Sarah Overturf, Marlene Depler, Laura Rauh, Staci Brock, Lisa DuBois, Lori Albright, Tracey Lawrence, and Sharon Spicka, you took the time to read this book and provide thoughtful feedback so I could present the best possible version to the editors. I am deeply grateful.

Jay Stocker, you agreed to write my foreword before you even read the book. And then you took time you didn’t have to read it and to write a very thoughtful foreword. I can’t thank you enough, and I pray your Scripture Lullabies soothe the broken hearts of those who read this book.

And last but not least, you, the one reading this book. Thank you for spending this time with me. I’m inviting you into a very vulnerable place with me in hopes that I can comfort you with comfort that I’ve received.

Foreword

I met Stacy three years ago when she interviewed for a position on the school board on which I had served the previous seven years. My father had founded this Northern Colorado school twenty-five years ago and it has since grown from elementary only into a full preschool through twelfth grade Christian learning institution with over 1,700 students. Without much faith, our board only hoped we could fill the deep void that existed as Lisa, our school and board prayer warrior, had termed out. I’m thankful that, for so many reasons, Stacy was God’s choice. While the spiritual responsibility was each of ours on the board, Stacy took the leadership reigns with determination, resolve, and an unshakeable knowing of the God upon whom we so heavily rely.

Stacy had no idea of the firestorm she would be walking into on this board. Covid proved to be extremely challenging for all educational institutions, but especially for those that prioritized the health and well-being of children over the insanity