Messages of Hope
Real stories. Real hope.
Listen to the episode
‘It is every parent’s worst nightmare to receive that phone call. I miss her presence every minute of every day. I seriously wanted to go and knock on his door and say ‘do you realise what you’ve done to our family?’ I wanted him to know how much pain, you know, the serrated sharp, jagged edges of a mother’s pain.’
It’s a phone call every parent dreads, and a situation that no parent should have to go through. How do you navigate your way through the unthinkable? Annette shares her journey of the darkest time in her life when her daughter was tragically killed.
Key takeaways from this episode
Grief affected every part of life — sleep, health, work, emotions — and didn’t ease with time; in fact, the second year was even harder than the first
Anger and bitterness toward the driver who caused the accident consumed her thoughts, trapping her in pain and preventing her from truly grieving her daughter
Hitting rock bottom forced a turning point, where Annette cried out to God for help, asking only to survive one moment, one day at a time
Forgiveness became the path to freedom — not as a feeling, but as a long, deliberate process that released her from being imprisoned by bitterness
Letting God carry what she could not change brought peace, lightness, and signs of healing, even in small things like returning to brighter clothes and joy
Grief never fully disappears, but it changes — painful days still come, especially around anniversaries, yet they no longer last forever
Living ‘one foot in heaven, one foot on earth’ means holding loss and hope together, choosing to live with purpose, gratitude, and trust that God still has a future
Episode transcript
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Related booklet
Grief is caused by many things, the most common reason being the death of someone close to you. While each person experiences grief differently, this booklet explores the common feelings people have during a grieving period.
