Ep. 121: Beauty from Ashes: How Grief, Loss and Caregiving Revealed God's Grace with Jessica Ronne

Jessica Ronne has endured more heartache than most can even fathom. She found out when she was pregnant with her second son that he’d had a stroke in utero and would be profoundly disabled if she carried him to term. She and her husband made the decision to carry him to full term and let God handle the details. Lucas does have those disabilities, but Jess and her husband never wished they’d made a different choice. Then, several years and two more children later, Jess’s husband was diagnosed with a brain tumor and passed away at the age of 33, leaving her to take care of their four small children.

But God didn’t leave her in her grief. She met a wonderful man, a widower with three children and they married, blended their families and even added one more to the mix. Even though Jess has a hard story, she’s used her experience to create The Lucas Foundation, a non-profit dedicated to serving parent caregivers with respite, recognition and resources. She is also the associate producer of the documentary Unseen and the author of four books, including her most recent, Caregiving with Grit and Grace.

Jessica’s pain led her to create resources to help others, because she understands what it means to be in an unfamiliar world of grief and caregiving, not knowing how to navigate it all. Her relationship with Jesus is even stronger today than when she was a young mom because she learned to lean on Him, and even question Him, through it all. Even though her story is hard, she fought her way through it and made it to the other side to let you know whatever you’re going through, God’s got you.

The Bible says in 2 Corinthians 1:4 that “He comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God.”

Here's Jess' story...

For show notes go to CarolRoper.org/podcast