May 8, 2025 • 7 mins
Losing a mother creates a void that can’t be fully filled by another person. Sam Hodges, President of Church Initiative, the creators of GriefShare, the number one church-based grief support program in the world introduces a new resource. Remembering Mom, is a free resource to provide a lifeline to those navigating this difficult journey, offering them comfort and hope rooted in biblical, Christ-centered principles.” Resources and information is available for you at griefshare.org/mom.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
S1 (00:02):
Mother's Day is coming up on Sunday, and for many,
it is a great opportunity to celebrate that very special
woman in your life. But for some people, it's difficult
because you've lost that special someone in your life. Joining
us right now, Sam Hodges, he's the president of Church Initiative,
the creators of Griefshare. Sam, thank you so much for
(00:23):
being here with us. A very pivotal time in some
people's lives right now.
S2 (00:28):
Yes. Thank you for having me. It really is a
difficult time for a lot of people. Um, you know,
Mother's Day is often portrayed as a time of joy
and celebration. But for those who've lost a mom, it
can trigger a lot of complicated emotions.
S3 (00:41):
Yeah. You say that data shows us that approximately 30.8%
of people in the U.S. have experienced the death of
their biological mother. That's almost a third of us. And, um,
you know, when when days like this roll around, it
can cause people to think back about pleasant memories and
the fact that they long for their mom. But it
(01:02):
can also bring up negative memories if the relationship wasn't great.
S2 (01:07):
Yeah. You know, people a lot of times feel pressure
to be happy, you know, even though they're wrestling with
grief and shame or other unresolved issues. And a lot
of people that that leads them end up feeling, you know,
isolated or wondering if something is wrong with them. And
particularly if they're still hurting years after the death. Um,
and that's particularly true for people of faith, because, you know,
(01:29):
there's this sense of, well, I believe in God. He's
going to take care of me, and this grief isn't
going to be as intense. And then it still is.
And so we created Remembering Mom, which is a free
online video for people to watch, which gives them permission
to grieve. And it allows them to hear candid stories
from other people who have dealt with the loss of
(01:49):
their mother. And it really reminds them that they're not alone.
And there's hope, and there's ways to still honor their mom,
even if the relationship was difficult.
S1 (01:56):
Yeah. Sam, thank you so much. That's Sam, Hodgins and Sam,
let me ask you this specifically about grief. Share. It's
a wonderful program. I'm very familiar with it. With one
of the churches I was on staff with in the
Pacific Northwest. But somebody listening right now. You talked about
remembering mom. But tell us what is lying underneath this.
Tell us a little bit about Griefshare.
S2 (02:18):
Yeah. Griefshare is a weekly Christ centered support group for
people grieving the death of a loved one, and it's
offered in thousands of churches across the country and around
the world. We're honored just to partner with so many
churches to offer this. And when people come together, it's
a 13 week group, and every time they get together,
they watch a powerful 30 minute video that features teaching
(02:40):
from Christian counselors, other pastors, uh, authors, other Christian mental
health professionals who've been through grief themselves. And they're also
hearing from other people who've experienced it. And they so
they go through that, they receive a personal workbook. And
so if you're hurting and you need a place of
comfort or, uh, you're looking for clarity around the loss
(03:02):
of your mom or anyone, uh, we'd really encourage you
to find a griefshare group. And if you're part of
a church, uh, again, this is a proven way to
reach people in your community. Many churches tell us that
over 50% of people who come to griefshare groups don't
have any kind of church affiliation. And so it's a
wonderful way to do care and outreach.
S3 (03:24):
As we head towards Mother's Day, we know that some
people are really struggling with this holiday. Maybe remembering your mom, um,
maybe even realizing that you didn't have the relationship with
your mom, or maybe your mom. You didn't have the
relationship with your children that you had hoped. And so
there's a level of grief happening in your life right now.
(03:46):
So we have a special guest with us. His name
is Sam Hodges. Here to talk about some of that.
S1 (03:50):
Sam is with, uh, Church Initiative. He's the president of
Church Initiative, and they're the creators of Griefshare. Sam, I
just wanted to ask you specifically about this because you
alluded to this earlier, that as followers of Christ, if
we lose somebody, specifically our mom, we have a hard
time with grieving process because as followers of Christ, we
understand that we will be reunited someday. And there's that
(04:10):
pull within us that I'm not supposed to be feeling grief,
or I'm supposed to be handling this better as a
follower of Christ. What would you say to somebody who's
listening to us right now, who's struggling through this moment
in their life?
S2 (04:24):
Yeah, the first thing I say is something that's very simple,
but we tend to forget about it. And that's just
simply Jesus wept. He experienced grief. And as a as
a perfect Son of God, God himself in the flesh.
You know, if he can experience grief, then we can too.
The other thing I would point out, just, you know, theologically,
Scripture lets us know that God is going to wipe
(04:45):
every tear from our eyes, but it's not yet. And
so now, in this interim, in this time between, um,
Christ's coming and his second coming, we're going to experience
grief and we're going to hurt. We're going to experience sorrow,
and that's normal. And so the grief of losing a mother, um,
we should expect that to be complex. You know, if
(05:07):
you had a close relationship, um, you might be grieving
not only just the loss of your mom, but also
your biggest encourager, your go to for advice. Um, the
person that you always pick up the phone to call
and let her know about wins and things that are
really going well, just little joys. And if the relationship
was strained, um, you know, you might even grieve, um,
(05:29):
what never was. And then some people can even feel
a sense of relief after a mother passes away. And
so all those things are incredibly complex and difficult to
deal with. But I think the thing that's encouraging is
that when you look in Scripture, what you see in
the Psalms is that God provides numerous examples of people
(05:49):
who are being honest about their pain, and he invites
us to do the same thing. And so the other
thing that we see in Scripture is that God calls
us to come together so that we can share our
burdens and share our grief. And that's one of the
things we really encourage people to do who are going
through grief is don't walk the journey alone. And so,
you know, that's why we've created the Remembering Mom video,
(06:11):
because we want to introduce people to Hope, show them
other people who have healed and point them to groups
around the country where they can talk with others about
the grief that they've experienced. And so, you know, if
you're interested in the Remembering Mom video, you can watch
that@griefshare.org org forward slash that's shared forward slash.
S3 (06:31):
Thank you so much for just presenting this resource. And
I know you have other resources as well. But during
this week that's something that's on many people's minds. Uh,
how do I deal with the feelings I'm having about
Mother's Day and about my own grief surrounding my mom? Uh,
we're going to post a link on our Facebook page.
That's what we'll do. Well, if you're going to if
(06:51):
you can't remember that website, just go to our Facebook
page and we will have that link for you. Anyone
who's been struggling with this, you can go there. I
also wanted to share some of the grief share groups
in Chattanooga. There's one at First Baptist Church, Orchard Knob,
Missionary Baptist, New Covenant Fellowship, uh, Battlefield Parkway, church of
(07:13):
the Nazarene, Ridgedale Baptist, Red Bank Baptist and Friendship Baptist.
And I believe there's more. And of course you can
go to grief share and put in your zip code
and it will find groups near you.
S1 (07:27):
Yeah, that's Griefshare griefshare.org.
Mother's Day is coming up on Sunday, and for many,
it is a great opportunity to celebrate that very special
woman in your life. But for some people, it's difficult
because you've lost that special someone in your life. Joining
us right now, Sam Hodges, he's the president of Church Initiative,
the creators of Griefshare. Sam, thank you so much for
(00:23):
being here with us. A very pivotal time in some
people's lives right now.
S2 (00:28):
Yes. Thank you for having me. It really is a
difficult time for a lot of people. Um, you know,
Mother's Day is often portrayed as a time of joy
and celebration. But for those who've lost a mom, it
can trigger a lot of complicated emotions.
S3 (00:41):
Yeah. You say that data shows us that approximately 30.8%
of people in the U.S. have experienced the death of
their biological mother. That's almost a third of us. And, um,
you know, when when days like this roll around, it
can cause people to think back about pleasant memories and
the fact that they long for their mom. But it
(01:02):
can also bring up negative memories if the relationship wasn't great.
S2 (01:07):
Yeah. You know, people a lot of times feel pressure
to be happy, you know, even though they're wrestling with
grief and shame or other unresolved issues. And a lot
of people that that leads them end up feeling, you know,
isolated or wondering if something is wrong with them. And
particularly if they're still hurting years after the death. Um,
and that's particularly true for people of faith, because, you know,
(01:29):
there's this sense of, well, I believe in God. He's
going to take care of me, and this grief isn't
going to be as intense. And then it still is.
And so we created Remembering Mom, which is a free
online video for people to watch, which gives them permission
to grieve. And it allows them to hear candid stories
from other people who have dealt with the loss of
(01:49):
their mother. And it really reminds them that they're not alone.
And there's hope, and there's ways to still honor their mom,
even if the relationship was difficult.
S1 (01:56):
Yeah. Sam, thank you so much. That's Sam, Hodgins and Sam,
let me ask you this specifically about grief. Share. It's
a wonderful program. I'm very familiar with it. With one
of the churches I was on staff with in the
Pacific Northwest. But somebody listening right now. You talked about
remembering mom. But tell us what is lying underneath this.
Tell us a little bit about Griefshare.
S2 (02:18):
Yeah. Griefshare is a weekly Christ centered support group for
people grieving the death of a loved one, and it's
offered in thousands of churches across the country and around
the world. We're honored just to partner with so many
churches to offer this. And when people come together, it's
a 13 week group, and every time they get together,
they watch a powerful 30 minute video that features teaching
(02:40):
from Christian counselors, other pastors, uh, authors, other Christian mental
health professionals who've been through grief themselves. And they're also
hearing from other people who've experienced it. And they so
they go through that, they receive a personal workbook. And
so if you're hurting and you need a place of
comfort or, uh, you're looking for clarity around the loss
(03:02):
of your mom or anyone, uh, we'd really encourage you
to find a griefshare group. And if you're part of
a church, uh, again, this is a proven way to
reach people in your community. Many churches tell us that
over 50% of people who come to griefshare groups don't
have any kind of church affiliation. And so it's a
wonderful way to do care and outreach.
S3 (03:24):
As we head towards Mother's Day, we know that some
people are really struggling with this holiday. Maybe remembering your mom, um,
maybe even realizing that you didn't have the relationship with
your mom, or maybe your mom. You didn't have the
relationship with your children that you had hoped. And so
there's a level of grief happening in your life right now.
(03:46):
So we have a special guest with us. His name
is Sam Hodges. Here to talk about some of that.
S1 (03:50):
Sam is with, uh, Church Initiative. He's the president of
Church Initiative, and they're the creators of Griefshare. Sam, I
just wanted to ask you specifically about this because you
alluded to this earlier, that as followers of Christ, if
we lose somebody, specifically our mom, we have a hard
time with grieving process because as followers of Christ, we
understand that we will be reunited someday. And there's that
(04:10):
pull within us that I'm not supposed to be feeling grief,
or I'm supposed to be handling this better as a
follower of Christ. What would you say to somebody who's
listening to us right now, who's struggling through this moment
in their life?
S2 (04:24):
Yeah, the first thing I say is something that's very simple,
but we tend to forget about it. And that's just
simply Jesus wept. He experienced grief. And as a as
a perfect Son of God, God himself in the flesh.
You know, if he can experience grief, then we can too.
The other thing I would point out, just, you know, theologically,
Scripture lets us know that God is going to wipe
(04:45):
every tear from our eyes, but it's not yet. And
so now, in this interim, in this time between, um,
Christ's coming and his second coming, we're going to experience
grief and we're going to hurt. We're going to experience sorrow,
and that's normal. And so the grief of losing a mother, um,
we should expect that to be complex. You know, if
(05:07):
you had a close relationship, um, you might be grieving
not only just the loss of your mom, but also
your biggest encourager, your go to for advice. Um, the
person that you always pick up the phone to call
and let her know about wins and things that are
really going well, just little joys. And if the relationship
was strained, um, you know, you might even grieve, um,
(05:29):
what never was. And then some people can even feel
a sense of relief after a mother passes away. And
so all those things are incredibly complex and difficult to
deal with. But I think the thing that's encouraging is
that when you look in Scripture, what you see in
the Psalms is that God provides numerous examples of people
(05:49):
who are being honest about their pain, and he invites
us to do the same thing. And so the other
thing that we see in Scripture is that God calls
us to come together so that we can share our
burdens and share our grief. And that's one of the
things we really encourage people to do who are going
through grief is don't walk the journey alone. And so,
you know, that's why we've created the Remembering Mom video,
(06:11):
because we want to introduce people to Hope, show them
other people who have healed and point them to groups
around the country where they can talk with others about
the grief that they've experienced. And so, you know, if
you're interested in the Remembering Mom video, you can watch
that@griefshare.org org forward slash that's shared forward slash.
S3 (06:31):
Thank you so much for just presenting this resource. And
I know you have other resources as well. But during
this week that's something that's on many people's minds. Uh,
how do I deal with the feelings I'm having about
Mother's Day and about my own grief surrounding my mom? Uh,
we're going to post a link on our Facebook page.
That's what we'll do. Well, if you're going to if
(06:51):
you can't remember that website, just go to our Facebook
page and we will have that link for you. Anyone
who's been struggling with this, you can go there. I
also wanted to share some of the grief share groups
in Chattanooga. There's one at First Baptist Church, Orchard Knob,
Missionary Baptist, New Covenant Fellowship, uh, Battlefield Parkway, church of
(07:13):
the Nazarene, Ridgedale Baptist, Red Bank Baptist and Friendship Baptist.
And I believe there's more. And of course you can
go to grief share and put in your zip code
and it will find groups near you.
S1 (07:27):
Yeah, that's Griefshare griefshare.org.
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