Welcome to Granting Hope!

It is with heavy hearts that we welcome you to our ministry. We exist because we too have lost a child and wish to comfort those who know this pain. You can read our story and learn more about what we do as you navigate through the tabs below.

Please know that you are not alone and that the darkness that you feel right now will ease with time, love, and support. We hope and pray that we can be of some comfort to you in these coming days.

With love and hope,

Jody & Kris

Friday, October 14, 2011

A Poem for Connie...written by my Grandmother

Not many people know this, but my Grandmother was also an angel mom. She lost my sweet aunt to SIDS, when my aunt was only six months old. She put her in her crib after she ate; and when she went in to check on her she was gone. Just stopped breathing in her sleep. She was a beautiful baby, my Aunt Connie- beautiful big eyes and blond curls. She was my grandmother's little girl; my mother and my aunt's sister; my aunt that I never got to know.

My mother recently found a poem among my Grandmother's belongings. My grandma wrote TONS of poems over the years. She would sit on her couch for hours every day. When she thought of something, she always wrote it down- and she would write it down on any scrap of paper that was within reach.  This poem that my mother found was written on a piece of cardboard. The writing is so lightly written in pencil that you can hardly see it; in fact, I had to read it with a magnifying glass.

Here are the words my Grandmother wrote about losing her baby girl--

God loaned a little baby to me,
For just a little while;
Then took her home to Heaven
to be with Him awhile.

Till we should go to join her
In that blessed place above;
Where we will be forever
sheltered in His love.

I love you, Grandma. I'm so sorry you had to go through that. I never understood the tears whenever you spoke of her until I grew up and lost my own child. And now you are in Heaven today, dancing with your beautiful girl and telling my son all about me. Thank you for your love and your strength; because I know that if you could survive a loss this deep, then I can survive it too.

 
 

Wednesday, July 20, 2011

August 14 is Grant's Third Birthday in Heaven

We can hardly believe that it is almost time for Grant's birthday again. THREE YEARS. Wow! Has it really been that long? And yet, it doesn't really seem that long- except for when I get those urges to hold him again. Then it feels like AGES since I have held him.

Just recently I found a really wonderful idea on Facebook called "The Random Act of Kindness Day." I don't remember whose page it was on though.  I love the idea and would like to incorporate it into Grant's Birthday.  We would like for people to perform any random act of kindness on August 14. It could be anything really- whether it be letting someone get in front of you in line at the grocery store or paying for the person standing in line behind you at McDonald's. You get to choose what you would like to do.

We have made up message cards that read as follows: "This random act of kindness was given to you today in loving memory of a special baby boy, Grant Thomas Abernathy, silently born August 14, 2008. You can read his story at www.grantinghope.blogspot.com"  You may give this card to the person you have been kind to.

If you would like to be a part of helping us to honor our sweet little angel, please leave a comment here or on our Facebook page. You can message us your address if you would like a Message card. Thank you!
http://www.facebook.com/jabernathy#!/event.php?eid=142554292491060

Wishing you peace,