{"id":305041,"date":"2019-05-24T11:00:00","date_gmt":"2019-05-24T15:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/podcast\/%series%\/therefore-i-have-hope-2\/"},"modified":"2019-05-24T11:00:00","modified_gmt":"2019-05-24T15:00:00","slug":"therefore-i-have-hope-2","status":"publish","type":"podcast","link":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/podcast\/familylife-today\/therefore-i-have-hope-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Therefore, I Have Hope"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>guest: Cameron Cole, Kim Anthony | Everyone dreams of a life free of trouble, and Cameron Cole seemed to be one of those lucky few who actually achieved the dream. He lived a trouble-free childhood and adolescence and even married his high school sweetheart. But in one day Cameron&#8217;s illusion of charmed perfection was shattered by four shocking words: &#8220;Our son is dead.&#8221; How can someone who&#8217;s life seemed so blessed continue to exhibit a vibrant faith in a God who seems to have slipped up?<\/p>\n<p>Show Notes and Resources<\/p>\n<p> \tListen to the entire podcast with Cameron Cole on the Unfavorable Odds\u2122 with Kim Anthony.\u00a0https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/podcast\/unfavorable-odds\/therefore-i-have-hope\/<br \/>\n \tLearn more about becoming a Legacy Partner, a monthly supporter of FamilyLife.\u00a0https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/legacy<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Cameron Cole seemed to be one of those lucky few who actually achieved the dream of a life free of trouble. But in one day Cameron&#8217;s illusion of charmed perfection was shattered by four shocking words: &#8220;Our son is dead.&#8221;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":91,"featured_media":294104,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","inline_featured_image":false,"_uag_custom_page_level_css":"","episode_type":"","audio_file":"https:\/\/web.familylifetoday.com\/fl2019-05-24.mp3","podmotor_file_id":"","podmotor_episode_id":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"00:28:12","filesize":"25.83M","filesize_raw":"27081844","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":""},"categories":[2822,2860,2879],"tags":[2343,5096,4457],"podcast_series":[],"cwp_profile":[9524,9519],"series":[2101],"class_list":["post-305041","podcast","type-podcast","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-growing-in-your-faith","category-hardship-and-suffering","category-loss-of-a-child","tag-grief","tag-hope","tag-loss-of-a-child","cwp_profile-cameron-cole","cwp_profile-kim-anthony","series-familylife-today"],"acf":[],"episode_featured_image":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1001\/2024\/09\/FLT-Podcast-Cover-2-508x508-3.jpg?w=508","episode_player_image":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1001\/2023\/02\/image-scaled.jpg","download_link":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/podcast-download\/305041\/therefore-i-have-hope-2","player_link":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/podcast-player\/305041\/therefore-i-have-hope-2","audio_player":null,"episode_data":{"playerMode":"light","subscribeUrls":{"apple_podcasts":{"key":"apple_podcasts","url":"https:\/\/podcasts.apple.com\/us\/podcast\/familylife-today\/id212174303?mt=2&app=podcast","label":"Apple Podcasts","class":"apple_podcasts","icon":"apple-podcasts.png"},"google_podcasts":{"key":"google_podcasts","url":"","label":"Google Podcasts","class":"google_podcasts","icon":"google-podcasts.png"},"spotify":{"key":"spotify","url":"https:\/\/open.spotify.com\/show\/0j5UaKdQOHQCuo1bt0ebEm","label":"Spotify","class":"spotify","icon":"spotify.png"},"youtube":{"key":"youtube","url":"","label":"YouTube","class":"youtube","icon":"youtube.png"}},"rssFeedUrl":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/feed\/podcast\/familylife-today","embedCode":"<blockquote class=\"wp-embedded-content\" data-secret=\"wBZ8PwTvys\"><a href=\"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/podcast\/familylife-today\/therefore-i-have-hope-2\/\">Therefore, I Have Hope<\/a><\/blockquote><iframe sandbox=\"allow-scripts\" security=\"restricted\" src=\"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/podcast\/familylife-today\/therefore-i-have-hope-2\/embed\/#?secret=wBZ8PwTvys\" width=\"500\" height=\"350\" title=\"&#8220;Therefore, I Have Hope&#8221; &#8212; FamilyLife\u00ae - A Cru Ministry\" data-secret=\"wBZ8PwTvys\" frameborder=\"0\" marginwidth=\"0\" marginheight=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\" class=\"wp-embedded-content\"><\/iframe><script>\n\/*! This file is auto-generated *\/\n!function(d,l){\"use strict\";l.querySelector&&d.addEventListener&&\"undefined\"!=typeof URL&&(d.wp=d.wp||{},d.wp.receiveEmbedMessage||(d.wp.receiveEmbedMessage=function(e){var t=e.data;if((t||t.secret||t.message||t.value)&&!\/[^a-zA-Z0-9]\/.test(t.secret)){for(var s,r,n,a=l.querySelectorAll('iframe[data-secret=\"'+t.secret+'\"]'),o=l.querySelectorAll('blockquote[data-secret=\"'+t.secret+'\"]'),c=new RegExp(\"^https?:$\",\"i\"),i=0;i<o.length;i++)o[i].style.display=\"none\";for(i=0;i<a.length;i++)s=a[i],e.source===s.contentWindow&&(s.removeAttribute(\"style\"),\"height\"===t.message?(1e3<(r=parseInt(t.value,10))?r=1e3:~~r<200&&(r=200),s.height=r):\"link\"===t.message&&(r=new URL(s.getAttribute(\"src\")),n=new URL(t.value),c.test(n.protocol))&&n.host===r.host&&l.activeElement===s&&(d.top.location.href=t.value))}},d.addEventListener(\"message\",d.wp.receiveEmbedMessage,!1),l.addEventListener(\"DOMContentLoaded\",function(){for(var e,t,s=l.querySelectorAll(\"iframe.wp-embedded-content\"),r=0;r<s.length;r++)(t=(e=s[r]).getAttribute(\"data-secret\"))||(t=Math.random().toString(36).substring(2,12),e.src+=\"#?secret=\"+t,e.setAttribute(\"data-secret\",t)),e.contentWindow.postMessage({message:\"ready\",secret:t},\"*\")},!1)))}(window,document);\n\/\/# sourceURL=https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/wp-includes\/js\/wp-embed.min.js\n<\/script>\n"},"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1001\/2024\/09\/FLT-Podcast-Cover-2-508x508-3.jpg",508,508,false]},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"kfairris@familylife.com","author_link":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/author\/kfairrisfamilylife-com\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"Cameron Cole seemed to be one of those lucky few who actually achieved the dream of a life free of trouble. But in one day Cameron's illusion of charmed perfection was shattered by four shocking words: \"Our son is dead.\"","meta_box":{"show_notes":"","transcript_url":"https:\/\/transcript.familylifetoday.com\/fl2019-05-24.pdf","transcript_content":"<strong>Bob: <\/strong>When his son was three years old, Cameron Cole got a phone call from his wife, who was sobbing, saying that, in the night, their child had died.\n\n<strong>Cameron:<\/strong> I thought that my faith in Christ could not handle a tragedy of this magnitude; and I found that the Lord had, in fact, been preparing me my whole life and that, in that moment, the Holy Spirit met me and brought me to the truth\u2014that Jesus Christ rose from the grave and, because of His resurrection, that means that all the promises of the gospel\/all the promises of Scripture\u2014they are, factually, true.\n\n<strong>Bob: <\/strong>This is <em>FamilyLife Today<\/em> for Friday, May 24<sup>th<\/sup>. Our hosts are Dave and Ann Wilson; I'm Bob Lepine. Where do we find hope and comfort that sustains us in the midst of tragedy? We\u2019ll learn about that today from Cameron Cole. Stay with us.\n\nAnd welcome to <em>FamilyLife Today<\/em>. Thanks for joining us. We\u2019ve got a lot of people, who have started plugging into the FamilyLife<sup>\u00ae<\/sup> Podcast Network. They\u2019re starting to listen to Ron Deal\u2019s podcast and listening to the FamilyLife Marriage podcast. They\u2019re downloading <em>FamilyLife Today<\/em> as a podcast and then Kim Anthony\u2019s program, which is called <em>Unfavorable Odds<\/em>. People have started listening to that; and it\u2019s encouraging to us to hear back from folks, who say, \u201cI love having these podcasts on my device so that, when I\u2019m traveling or wherever, I can just pull one up and listen to it wherever\u2014just super convenient.\u201d\n\n<strong>Dave:<\/strong> Yes; a new day. I mean, how many people watch a TV show when it\u2019s on that moment?\u2014not that many any more. To have the flexibility to grab a great program any time you want\u2014that\u2019s the world we live in. What a <em>beautiful<\/em> way to give people great content.\n\n<strong>Ann:<\/strong> I actually work out and listen to a podcast as I work out. I did listen to you and Dennis a lot.\n\n<strong>Bob:<\/strong> Did you?\n\n<strong>Ann:<\/strong> Yes.\n\n<strong>Bob:<\/strong> So now, you try to pick short podcasts so that the work out doesn\u2019t last long. [Laughter]\n\n<strong>Ann:<\/strong> Yes; the shorter the better. [Laughter]\n\n<strong>Bob:<\/strong> Well, we\u2019re going to hear an excerpt today from a great podcast that Kim Anthony is producing called <em>Unfavorable Odds<\/em>. She is talking to people, who have faced the hard spots of life\/the hard moments in life, and who have persevered\u2014it\u2019s part of <em>her<\/em> story. She is telling some great stories\/interviewing some great folks.\n\nIn fact, what we\u2019re going to hear today is an excerpt from Episode 5 of her podcast, where she talked to Cameron Cole, the author of a book called <em>Therefore I have Hope: 12 Truths That Comfort, Sustain, &amp; Redeem in Tragedy<\/em>. As we\u2019re about to hear, Cameron and his wife experienced the kind of tragedy that no parent <em>ever<\/em> wants to experience.\n\n[<em>Unfavorable Odds <\/em>Podcast]\n\n<strong>\u00a0<\/strong>\n\n<strong>Cameron:<\/strong> Every parent has their wildest dream, and every parent has their worst nightmare. Our family experienced both in, like, a 48-hour span. You know, for us, as Christian parents, our wildest dream is that our children would come to know Christ as Savior and Lord.\n\nOur little boy, Cam, was sitting around; he was playing with Legos<sup>\u00ae<\/sup>. He lost his Lego axe; and he asked his Mommy and Daddy, \u201cCan we ask Jesus to help me find my Lego?\u201d\n\n<strong>Kim:<\/strong> Oh! So sweet.\n\n<strong>Cameron:<\/strong> Yes; [Laughter] we prayed\u2014we prayed and said, \u201cLord, God, we know that nothing is lost in Your sight, and we ask You to help us find Cam\u2019s Lego axe.\u201d We looked, and we found it. Cam said: \u201cThank You, Jesus; thank You, Jesus.\u201d\n\nThat really kind of started to kind of develop into a longer conversation\u2014he said: \u201cI want to go see Jesus. Can we go see Him today?\u201d We said: \u201cWell, buddy, you can\u2019t exactly\u2014Jesus is here with you. You can\u2019t see Him, but He is with you now.\u201d He said, \u201cWell, when we go get in the car and go see Jesus.\u201d We said, \u201cWell, you\u2019ll see Jesus when you go to heaven; but right now, we just have to know and trust that He\u2019s with us, even though we can\u2019t see Him.\u201d\n\nHe, then, started to ask a lot of questions about heaven. He said\u2014you know, he asked if he would see Adam and Eve in heaven, and he pledged that he would not eat from the tree. [Laughter] We said: \u201cWell, you know, buddy, everyone eats from the tree. That\u2019s why Jesus came. We\u2019re all sinners.\u201d Then, he said, \u201cJesus die on cross. Jesus die for my sins.\u201d\n\nLittle did I know, at that point\u2014two things\u2014I started to kind of realize, a little later that day, that, \u201cWow, I think I just heard my three-year-old child profess faith in Christ,\u201d\u2014one thing; but I didn\u2019t realize, at that point, that was the last meaningful conversation I\u2019d ever have with him.\n\nThat night, I went on a youth campout. I woke up that next morning, and I had received three missed calls from my wife in the span of a minute. The fourth call is coming in, and I answered the call. My wife\u2014and really, in a shriek of terror\u2014informed that she had found our son dead in his bed. He had just mysteriously passed away in his sleep, which is very, very rare for a child, over the age of one, to die in their sleep. It\u2019s about 1 in 100,000 chance that will happen.\n\nLike I said\u2014our worst nightmare was that\u2014any parent\u2014is that your child would die; but you know, that happened within 24 hours of him also professing faith in Christ.\n\n<strong>Kim:<\/strong> Cameron, take me from that moment\u2014that you received those phone calls, and spoke with your wife, and heard those words come through the telephone\u2014what was going through your mind?\n\n<strong>Cameron:<\/strong> For me, my worst nightmare was that my child would die; but it was kind of compounded with the fact that I worked in student ministry. You know, I\u2019ve had a really\u2014up to this point\u2014had a really nice life\/a really charmed life\u2014nice parents, nice home, school and sports. Everything had kind of gone my way. Things had been very easy for me, and I had this fear: \u201cWhat if something really bad happened? Would I lose my faith?\u201d I kind of had determined that, if my child died, I was afraid that I might lose my faith.\n\nI really had kind of a fixated recurring nightmare that Cam would die. I would kind of envision and see myself turning my back on God, and losing my faith, and becoming bitter; and you know, just running out the shot clock on my life. Then, it happened. Like you said\u2014when the call came in and I heard that my worst nightmare had occurred, it was so surprising to me what came out of my mouth when my wife delivered this horrific news. I said: \u201cJesus rose from the grave and that means that God is good. This doesn\u2019t change that fact.\u201d\n\nIt was interesting\u2014what I was finding was\u2014in reality, God had been preparing me for this moment my whole life. I thought that I was not prepared; <a id=\"_Hlk8378070\"><\/a>I thought that my faith in Christ could not handle a tragedy of this magnitude. I found that the Lord had, in fact, been preparing me my whole life and that, in that moment, the Holy Spirit met me and brought me to the truth\u2014that Jesus Christ rose from the grave and, because of His resurrection, that means that all the promises of the gospel\/all the promises of Scripture\u2014they are, factually, true; they are, factually, true.\n\nEven when something as bad as your child dying occurs, the possibility that God can heal you, that God can redeem you, that God can use this for His glory, that the Lord does not leave you\/that He accompanies us at all times, that there is the possibility of joy in the midst of suffering\u2014all of those things remained intact, because of the bodily resurrection of Jesus Christ. That was the\u2014that was the thing that I really clung to in that moment.\n\n<strong>Kim:<\/strong> Your book is divided into three sections\/three different stages of grief: the initial shock, the new normal, and then the long haul. Let\u2019s talk about that initial shock. Describe the common characteristics that take place in this stage.\n\n<strong>Cameron:<\/strong> Yes; you know, honestly, especially when it\u2019s a sudden tragedy\/it\u2019s not something that you were expecting, it is honestly almost like you are crazy. You know, it\u2019s like you are living in a cloud. I think there are just lots of really intense fears that you encounter, feeling like: \u201cMy life is ruined,\u201d \u201cMy life is over,\u201d \u201cMy marriage may fall apart,\u201d\u2014so on and so forth.\n\nI found\u2014you know, in the month after Cam died, that I would say to my wife, over and over again, \u201cMan, if a person didn\u2019t know about the sovereignty God,\u201d or \u201c\u2026a person didn\u2019t know about the presence of God,\u201d or \u201c\u2026didn\u2019t know about the possibility of joy in suffering,\u201d\u2014and so on and so forth\u2014\u201cI have <em>no<\/em> idea how they could survive something like this.\u201d I was finding that it was God\u2019s truth that was really the anchor of the hope that I had. Even though I was in a <em>tremendous<\/em> amount of pain\/indescribable anguish, I still really did have a sense of hope, even from the moment that I heard that he had died when my wife called.\n\nIn the initial shock, I kind of identified these truths that I felt were really essential, right at the beginning. You know, one is the resurrection\u2014that just knowing that Christianity is factually and historically true, based on the bodily resurrection of Jesus. I found that the gospel\u2014knowing that God can redeem anything\u2014especially when we look at the cross. What a failure and a travesty the cross appears; and yet, through the cross, our sins are atoned for; and God is redeeming the world.\n\nI found that the daily grace of God was just utterly instrumental\u2014that you have to have this blinder\u2019s mentality of: \u201cDon\u2019t worry about tomorrow. Just trust God\u2019s grace for right now.\u201d I found that to be utterly instrumental.\n\n<strong>\u00a0<\/strong>\n\n<strong>Kim:<\/strong> Cameron, how do you help encourage someone, who may not share your same faith in that initial stage? Maybe, they don\u2019t understand the resurrection\u2014that grace that God gives. How would you walk a person through that?\n\n<strong>Cameron:<\/strong> Yes; you know, that\u2019s a tricky pastoral situation\u2014whether you are a pastor, whether it\u2019s a friend, or a family member. I think you have to be cautious not to overwhelm them with\u2014overwhelm them with content, so to speak. I think ministry of presence is probably the most important thing I would say at the beginning\u2014just to be a person, who is there\u2014who is with them\/who hears them.\n\nBut you know, one thing that I have found myself saying to people\u2014who I\u2019m not sure if they are a believer or if I\u2019m not sure they have a tremendous amount of depth in their faith is\u2014first off, I tell them that the God of the Bible\/the God is an empathetic God, who feels their pain. I say: \u201cYou know, perhaps, the most helpful thing for me, in clinging to God in this, is knowing that my God lost a Child. My son died in his sleep very peacefully. The Son of God died a violent death, and He was a victim. He was a victim of our sin; He was a victim of the evil in the world.\u201d The first thing I do is I tell them that the God of Christianity is an empathetic God, who suffers with them and feels their pain, who can actually identify with what they are going through.\n\nThe second thing I tell them is that we serve a gracious God, who knows that we are human beings, who are very flawed, very limited, and sinful. As a result of that\u2014like He can handle our lament. I encourage them: \u201cYou need to be honest with God. You need to tell Him what you are feeling. You need to tell Him about your confusion.\u201d There is an audience that they can say anything to.\n\nI\u2019m not encouraging sin\u2014\n\n<strong>Kim:<\/strong> Right.\n\n<strong>Cameron:<\/strong> \u2014we also serve a holy God, to whom we approach with fear and reverence; but to a person\u2014I think it is helpful for them to know that, in God, there is a person that they can actually have an authentic relationship and with whom they can be honest about their pain and their anguish.\n\n<strong>\u00a0<\/strong>\n\n<strong>Kim:<\/strong> Well-said, Cameron.\n\nAs you were talking, I was thinking about\u2014how a lot of times, even we, as Christians\u2014we think that we have more power than I believe we have when it comes to overcoming tragedies. We come at it with this mindset of, \u201cWith God\u2019s help, I can do this,\u201d as if there is something that we can do; but in my own experience in grief and tragedy, I realized that: \u201cYou know what? As the Lord has brought me through those dark places, there was nothing that I could do. It was all Him!\u201d I can\u2019t even explain how He did it.\n\n<strong>Cameron:<\/strong> Absolutely. You know, I think\u2014one of the chapters in the book, Kim, is \u201cFaith.\u201d I talk about how, if you have a mentality that Christian faith is: \u201cJesus is my copilot,\u201d\u2014it\u2019s a partnership\/like an equal partnership\u2014you\u2019re done. You are in real trouble; because you\u2014I mean, you said it so well, Kim\u2014we have <em>no<\/em> power apart from the saving power and the saving grace of Christ in these kinds of situations\u2014and especially\u2014and the term I use is \u201cyour worst\u201d\u2014\n\n<strong>Kim:<\/strong> Yes.\n\n<strong>Cameron:<\/strong> \u2014you know, when you are going through your worst nightmare. One of the reasons that those situations are so sanctifying\u2014is it brings us into the reality that we have no resources within us\u2014like our hope\/our resources for comfort and redemption all come from the outside. They all come from God.\n\nSo, to your point, we have to have a mentality of rescue. We can only be rescued by the Lord and daily rescued. You know, daily rescue is what we need, especially when we are in just deep, deep pain and sorrow.\n\n<strong>Kim:<\/strong> Oh. But Cameron, we want to be so strong; and we want to be so involved and have a part in overcoming. I guess there is something about saying, \u201cI have overcome this tragedy\u201d; but is there a danger living with that copilot mentality?\n\n<strong>Cameron:<\/strong> I say this with a little bit of caution; because there are some moments, where you do just kind of have to put the next step forward.\n\n<strong>Kim:<\/strong> Yes.\n\n<strong>Cameron:<\/strong> You know, I can remember the day after Cameron\u2019s funeral, just crying so hard that I had shards of carpet in my teeth. I just sat there; and I\u2019m like, \u201cI don\u2019t know if I will ever be able to stand up off the carpet.\u201d\n\nThe nature of our sin is, at the core\u2014is we want to be our own savior\u2014\n\n<strong>Kim:<\/strong> Aww.\n\n<strong>Cameron:<\/strong> \u2014we want to be our own lord. That\u2019s the essence of sin. So, coming into saving faith, as a believer, is when you stop trying to be your own savior, and you stop trying to be your own lord, and you look to Jesus. Jesus, now, becomes the One who saves you from your sins; Jesus is the One who is the Lord of your life.\n\nYou talked about this impulse that we have to want to be strong and want to pull ourselves up. I think, a lot of times, that\u2019s really just our sin nature. I think we <em>first<\/em> have to rest, and wait, and trust in Christ; and then out of the grace that Christ gives us, to walk out of that.\n\n<strong>Kim:<\/strong> You write that there is one deadly sin of grief. What is that, and what makes it so deadly?\n\n<strong>Cameron:<\/strong> One deadly sin\u2014and that\u2019s to deny reality\u2014deny reality. You know, I think it\u2019s a very human thing\u2014and it\u2019s actually increasingly easy, in our culture, to withdraw\u2014you know, just to pretend that things didn\u2019t happen\u2014and to get busy, or to get over medicated, or whatever it may be\u2014and to just try to avoid the pain and the difficulty of what you are facing.\n\nUnfortunately, you\u2019ll never heal unless you cry the tears and unless you feel the pain. You <em>have<\/em> to enter into the sorrow and enter into the pain. You know, there is a theologian, FitzSimons Allison, and he has this wonderful, wonderful accent. He says [using a Georgian accent], \u201cEverybody wants to pole vault over Good Friday and land on Easter Sunday; but without a cross, there is no resurrection.\u201d Now, that\u2019s the truth; you know? Jesus\u2014\n\n<strong>Kim:<\/strong> So true.\n\n<strong>Cameron:<\/strong> \u2014God is very clear in His Word\u2014particularly with the Apostle Paul\u2014that if we are united with Christ, we\u2019ll be united with Him in death and in resurrection. We will be united with Him in pain and suffering in this life, and we\u2019ll be united with Him in resurrection and redemption.\n\nTo reveal just how, from Alabama, I am, you know: \u201cThe grease comes with the gravy.\u201d If we\u2019re going to heal, we have to acknowledge the depth of our pain. We have to acknowledge our questions. We have to cry the tears\/feel the feelings\u2014as <em>hard<\/em> and as painful as they are\u2014because the Lord meets us in that, and the Lord heals us through that.\n\n<strong>\u00a0<\/strong>\n\n[Studio]\n\n<strong>Bob:<\/strong> Well, we\u2019ve been listening to just an excerpt from Kim Anthony\u2019s <em>Unfavorable Odds<\/em> podcast, Episode 5, with Cameron Cole. We just heard a portion of it. In fact, I\u2019d encourage our listeners to listen to the entire podcast and hear how Cameron addresses what he calls probably the toughest theological issue in the world, which is: \u201cWhere is God in the midst of our suffering?\u201d and find out what happened one year after their son died.\n\nYou can go to FamilyLifeToday.com to get information about how to download Kim\u2019s podcast and find out more about the other podcasts that are available through the FamilyLife Podcast Network.\n\n<strong>Ann:<\/strong> It\u2019s so interesting\u2014as I listened to Cameron and his voice, I\u2019m struck by the idea of losing a child would be one of the most devastating things anyone could go through. And yet, he still has hope that Jesus is there, and He\u2019s in the midst; and that\u2019s pretty commendable. I can\u2019t imagine how difficult that was.\n\n<strong>Dave:<\/strong> Yes; and you know, as a pastor, I\u2019ve done funerals for little children\/teenage children. It\u2019s <em>devastating<\/em>, you know, to walk through that dark valley; and yet, what Cameron got into is embracing that pain. Don\u2019t run away from that pain; step into it, which is what he did.\n\nIt\u2019s so hard to do, but I remember reading Levi Lusko\u2019s book about him losing his five-year-old daughter. He tells this story about how lions actually stalk their prey. Do you know this Bob?\n\n<strong>Bob:<\/strong> No.\n\n<strong>Dave:<\/strong> It\u2019s <em>really<\/em> fascinating. You think the king of the lion\u2014you know, the male lion\u2014is the most dangerous; it\u2019s actually the female lion. The male lion roars; the wildebeest, or the animal he\u2019s stalking, runs away from the roar to where the female is; because she\u2019s more agile, and she attacks.\n\nThe whole point is\u2014if the wildebeest would run to the roar, that he\u2019s afraid of, he\u2019d actually be safe; but we run away. It\u2019s so what we do in pain\u2014we run away; and Cameron is saying, \u201cRun to it.\u201d Again, I know that sounds so hard to do; but if you will lament and embrace it, and have a community around you to live there, God\u2019s going to be there to heal you.\n\n<strong>Bob:<\/strong> Well, for those listeners that would like to check out Cameron\u2019s book, it\u2019s a book we\u2019ve got in our <em>FamilyLife Today<\/em> Resource Center. It\u2019s called <em>Therefore I Have Hope: 12 Truths That Comfort, Sustain, &amp; Redeem in Tragedy<\/em>. You can order it from us, online, at FamilyLifeToday.com; or call 1-800-FL-TODAY to order your copy.\n\nLet me encourage you to listen to the entire podcast with Kim Anthony and Cameron Cole and hear how Cameron tackles what he calls the hardest theological question in the world\u2014which is how we reconcile God\u2019s involvement or participation in the tragedies we go through\u2014and find out about what God did exactly one year after his son, Cameron\u2019s funeral, to the day\u2014all of that is in the podcast.\n\nIf you\u2019d like to subscribe to Kim\u2019s podcast, <em>Unfavorable Odds,<\/em> or hear this particular episode in its entirety, again, go to FamilyLifeToday.com; and you can sign up for the podcast there. Again, Cameron\u2019s book, <em>Therefore I Have Hope<\/em>\u2014order, online, at FamilyLifeToday.com; or call 1-800-FL-TODAY to order.\n\nYou know, we\u2019re pretty excited here about the response that we\u2019ve been getting in the last few weeks to the new FamilyLife Podcast Network\u2014a lot of listeners, who have started subscribing to some of the podcasts that are available. David Robbins, the President of FamilyLife, is here with us. This is all about reaching more people; isn\u2019t it?\n\n<strong>David:<\/strong> Yes; we want to take the biblical principles\u2014and the help and hope\u2014and the hope of Christ to as many people as possible. You know, who we can thank, in order to help us expand to these new places, is our Legacy Partners\u2014our friends, who invest alongside us, month in and month out\u2014to help equip marriages, and parents, and families to impact our world for Christ, both now and for generations to come.\n\nIf you are <em>not<\/em> a Legacy Partner, please consider becoming one. Your ongoing commitment allows us to plan wisely, whether it\u2019s a big commitment or a small commitment\u2014whatever you can give monthly\u2014it allows us to expand our reach; because we know what will be coming in and how we can grow. Everything we do exists to help families, just like yours, change the world one home at a time. We pray that often\u2014<em>FamilyLife Today<\/em> does that\u2014we pray the podcast network, as a new part of that, we want to help people encounter Jesus and help people experience transformation that pours out to those around them.\n\n<strong>Bob:<\/strong> May is a great month to make a donation to FamilyLife, either a one-time donation or\u2014as you said, David\u2014to become a monthly Legacy Partner; and here\u2019s the reason why. We\u2019ve had some friends of the ministry, who have offered to match every donation we receive this month, dollar for dollar, up to a total of $645,000. We hope to take full advantage of that matching gift, and we\u2019ve got less than a week to try to make all of that happen. We\u2019re asking <em>FamilyLife Today<\/em> listeners, \u201cWill you either make a onetime donation, online, at FamilyLifeToday.com or by calling 1-800-FL-TODAY?\u201d Or if you\u2019re a regular listener, \u201cWould you consider becoming a monthly Legacy Partner?\u201d\u2014be a part of the team that really undergirds all that we do, here, at FamilyLife?\n\nWhen you become a Legacy Partner today, your donations over the next 12 months are going to be matched, dollar for dollar, as long as there is money still available in that matching-gift fund. In addition, we\u2019ll send you, as a thank-you gift, a gift card so that you and your spouse\u2014or another couple you know\u2014can attend an upcoming <em>Weekend to Remember<\/em><sup>\u00ae<\/sup> marriage getaway. This card covers the registration fee for the getaway. It\u2019s our way of saying, \u201cThank you for partnering with us as a monthly Legacy Partner.\u201d\n\nBy the way, pray for the <em>Weekend to Remember<\/em> that is happening this weekend in Jacksonville, Florida. Next weekend, we\u2019re going to be in Charlotte, North Carolina, and Houston and Indianapolis. We still have additional getaways this spring or into next fall.\n\nTo become a monthly Legacy Partner, go toFamilyLifeToday.com to sign on; or call 1-800-FL-TODAY to sign on. Then we\u2019ll see you at one of our upcoming getaways and maybe have a chance to say, \u201cThank you,\u201d personally, for partnering with us, here, in the ministry of <em>FamilyLife Today<\/em>.\n\nAnd we hope you have a great weekend. I hope you and your family are able to worship together in your local church this weekend, and maybe enjoy a little extra time together because of the upcoming holiday. On Monday, we\u2019re going to talk about what submission in marriage is and what it isn\u2019t; because a lot of people are getting it wrong. We want to talk about what it is supposed to look like, so I hope you can tune in for that.\n\n<strong>\u00a0<\/strong>\n\nI want to thank our engineer today, Keith Lynch, along with our entire broadcast production team. On behalf of our hosts, Dave and Ann Wilson, I\u2019m Bob Lepine. We will see you back on Monday for another edition of <em>FamilyLife Today<\/em>.\n\n<em>FamilyLife Today<\/em> is a production of FamilyLife of Little Rock, Arkansas; a Cru<sup>\u00ae <\/sup>Ministry. Help for today. Hope for tomorrow.\n\n<strong>\u00a0<\/strong>\n\nWe are so happy to provide these transcripts to you. However, there is a cost to produce them for our website. If you\u2019ve benefited from the broadcast transcripts, would you consider <a href=\"http:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/donate\">donating today<\/a> to help defray the costs?\n\nCopyright <sup>\u00a9<\/sup> 2019 FamilyLife. All rights reserved.\n\n<a href=\"http:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/\">www.FamilyLife.com<\/a>\n\n1","theme_header_position":"","post_header_is_sticky":"","is_header_overlay":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/podcast\/305041","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/podcast"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/podcast"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/91"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=305041"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/294104"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=305041"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=305041"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=305041"},{"taxonomy":"podcast_series","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/podcast_series?post=305041"},{"taxonomy":"cwp_profile","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/cwp_profile?post=305041"},{"taxonomy":"series","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/series?post=305041"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}