A Bad Diagnosis & Letting Kids See Hard Things

About this episode

Scarlet Hiltibidal shares her personal experience with her mother's cancer diagnosis and discusses how to help children navigate grief and suffering.

How do you talk to your kids about cancer, suffering, terminal illness, or the possibility of losing someone they love? Whether it's a grandparent's diagnosis, a chronic illness, a devastating loss, or another painful reality, there comes a moment when we realize we cannot protect our children from every hard thing this side of heaven. In this episode of Pardon the Mess , Scarlet Hiltibidal shares from a deeply personal place as she reflects on her mother's battle with stage-four cancer and the challenges of helping her own children navigate grief, uncertainty, and difficult questions. How much do we tell our kids? Should they see us cry? How do we help them process suffering when we're still processing it ourselves? Together, we'll explore what Scripture teaches about suffering, why Christian hope is different from wishful thinking, and how parents can model faith in the middle of fear. Rather than shielding our children from every hardship, we have the opportunity to show them what it looks like to trust Jesus when life hurts. This conversation is ultimately about more than cancer. It's about helping our children discover that God's presence is real, His promises are…

People in this episode

Host: Courtney DeFeo

Guest: Scarlet Hiltibidal

Topics covered

• cancer
• grief
• parenting
• faith
• suffering
• Christian hope

Keywords

• cancer
• parenting
• grief
• suffering
• Christian faith
• children
• hope

Mentioned in this episode

Books & works: 2 Corinthians 4:16–18

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