Advent: Hope

We're releasing a series of episodes centered around the Season of Advent. In this episode, Chelsea sits down with Lindsey Jackson by reflecting on Hope — not as wishful thinking, but as a firm trust in God's promises amid suffering. Lindsey shares the story of losing her infant daughter Hadley in 2017 to sudden unexplained infant death (SUID) and how her grief became a place where God reoriented her faith, built deeper endurance, and reshaped her understanding of biblical hope. Together, they discuss how lament differs from grief, why holidays can be hard, and how the church can show up for those in pain.

In This Episode

01:00 – Introducing the Advent series: Hope, Joy, Love, Peace

03:00 – Lindsey’s story: marriage, motherhood, and baby Hadley

05:00 – Hadley’s death and the immediate aftermath

07:00 – “So much of me died when she died” — grief and resurrection

10:00 – What helped: letters, meals, naps, presence

12:00 – On studying grief and counseling at DTS

14:00 – Hope and the discipline of remembering

17:00 – Hebrews: endurance, lament, and anchoring in Christ

20:00 – Longing in Advent: slow down, find wonder again

24:00 – Misplaced hope vs. rooted hope

27:00 – Lament is not passive grief — it holds expectation

30:00 – Heaven: the promise of restoration

33:00 – “Pre-Hadley” Lindsay vs. post-suffering hope

36:00 – Endurance is a group project

Key Takeaways

• Hope is not optimism or emotional positivity — it's a discipline to root your mind in God's promises.
• Grief is the response to loss; lament is grief directed toward God, filled with trust and expectancy.
• Holidays can amplify sorrow — presence, not perfection, is what grieving people need most.
• Studying grief deepened Lindsey’s calling: to walk with others through loss as a biblical counselor.
• The resurrection reframes our pain — we grieve, but not without hope.
• Advent means coming — Christ came once, and He is coming again. This fuels our hope.