For many mothers, Mother's Day carries both joy and heartbreak. Pastor, speaker, and author Jennie Lusko shared a deeply personal reflection on grief, motherhood, exhaustion, and faith following the devastating loss of her 5-year-old daughter, Lenya, in 2012.
Lusko, who co-founded Fresh Life Church alongside her husband, Pastor Levi Lusko, said the tragedy forever reshaped her understanding of suffering, dependence on God, and what it means to keep moving forward one breath at a time. Lenya died suddenly following an asthma attack just days before Christmas, leaving the family shattered while still caring for their four remaining young children.
"One moment she was with us, and then she was in Heaven with Jesus," Lusko recalled. Looking back on that season, she admitted there are still photographs that leave her stunned - images of her smiling with her children while internally carrying overwhelming grief.
Rather than hiding the pain, Lusko said the experience taught her complete dependence on God's strength and presence.
"I realized there was no way I could survive without God," she shared, describing how faith became the anchor that carried her family through unimaginable heartbreak.
The conversation comes ahead of the release of Lusko's upcoming devotional, Fresh Mercies Every Day, arriving June 2. The 40-day devotional combines prayers, reflections, photographs, and personal stories aimed at encouraging women navigating motherhood, exhaustion, disappointment, grief, and the pressures of daily life.
Throughout the interview, Lusko emphasized that faith is often formed not in dramatic moments, but in ordinary routines - changing diapers, folding laundry, sitting in traffic, helping children with homework, or simply showing up for another difficult day.
"There's actually so much purpose in the mundane," she explained. "That's literally what our life is made of."
Lusko also spoke candidly about the importance of rest, surrender, and honesty before God, rejecting the idea that faith requires pretending life is always easy or emotionally stable. Instead, she described motherhood as a place where beauty and suffering often exist side by side.
"Sometimes we come to the day with nothing left," she said. "But God meets us there."
Her story has resonated with many women online, particularly grieving mothers and parents walking through seasons of exhaustion, loss, anxiety, or emotional burnout. As Mother's Day prompts celebration for some and sorrow for others, Lusko's testimony serves as a reminder that faith does not erase pain - but can sustain people through it.
Fresh Mercies Every Day releases June 2.
