Even If: Trusting God Through the Fire

February 16, 2026

There is a kind of tired that does not go away with sleep. It shows up when you are the only adult carrying the decisions, the emotions, and the weight of what did not turn out the way you hoped. You can love your kids deeply and still feel stretched thin. You can believe in God and still feel disappointed.

Sometimes the hardest part is realizing you are not fully present anymore. You are functioning. You are providing. But something inside feels distant. So you keep going. You keep quiet. You assume this is just how life works now.

This conversation meets you right there. In the tension where gratitude and grief sit side by side.

Robert Beeson, Founder & CEO of Solo Parent, and Elizabeth Cole, single parent, sit down with Bart Millard and Shannon Millard for an honest conversation about loss, depression, chronic stress, and what it looks like to keep showing up when life does not resolve neatly.

Bart Millard is the lead singer of MercyMe, the band behind the multi-platinum song “I Can Only Imagine,” which inspired the major motion picture of the same name. That film told the story of Bart’s childhood in a single parent home marked by years of abuse and later redemption when his father’s heart softened through faith before his death.

Bart and Shannon’s book, Even If: Trusting God Through the Fire, and the film inspired by it explore a later chapter of their story. Centered around the song “Even If,” the project follows a season marked by their son’s diabetes diagnosis, the sudden death of Shannon’s brother, and ongoing losses that strained their marriage and faith. The story pulls back the curtain on what it looks like to wrestle with God in the middle of chronic hardship and asks: Can you still trust Him when healing does not come the way you hoped?

Key Insights from This Episode:

• You can be grateful and still admit this is hard. Both can be true.
• Healing begins when you speak your struggle out loud and step out of isolation.
• Presence matters more than perfection. Show up again, even after you get it wrong.

Gratitude and Grief Can Coexist

Bart and Shannon describe a season that did not let up. Their son’s diabetes diagnosis was not a one time crisis. It became daily management. Injections. Monitoring. Fear that never fully leaves. Add the sudden death of Shannon’s brother and additional losses, and what followed was not dramatic collapse but slow erosion. Bart became physically unhealthy and emotionally absent. Shannon felt like a solo parent even when he was in the room.

What kept them stuck was not only the hardship, but the belief that they did not have the right to struggle. Their son was alive. Others had worse stories. Gratitude felt mandatory. Many solo parents live here. You are thankful for what remains, but still grieving what is gone. This conversation gives permission to say, “I am grateful and this is still hard.” Gratitude does not erase grief. They often coexist.

Healing Begins When You Say It Out Loud

A turning point came through therapy Bart did not expect. What began as sitting in on Shannon’s session became an invitation to examine his own story. He saw how busyness and humor had been ways to avoid fear and stillness. Awareness brought freedom.

Shannon shares that community was just as essential. Outside voices helped her recognize that depression had quietly become normal. Robert reinforces what we say often at Solo Parent: isolation keeps pain powerful. When you say it out loud, something shifts.

For solo parents, vulnerability can feel risky. But healing rarely happens alone. Saying, “I am not okay,” is not weakness. It is courage. Whether through counseling, a group, or one trusted friend, being heard breaks isolation.

Presence Over Perfection

Bart reflects on the final years with his father after a childhood marked by abuse. For years, home felt unsafe. His dad was volatile and harsh. But when cancer came, something shifted. His father’s heart softened. Faith took root. Tenderness replaced anger. For nearly a year, Bart sat by his bedside each night talking about life and faith. Those conversations became formative. Not because the past disappeared, but because grace rewrote the ending.

That lesson shapes how Bart parents today. He still wrestles with doubt and isolation, but he keeps coming back. He keeps showing up.

For solo parents, this is freeing. Your kids do not need flawless. They need you. They need repair when you get it wrong. They need your presence more than your perfection.

Holding grief and gratitude together is not about mastering your emotions. It is about staying engaged in your life even when it feels messy. Showing up again tomorrow matters.

If you are carrying more than you thought you would have to carry, you are not weak for feeling it. Healing does not mean the hard parts disappear. It means you learn to live fully even when they stay. And you do not have to do that alone. God sees you. He cares. He loves you. And He stays.