Grief 2 Great Day - Christian Grief Support for Women, Questioning God in Grief, Life after Loss, Hope in Grief

Good in Grief?  Yeah, right!   If the title irritated you, it tells me you are either just starting your difficult journey of grief or you are struggling right now.    Grief is the hardest thing you will ever walk out, but there is something about what can be grown in you that is incredible.  Now, this takes time and effort and trust, but it is worth every question you can ask and every tear you w...

Hey Framily!   The beginning of grief – aka when the world flipped on you.  You’ve had to see your loved one’s name in the obituary and probably were the one who wrote it.  That’s surreal.  You’ve dreaded the funeral not knowing how you would make it through. You’ve smiled kindly (and authentically) at all the people who wanted to show their love and support as they walked through the line.  All o...

Hey Framily!   A little surprise for this episode as it’s the introduction to Purpose After Loss episodes coming in September.   In our regular Grief 2 Great Day episodes we talk about the pain, the pit and progress through the hardest season of your life. This second episode will focus on your Purpose After Loss – the rebuilding of your future.    Do you think it’s too soon for you to be here…I s...

Hey Framily!   So many questions race through your mind after a death and you want answers to them because you want the pain to stop and to stop NOW.   Actually, what you really want is for this to never have happened!  But you’re here, so what do you do now?     In this episode, we’ll address one of those questions and you’ll get the answer (you may not want) to the question of ‘when will this st...

Life is clarified during affliction. When worldly pursuits become as meaningless as they should be and the presence of God, along with a passion for His Word, becomes most important, that’s life as God intends it for us.   Though Monica spent most of her last five and a half months physically miserable, she lived in—and introduced me to—the peace of the Lord. Such gifts are eternal.   Ya’ll need t...

REPLAY from Top 5 of 2022 A new year is upon us, and the idea of resolutions may pale in comparison to praying that 2022 will be better - That life will be less hard, there will be less tears and hope will be restored.   What role do you play in your healing process anyway?    In today’s episode, I’ll share how a middle school Christmas play reminded me of how far I’ve come and how you can make pr...

Grief is hard enough but add guilt – you know all the what if’s, the shoulda, coulda, woulda’s - to the list and it’s too much!   The loop that plays in your head will either help you or keep you stuck and if your loop is saying that you played a role in your loved one’s death, it’s gonna make for harder days.    This is something that you have to want to be rid of and there is a way to do that. S...

Every day just feels like so much work. Trying not to cry and wanting not to hurt.  Day after day the same thing.  It’s bad enough that you lost the most important person in your life, but now you struggle to breathe and fit into a world that looks completely different.   It’s no wonder we work hard to get better.  If I had to list how I worked hard to get better, it was through my questioning, my...

A new year with the same pain is another frustrating fact of grief.  It reinforces the feeling of "it’ll NEVER be over."  But I’m here to tell you that while the second year isn’t the end of grief (and that tidbit may help free you), there are changes to expect.   If this is the second year for you or if it’s the second month, it’s important for you to listen today to know what to expect in your s...

Thanks for hanging out with me today, on Christmas.  I know you're probably struggling today, so I want to walk through the lyrics of our ‘Song of the Week’ and share 5 Bible verses to remind you why there is still hope.   Had I not gone through the kind of pain that took my breath away, and made me doubt I’d EVER stop crying, I wouldn’t be telling you how possible it is.   I used to read the succ...

Let’s say it like it is - Grief sucks!  And it’s confusing and overwhelming to navigate most days.  If you know someone going through grief especially at this time of year – during the holidays - it’s not always easy to know how help, so people will avoid trying.   If you have lost a loved one or if you are a friend to someone who has, you need to listen to this episode!   WORD of the Week  Isaiah...

So, how many people have asked, “Are you ready for Christmas?”  Lawd, I hated that question especially my first Christmas in grief.  In my head, I was sharing every detail of how my life had 'flipped' 3 months earlier and why I was in no way “ready” to participate in this holiday season.  But, out of my mouth came, “I guess” so I could keep it moving and not have to talk about it.   Like it or not...

In life before grief, you probably dealt with self-limiting thoughts that kept you ‘in your head’ and overthinking things.  In grief, you’re gonna deal with any self-limiting thought and all doubts that have ever crossed your mind.  You will struggle with those thoughts more than usual which will tempt you to find comfort quickly in unhealthy behaviors.    Let me go ahead and tell you that finding...

This is a Story of Hope Episode.  These episodes are meant to share the real-life journeys of other women who are walking out the loss of their loved one.  The movies we see on TV do a real good job of highlighting before to after but the truth of how things turn out lies in the middle.  I’m so thankful for the women who are willing to share their stories because their losses may be more similar t...

This is a Story of Hope episode. These episodes are meant to share the real-life journeys of others who have or are walking out their loss of a loved one.  The movies we see on TV do a real good job of highlighting before to after but the truth of how things turn out lies in the middle – after the before and before the after.  I’m so thankful for the women who are willing to share their stories be...

Think about life before grief.  Weren’t there days or even seasons that you can remember not being happy?  Well, in the beginning of grief, it’s even hard to find the ‘good much less the great in any given day.  The loss and pain of grief overwhelm you and all you see, and feel are your loss.  You still feel gratitude for your loved one’s presence in your life though – what they meant to you and h...

Today is Thanksgiving and it may be a day you just want over with, so giving thanks isn’t so easy.  And, when you are getting lost in your feelings, it’s hard to do the thing that will change all things.  I’m talking about being in God’s word.   Today, I want you to know that you aren’t alone, that you are loved.  Just sit back and listen as I read God’s word and a few quotes to help you through t...

The holidays are a real grief milestone – much like your loved one’s birthday, day of death and anniversaries.  You know they are coming and yet there is no good way to prepare for how you will feel and how to make it through.   I felt a lot of anxiety, sadness and guilt as the holidays neared.  The guilt came from knowing that as a Christian, I should be so focused and thankful for the reason we...

When I heard people talking about Thanksgiving or Christmas, the anxiety would rise, and the dread would increase.  I wanted to escape all the happy holiday things.    But, short of escaping (which is fine if you need to), I want to share how to include your loved one into your Thanksgiving.  I’m going to share 10 ways, but then we’ll discuss the importance of how these ideas are also used to buil...

Has it been shocking to you that grief has been harder than you thought?  That it’s taking SO much longer than you imagined and that it seems like it will never end?   Well, the first holidays (and possibly the second) will be as shocking and make you feel the same way.   In preparation for your first holidays, I’m going to share: 3 things to prepare for 3 things to help you get through and, 3 thi...

When my guest today was finishing the writing of her book, “Cutting Through Despair: Dare to Hope” – something very unexpected happened.  Her husband became ill and died.    In today’s episode, Kathy shares the story of her grief journey thus far and what a Godly hope has meant.  No longer mere words on pages meant to encourage others, this ‘hope’ she wrote of became essential in her life.   It’s...

If you look back over your life, are there times that you felt lost or without hope of a better tomorrow?  Are there times when God didn’t answer your prayer the way you wanted?    This, on steroids is what grief is.  And, if this is your first major loss, it will take you longer to be able to look back and see that God never left you, that He heard your cries and was still working for your good. ...

You may be thinking – “Exercise…now?  I can’t get out of the bed some days.”    My biggest goal was to take a shower and some days it took ALL day to accomplish that.  So, who cared about walking around the block?    In this episode, I’ll share how to go about adding physical activity into your daily routine to help your mood, your sleep, your emotions and increase your hope while you are going th...

There are times in life when you need to ‘feel’ God’s presence in the middle of tough circumstances.  In grief, you have a million emotions and maybe some anger and resentment toward God, so ‘feeling’ His presence is harder.   As we begin – think about what ‘feeling’ God’s presence means to you – what does it look like when all you are experiencing is pain?   Today we are going to talk about what...

What does satisfaction mean in grief?  And what does surrender have to do with it?    In today’s episode, we talk about why surrender is important in grief and how it is the beginning of healing.  Satisfaction is not contentment, it is deeper, and it is dependent on you surrendering your pain, tears, your current life to the one who created it.    A simple process it is not, but it is incredibly i...