We must go THROUGH the pain of our grief, not around it, or under it or over it if we intend to heal from it.

But as for me, it is good to be near God. I have made the Sovereign Lord my refuge; I will tell of all your deeds. https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Psalm+73:28&version=NIV

At last night's Grief share we covered the topic, 'the journey of grief, part 2  We learned about the importance of looking at pictures of our deceased loved ones to help us to process the emotional pain of our grief. 

While I recognize this is a painful process, it is an essential process to aid our healing process.  Let me explain. In our American way of life, we are tempted to bury our memories of the one who has died just to avoid any emotional consequences that come our way- who wants to be ambushed by our emotions when we're trying to do life?

Unless we take the time to express our emotions by looking at the pictures or watching any videos of happy times with our loved ones, the temptation will be to drown out our sorrows with alcohol and drugs, or illicit sexual relationships that can lead to more emotional and physical pain, or that medical diagnosis that comes with unresolved traumatic grief.

This is where our faith comes into play.  

Remember those songs you use to sing in Sunday school? ' Jesus loves me yes I know for the bible tells me so'? It is often not until we lose a loved one that we see the relevance of our faith- that this Jesus we often prayed to in sickness and in health is the same Jesus walking with us as we transverse this journey called grief. 

Think about this for a moment. God can be in all places at once. He is in Heaven with our loved ones and He is with us providing us with comfort and walking side by side with us, sometimes carrying us, through the rough terrain of our loss. Through the power of the holy spirit Jesus can dwell in our hearts to provide you with those encouraging words, those little miracle moments and that comfort you need to get you through the day.

This is why I encourage people to place one foot in front of the other and continue attending a Christian church where they may continue hearing the word of God even though they may not feel like going.  Feelings may ebb and flow, but God's word is the same yesterday, today and tomorrow. God's word will never change even though our emotions do. 

As one lady said in the video when one of her kids asked why we have to keep  looking at pictures that make others sad- "I want to be able to continue looking at those pictures until one day I''m no longer sad and I can once again smile and laugh at those good times we had with our loved one."

If you are having a hard time processing the pain of your loved one, I encourage you to find a grief share group near you. Grief share is a 13-week group that will help you navigate through the pain, not around it.  https://www.griefshare.org