In our Western Culture, we are taught false information that recovery from grief should only take 6 months, but in reality grief cannot be processed that quickly

 

The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit. Psalm 34:18

Before my loss, I tended to view the Church as a country club- a place where men, women, and children can network with each other.   Time spent in the church were happy times of getting together with friends for pot lucks, birthday parties, or listening to a financial planning seminar. We would listen to a warm message from the pulpit that would leave us with positive feelings for the coming week 

As I grew to know my Savior more deeply through his word after my loss, something interesting occurred in my previous narrative. 

Rather than a country club, I started viewing the church as a hospital for the sick and each person behind that facade of nice clothes and a plastic smile came through the doors who were sick. When all of the secular remedies failed, they accepted the advice of a Christian friend, or the Christian moderator on the radio to give God a try. 

For some of them, the first time crossing the threshold of the local church is a scary one; after all, they are uncertain how they will be received, or whether they will be given simple pat answers to their complicated life issues. 

Griefshare isn't like that. It is a 13-week program that uses a variety of methods from the grief share videos to the discussion time to review the previous week's homework assignment to teach you how to walk through the pain of their grief, not around it.  In essence, grief share teaches people not to be afraid of the deep-seated emotions that seem to surface at the time of their losses. 

When someone comes to their first meeting at grief share, it is a monumental accomplishment for someone when the norm for most of us after a loss occurs is isolating oneself from the world at large and coping with the pain with alcohol and drugs.  When someone ventures down that path, it usually doesn't end well.

Like the good shepherd Jesus is, He wants to walk beside you on your grief journey. He is a living Savior who will listen to you as you shout at God all the anger over your loss. This is what we call lamenting.  I encourage everyone to start a journal at the start of their journey and write their thoughts and emotions down as a way of getting what is inside their head out on paper. A well-kept-up journal will show you how far you have come in your recovery.

If we all commit to a local church where we can grow in our relationship with Christ, if we commit to working on our pain for however long it takes to recover, if we learn to not be afraid to journal and lament our emotional distress, I am confident our Lord will help you recover from this pain.  For more information on Grief share please click on this link.  Griefshare.org