Healing From Grief and Loss

Are You Surrounded By Reports of Death?   

Recently a friend’s husband passed away after a serious health condition.  Another friend’s mother passed away from cancer.  I also recently learned that a woman I had known many years ago had also died. 

An acquaintance recently lost her sister to COVID-19.  Her death was quick and totally unexpected.  This woman is trying to face the reality that her sister is no longer here.  She is comforted by knowing her sister’s heart was right with God.  But of course, she grieves.

Every day my county and state report on the number of COVID-19 deaths.  Although the number of deaths per day is decreasing, the total tally of deaths obviously is going up.  An article in the newspaper reported that more people than usual are making wills or updating their wills.  The realization that death could come to any of us at any time is becoming real to us.

What Happens When You Can’t Even Be With Your Dying Loved One?

When someone is facing death, we want to sit with them, pray for them, talk to them, read Scripture to them, and help ease their way as they pass from this life to the next.  If we are not sure that they truly know Jesus, we want one last time to share with them how they can open up their lives to Him, put their faith in Him, and receive forgiveness and eternal life.

During this Coronavirus shut-down, it’s harder than usual to deal with grief, especially if your loved one had to die without being surrounded by family.  With the restrictions, the usual family involvement during hospitalization and death hasn’t been possible. Not being able to be there fills relatives with stress, discouragement, loneliness, frustration, and pure grief.  If your friend or relative passed away without you being present, you might be hit by guilt or distress that you could not be there during their suffering to give support and comfort.

Bereavement      

Bereavement is the mourning you experience when you have lost someone dear to you. Right now you may be struggling as you face the death of someone you know.  It’s not unusual to have overwhelming feelings of grief when you are mourning.

As waves of grief hit you, you can’t even go to spend time with friends, family, pastors, counselors, and others who would normally walk with you through the grieving process.  And we can’t invite people to a funeral or memorial service until after the quarantines and social distancing orders are lifted. 

All this can be overwhelming.  Grief is difficult at any time.  But our necessary separation from others makes it much harder to deal with.

So what can you do if you are in this situation?

Tips for Dealing With Grief

> Accept that your feelings are normal.  You are not sinning when you feel so sad and overwhelmed.  Being a Christian does not make you immune to the suffering that comes when someone you love dies.

> I know this may sound trite.  But reaching out to God, expressing to Him your emotions, and inviting Him to walk you through this difficult time really does help.  He knows and understands the grief, and He wants to be with you as you go through it.

> Reach out to others. Even if you can’t see people in person, your relatives, friends, pastor, and church family want to support you.  If you can’t phone them because you know you’ll just cry, send a text or email.  Ask them to pray for you. Pick up the phone when they call you.  It’s OK if you cry. Connect on Facebook also.  It is amazing how many people will express concern, love, and support if they know you are grieving.

> Spend daily time with God. Read the Bible and devotional readings.  Listen for His voice in your spirit.  Turn on Christian radio or some worship music.  All of these will help you make it through the dark times.

> Eat and drink. When you are grieving you may not have an appetite.  But getting adequate nutrition and fluids will help build your immune system and keep you healthy.  Don’t let yourself get dehydrated, for that can bring weakness, dizziness, and unclear thinking.

> Even if you’ve never been a person to write down your feelings, try it. Journaling can go a long way toward helping you heal from grief.  Grieving is an ongoing process.  You need to have a healthy way to get your feelings out, to write down memories of the person you’ve lost, and to express your questions to God.  A journal helps you do that.  And it’s something that you can come back to in the future to see how far you have come in your process of grieving.

To Help You Heal From Your Grief

I’d like to offer you a free copy of the printable version of Journaling My Grief.  You can download it and print whatever pages you want to use.  Perhaps you could put the pages in a 3-ring binder.  You can print pages whenever you want to add to the journal.  You may want to write in it for several months as you work through the grieving process.

It includes pages on which you can write your special memories about your loved one, in addition to sections where you can write about how you are feeling and dealing with your grief.  I truly believe it will help you heal.

Click Here to go to the download page.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

My ebook Living Through Grief With Spirituality may be of assistance to you also.  It has a devotional reading about the suffering of the prophet Jeremiah.  Also it contains beautiful photos with words of comfort that were given from God through Jeremiah’s writings in the books of Jeremiah and Lamentations.