Category: Death and Grief

The sadness and satisfaction of unconditional love. by Sheila Wray Gregoire   The cardiologist walked into the room, glanced at my chart, and asked, “So you didn’t get an abortion?” As I was 34 weeks pregnant, it seemed an unnecessary question. Shocking news For one agonizing night, we actually considered it. Twenty-two weeks into my…

An ancient Bible story sheds new lighton a mother’s crushing loss. by Serena Cavenaugh   As soon as the pain released my body from its unyielding grasp and before I exhaled with exhausted relief, they placed the baby, all slippery and blue-footed, onto my chest. He squinted up at me, and I knew I would…

by Rick Straub   Death: How uplifting! The ultimate experience! Of course, this is ridiculous. Death is not inspiring; it is depressing. Death is revolting, ugly, morbid, and cold. All of us at times ponder our existence and the inevitability of death, and this is good. Death shouldn’t be a topic explored by only the…

God can heal the oldest hurt in the freshest way. by Debbie Fox   Eight years had elapsed, and the shards of my fractured soul were beginning their reformation. I had distanced myself from God during that time, blaming Him for my suffering and refusing to accept His will. Back to church Then one March afternoon…

by Glenda Hart   “One day at a time.” I’ve always heard people say this is how we should live. It doesn’t sound too hard – until you’re forced to do it. I was raised in a Christian church. Having been baptized in my early teens and committing myself to God, I would have no…

A lesson in trust when life falls apart. by Ann Vande Zande   My son and I play a game in which we pick a color, then list everything we can think of in that hue. It’s surprising what we’ve uncovered. Like spring, for instance. In April our harsh Minnesota winter retreats, and lush growth…

Seeing death through God’s eyes. by X Pack*   I have been awed by miracles my whole life — mostly secondhand accounts of healing, people accomplishing impossible feats, special communications from God. I never took much notice of the everyday type of miracles. I usually chalked them up as coincidences that happened mostly to other…

Packing up a loved one’s earthly belongingscan teach us what’s really valuable. by Brenda Sprayue   When my husband, Brian, and I were first married, we lived around the corner from his grandparents. These were no ordinary grandparents. As a boy, Brian ran to them every time his mother, who suffered chronic ailments caused by…

Seeking release from a prison of pain. by Morgan Hahn as told to Penny Smith   I studied the return address on the letter, then turned to my wife, Mary. She clasped my hand as I pulled her onto the sofa beside me. We had been married less than five months, yet she seemed to…

by Karen Cleeton   January 27, 1978. A normal day at my nurse’s job; no hint of calamity. Separated from my first husband at the time, I had left my 22-month-old son, David, with my sister-in-law, Evelyn, that morning. But when I left work to pick up David later in the day, my whole life…