Day 313 - Branch Out

365 daily emails to help you through the grieving process Grief support groups: Click here to find a GriefShare group near you. If you would like to find a group for a friend or relative, try our Search Page. Want to read ahead or resend a previous daily email? Click Here Branch Out Day 313 If your life has been monopolized up until this point with grief and other grieving people, it is time to branch out. Get involved in a group that includes a variety of people with a similar interest (people who are not grieving). "I had no neighbors to visit me except a young girl across the street," says Gretchen, "and she kept saying, 'You need to belong to the garden club. You just stay in all the time.' She'd wait about six months, and she'd catch me at the mailbox, and she'd say, 'You still don't want to join the garden club?' I'd say, 'No, I can't.' She said, 'Well, I'm just going to put your name on the list anyway.' And I said, 'If it ever comes up, I probably won't be able to go on account of my husband's illness.' She said, 'We'll see about that.' "Well, my husband died the sixteenth of August, and my name came up in September to join the neighborhood garden club. That was just the hand of the Lord. It was a way for me to get out and start meeting my neighbors." In whatever group you choose to be involved in, you will be an asset. If you think your presence does not benefit the group in any way, you are wrong. God made each person to be an important part of the whole. "The eye cannot say to the hand, 'I don't need you!' And the head cannot say to the feet, 'I don't need you!' On the contrary, those parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable" (1 Corinthians 12:21-22). Lord, where do You need me? Amen. Grieving with Hope This GriefShare-based book contains short, topical chapters addressing issues that grieving people face but are often hesitant to mention to others; it gently guides people to determine whether they're grieving in a way that leads to hope and ultimate healing. Look for Grieving with Hope by Samuel Hodges and Kathy Leonard at a local or online bookstore or at griefshare.org/hope. If you would like to recommend these daily emails to a friend, please click here and choose one of the options under Share. For more information about GriefShare, including how to sign up for these daily emails, please click here. All scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®. NIV®. Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved. Copyright © 2003-2013 by The Church Initiative, Inc., All rights reserved. No part of this material may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without explicit permission in writing from Church Initiative. You subscribed to this daily email through www.griefshare.org. We value your privacy! We will never give, sell, rent, or otherwise share your email or personal information with any other organization — EVER. To remove this email address from further mailings Click Here while connected to the internet. If you have any problems or concerns, please contact dailyemailsupport@griefshare.org. GriefShare 250 S. Allen Rd. Wake Forest, NC 27587 (800) 395-5755