Day 232 - Decide to Move Forward

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 Decide to Move Forward Day 232 The most important thing to understand if you are stuck in grief is that only you can make the decision to get unstuck. Only you can make the decision to move on. Dr. Tim Clinton observes, "You close yourself off from interactions in life that normally would be healthy for you. You're so sorrowed that you close your world in. You start disengaging from life to control your world. But the more you disengage, the more you've cut off that life supply." Choose to move forward in your grief—rebuild relationships, serve others in your community, express your emotions, share your story, begin a new sport, hobby, or activity. Your effort to control your life and cut off relational ties will not help anyone, least of all you. When Ruth lost her husband, she did not disengage from life. Boaz commented on this and said to Ruth, "I've been told all about what you have done for your mother-in-law since the death of your husband—how you left your father and mother and your homeland and came to live with a people you did not know before. May the Lord repay you for what you have done. May you be richly rewarded by the Lord, the God of Israel, under whose wings you have come to take refuge" (Ruth 2:11-12). Ruth became the great-grandmother of King David through whose physical lineage came Jesus. Jesus, I know that I must move on. I am making the decision right now to get myself unstuck from this place in my grief. I need You to replenish my life supply. 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