Day 169 - Grief Can Cause Stress in a Marriage

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 Grief Can Cause Stress in a Marriage Day 169 The loss of a child can create stress in a marital relationship. Choose to persevere and never to give up. Your loss may result in a closer relationship with your spouse. These three people worked through the emotional struggles that caused tension in their marriage, only to come out better on the other side. Dora, speaking of her daughter's death, says, "You'll be here at one point in your grief, and your spouse is over here and the two never meet for months and months. Then all of a sudden when you do meet, you find that you're two different people. And you really have to work to get back on that same level of communication. It's real tough, but in many ways I feel like my husband and I are bonded for life because of our suffering." Jeff, who lost his son, says, "I think it's made our relationship stronger. We communicated so well through the death of our son and after. We've talked more in the last three years than we did in the previous nine or ten." Teresa's daughter died. She says, "When you do lash out, because none of us are perfect, the other spouse has to be mature and say, 'Well, come on, Sweetie, I know this may be an emotional time right now. I know you didn't mean that. I know we're under a lot of emotional strain right now and a lot of adversity, but let's just pull this thing together,' and just immediately grab hands and start praying." Take courage from the testimonies of these couples and focus on God. Even when you are both going in opposite directions, you will surely meet if you keep your eyes on God's plan for your life. "'For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh.' So they are no longer two, but one. Therefore what God has joined together, let man not separate" (Mark 10:7-9). Lord, it is Your will that my spouse and I remain together. Give me the strength to persevere. Now is the time to begin. Amen. Through a Season of Grief The daily email messages you are receiving are also available in a book format. Purchase as a gift for a friend or buy a print copy for yourself. Through a Season of Grief by Bill Dunn and Kathy Leonard is available at online and local bookstores or at griefshare.org/devotional. 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. Don't want these daily emails? Unsubscribe. If you have any problems or concerns, please contact dailyemailsupport@griefshare.org. GriefShare 250 S. Allen Rd. Wake Forest, NC 27587 (800) 395-5755