Day 93 - Loneliness Trap: Avoid Premature Romantic Relationships

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 Loneliness Trap: Avoid Premature Romantic Relationships Day 93 "You need to realize you can exist without another person," says Dr. H. Norman Wright. For those who have lost a mate, you may be tempted to jump into a relationship too quickly in order to avoid the pain you are feeling. But if you bring the unresolved pain of grief into a new relationship, then the relationship is already on rocky ground. "I tried to have a relationship," says Melissa, a widow, "but it just didn't work. I guess maybe it was for all the wrong reasons anyway. But I would tell people who are out looking: Don't look. The Lord knows what you need, and He will bring the right mate for you when it is time." In seeking to solve your problem of loneliness, you may just create a host of other problems. It is better to follow God's order of priorities. Seek only to serve God, and everything else will fall into place. "So do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well" (Matthew 6:31-33). Holy God, all I need is You. Help me to believe it and to act on it. 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. 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

Day 92 - Loneliness Trap: Clutter

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 Loneliness Trap: Clutter Day 92 To have a new hobby or to embark on a new endeavor to serve others is good, but overcrowding your life with activities can distract you from the process of grieving. You need time to be quiet, to relax, to meditate, and to pray. Dr. Jim Conway says, "I remember a woman coming to one of the groups who said, 'My husband has been gone for about a year, and I'm just not getting any better.' She listed off half a dozen activities that she'd started since her husband died, as if being more active would help her through the process. "I said to her, 'You know, you've been running from grief, but you have not yet started to grieve.'" Use wisdom in the choices you make during grief, choices about your time, commitments, activities, and behaviors. Grief must be faced and then journeyed through, and the wisdom and strength to persevere is found in the Lord. "Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him" (James 1:2-5). Father, please give me the wisdom to know when to be active and when to slow down, when to work and when to relax. 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

Day 91 - Remedy for Loneliness: Reach 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 Remedy for Loneliness: Reach Out Day 91 One of the most effective ways to come out of loneliness is to reach out to others who are hurting or in need. Even if you don't feel like reaching out, discipline yourself to do it anyway. Dr. Ray Pritchard says, "There comes a time when you have to wipe the tears away. There comes a time when you have to stop thinking about what you have lost and start thinking about the needs of the people around you. "I don't say that's easy. I don't think that you can always do that overnight. For some people it will be after a period of weeks, for some after a period of months. For me it was a year after my father died. "It might be as simple as baking cookies for the neighbors, going to visit the hospital, going to the nursing home. It might be as simple as writing letters to others who have also lost loved ones and sharing with others what God has given you. There is an amazing therapeutic value in not only telling your own story, but in pointing people back to God." To escape loneliness and despair, you must take action and reach out to others, and you will experience the light of hope rising up in your life. "If you give yourself to the hungry, and satisfy the desire of the afflicted, then your light will rise in darkness, and your gloom will become like midday" (Isaiah 58:10 NASB). O Lord, loneliness and despair have weighed me down for too long. I want to reach out to others and experience Your hope and Your light. 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. 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

Day 90 - Remedy for Loneliness: Develop a Hobby or Skill

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 Remedy for Loneliness: Develop a Hobby or Skill Day 90 Starting a new hobby may sound unappealing and uninteresting at this point in your life. But we encourage you to do it anyway. Remember, you are not developing this hobby for the sake of the activity; you are using it as a tool to deal with loneliness. "My life was so much a part of my husband's," says Patricia. "He was so dependent upon me; he could not function without me on a twenty-four-hour basis. When he died, I said, 'What am I going to do?' All of my time had been spent taking care of him. I was totally lost. I didn't know what to do. "It was just a few months later that my daughter worked in vacation Bible school, and she said, 'Mom, why don't you come and help me?' So I did. That really began my ministry here. I began working in the nursery on Sunday evenings, one night a month. Then I saw an opportunity to help in the children's department during the week on a volunteer basis. "The Lord has just opened up a whole new opportunity, a whole new life for me. I knew from the beginning that I was not going to stay home and get the rocking-chair rot." God has appointed you with certain gifts to use in helping others or in bringing joy to others' lives. Try out a new hobby or volunteer to do something you've never done before. Again, you may not be doing this because you desire to, but because you need to. "There are different spiritual gifts, but the same Spirit gives them…. The evidence of the Spirit's presence is given to each person for the common good of everyone" (1 Corinthians 12:4, 7 NLT). Lord God, place in my path a new opportunity to serve You and to take great steps forward in healing. 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

Day 89 - Remedy for Loneliness

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 Remedy for Loneliness Day 89 Become involved with a Christ-centered grief support group. Many churches have small groups that can aid you in your healing from grief. "You feel like you're losing it, and then you hear these other people who have similar incidents happening in their lives. You realize that God prepared the body in such a way that you've got to go through this process before you can heal," says Nancy following her husband's death. God does not want you to be alone. "I will come down and speak with you there, and I will take of the Spirit that is on you and put the Spirit on them. They will help you carry the burden … so that you will not have to carry it alone" (Numbers 11:17). A grief support group should have a focus beyond grief itself. In other words, the group should do more than share stories and release emotions. A group with the objective of introducing biblical help for grieving individuals will provide the tools needed to face life's difficulties and to move toward a new and abundant life. The GriefShare groups are designed for this purpose. Faithful God, give me the courage and desire to pick up the phone and find a support group to aid me in my healing. Amen. GriefShare groups are meeting throughout the United States, Canada, and several other countries. Here is how you can find out more about these groups: Search the database at http://www.griefshare.org and find the location of the nearest GriefShare group by zip code, area code, or city. Or e-mail your zip code to info@griefshare.org to receive a list of the groups nearest you. You can also call 1-800-395-5755 or 919-562-2112. 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. 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

Day 88 - Loneliness

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 Loneliness Day 88 The loneliness of loss—do you feel it? This can be one of the most painful emotions in grieving. Luevenia, whose husband passed away, says, "There's no way I'll ever be the same. It just can't be. I'm so lonely. The evenings are the toughest because I can get out during the day and do things." The Lord Jesus knows what it's like to be lonely. He's been there. He knows it well. You may be lonely, but you are never alone because God is with you every moment, and He can transform your lonely life in ways you cannot imagine. "God sets the lonely in families, he leads forth the prisoners with singing; but the rebellious live in a sun-scorched land" (Psalm 68:6). Holy God, I am a prisoner of loneliness. I know that things will never be the same as they were, but You promise in Your Word that You will "lead forth the prisoners with singing." Lead on, Lord. 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

Day 87 - Relief

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 Relief Day 87 Relief is also a common emotion associated with grief, especially if your loved one was in pain or suffering. Janet Paschal's grandfather had Alzheimer's disease. She says, "We had watched him change, and it was a very slow loss, a very slow process. So there was a sense of relief when he died, but at the same time, there was a selfish part of me that wanted him back, that didn't want to surrender him." You may feel relief because the burden of responsibility has been lifted with the death of your loved one. Don't feel guilty about your relief. This response is natural and expected, particularly after a long struggle or illness. "We count those blessed who endured. You have heard of the endurance of Job and have seen the outcome of the Lord's dealings, that the Lord is full of compassion and is merciful" (James 5:11 NASB). Lord God, my feelings confuse and somewhat embarrass me. Thank you for granting me endurance, and please continue to guide me on my journey through grief. 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. 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