Grace to Grieve: After the Loss of a ChildSample

Acknowledge Your Grace

The journey of navigating grief and getting to a place of peace and restored joy, a process I call finding your way to “Happily Angel After”, is an ever-evolving process. No two journeys are identical. The grief of child loss never truly goes away, but it evolves. Recounting your experience and memories may seem to completely cripple you now, but God's grace is sufficient for you to go through this time of despair and suffering and to overcome (2 Cor. 12:9). In a few months, or maybe even years, you will be able to gracefully acknowledge your child's memory with strength and fortitude and admire your own resilience.

Because you have experienced immeasurable grief, you will be able to understand unspeakable joy. Some things you may have previously trivialized will become important to you. Even when the loss of your child no longer consumes your mind and spirit, the love for your child will never fade. The Word of God tells us it is "impossible" to forget our child (Is. 49:15).He lets us know that He heals the brokenhearted and those who mourn will be comforted. It is not an overnight process and you will be a different person when you overcome the burden of your grief.

Acknowledge who you now are as a person because child loss and grief do change you. Acknowledge that your journey is uniquely yours and God has given you the grace to endure whatever you may face along the way. As the Word says, there is a time to weep and a time to mourn (Ecc. 3:4). But, know that you can be happy, live, and experience joy again and reclaim those things that were stripped or scattered, and when you do, it will not forsake your child's memory. God does not want us to remain stagnant or merely survive. He wants us to live abundant lives as conquerors and warriors as beautifully as He created us (Eph. 3:20). And you will.

Prayer: Lord, thank you for showing me that I do not have to mourn forever. You created me to be resilient, an overcomer, and more than a conqueror. Even though I may be consumed with my grief right now, I know that you can and will heal me. Thank You for Your perfect grace that covers me and Your pure love that strengthens me. Thank You for carrying me and caring for me. Thank You for providing me the support and love through the community that I need to endure this. I know that I can find my “Happily Angel After” and experience unspeakable joy after sorrow. So, thank You for restoring my peace and my joy. Thank You for mending me. Amen.

Although grief may be a continuous struggle, know that you do not have to be consumed and paralyzed by it. I can now recount my journey and still feel and experience joy and peace despite it; soon, you will as well. Revisit any of the five days and prayers/scriptures to help uplift and encourage yourself. If you want to know more about my journey and how God finally brought me through to my “Happily Angel After,” you may find my book Angel After—Shades of Grief, Guilt and God exclusively on Amazon. Again, I pray that you are encouraged, inspired, and motivated to find your way to your “Happily Angel After.”