According to The Grief Recovery Handbook, grief is defined as: 1. a normal, natural reaction to any loss. 2. conflicting feelings when something familiar changes or ends. While studying this evidence-based method, proven to lessen the pain of any loss, we learn that grief is much broader than previously supposed. Even positive life changes -- […]
Every January, social media is full of posts where people announce their choice for a word as their theme for the year. In 2022, I also decided to choose a word. As I thought about what word to choose, what kept coming to me was the word “sanctify.” Little did I know at the time […]
In 2022, I (Jeff Teichert) decided to choose a word to focus on for the year. The word that kept coming to me as I thought about the choice was "sanctify." Little did I know at the time that 2022 would bring painful losses in three generations of my family--including my son. When my good […]
The holidays often accentuate the grief of single people, particularly those who are newly divorced. It can be an all too poignant reminder of our losses, and especially if we are missing our kids for Christmas for the first time. It can be a lonely time to be without a companion. Longing for family tends […]
The holidays, which are fast approaching, often accentuate the grief of divorced people, particularly the newly divorced. It is often an all too poignant reminder of the dreams we have lost and the loneliness we feel. The last holiday season I spent with my former wife and our two children was 2008. At the time, […]
We have experienced a fair amount of both death and divorce in our lives. "The Death of Marriage" (this week's podcast) can be every bit as painful and devastating as losing a loved one to death. Yet divorces don't have funerals. Why is that? Such rituals can be very helpful to those mourning a deep […]
The holidays can accentuate the grief of divorce, particularly for the newly divorced. It is often an all too poignant reminder of dreams we have lost. If you are spending Christmas without your children, I hope these words bring you some comfort. On my first Christmas without my kids, well-meaning people wanted to make sure […]
My wise cousin, Violet Rose Clift, wrote the very vulnerable essay below, about how her earthly father and Heavenly Father sustained her in the most painful moment of her life--and since then. It was a moment when she doubted whether God cared for her at all. Looking back, she can see that God was there. […]
Virtually everyone reading this has experienced personal tragedy. When Victor Frankl, a psychologist, was a prisoner in a Nazi concentration camp, he made some very astute observations about how people responded to extreme conditions. He noticed that those who could find meaning in the tragedy were happier and more likely to survive. He, himself, imagined […]
