Journaling Through Grief

By Connie Berg

This grief devotional journal encourages the griever to bring God into their pain as a healer and a guide; and not reject Him in their anger. In the front is a gift page and a place to put the loved one’s picture. The pages start with a scripture followed by the author’s thoughts and reflections, space to journal and a prompt for prayer. Woven throughout are pages to write a letter to the loved one and other pages to put a picture and write about that special memory. The page break evolved and became part of the message. The tapers represent eternity: eternity past and eternity future. The center image is the current moment in time. The journal starts with the raw emotion of recent loss. The journal progresses to encourage the griever to give thanks for the time they had and the memories that remain. The page break progresses and in the second half you start to see a sunrise. In the last part of the book the sun has fully risen and the hand of God is holding it; portraying He has been present the entire journey. It is in the last part the griever is asked to manifest God’s glory through their journey by reaching out to others who are experiencing recent loss.

• Language: English
• Publisher: WestBow Press
• Release date: Dec 21, 2021
• ISBN: 9781664251595

Connie Berg

Connie Berg is someone who has experienced the journey of grief. She’s been in the midst of a number storms and emerged on the other side each time growing in her faith with a stronger relationship with her savior, Jesus Christ. She knows the pain of a terminal illness shattering future dreams, of being a caregiver for her young husband with ALS, of being a widow, of raising 3 teenagers as a single parent, of losing all pictures and keepsakes in a house fire, and of a broken relationship with a child. Through each storm she kept her faith in God and with each trial her faith has grown. Through the years she has journaled her pain, asked God to be with her in her grief journeys and has experienced great joy in the Lord and purpose in her life. She was truly inspired when creating these pages and humbly acknowledges the words within came through her but not from her.

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Copyright © 2021 Connie Berg.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the author except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

WestBow Press

A Division of Thomas Nelson & Zondervan

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Bloomington, IN 47403

www.westbowpress.com

844-714-3454

Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Getty Images are

models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Getty Images.

Scripture quotations taken from The Holy Bible, New International

Version® NIV® Copyright © 1973 1978 1984 2011 by Biblica, Inc.

TM. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

ISBN: 978-1-6642-5160-1 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-6642-5161-8 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-6642-5159-5 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2021924444

WestBow Press rev. date: 12/21/2021

My sincerest thank you to Norm, Ben, Sarah, Gloria

and Pastor Todd for your thoughts and advice which

greatly helped to make this project worthy.

Dear friend,

I am so sorry for your loss. I truly am. My prayer for you is that you use this journal as a means of learning to cope with your loss and that you invite God to walk with you on your journey. His living and breathing Word will bring you much needed comfort in this time of sorrow.

Each page of this journal begins with a scripture and a reflection followed by a space to journal. Journal whatever comes to mind: your feelings, memories, or even a letter to your loved one. It is my hope and prayer that you end each entry with a prayer of your own.

Woven throughout the journal are pages encouraging you to write a letter to your loved one and other pages to place a photo and journal about a favorite memory. Writing a letter to your loved one has shown to be a positive activity toward healing.

Be gentle with yourself. Some days you will not feel like journaling; that’s okay. There are no rules to grieving, but there are things we can do to cope in our grief, and journaling is a way of coping. On the days where we are in such agony all we can do is groan, the Holy Spirit intercedes on our behalf. God hears, and God heals.

Grief has no time line; it is different for everyone. When a loved one dies, many are left behind, and because everyone’s relationship with that person was unique, each person’s grief journey will be different. When my husband died, he left behind children, parents, siblings, and grandparents. While I pray you are able to grieve together with family and friends, it is important not to compare your grief. Making a competition of grief is not helpful and can be quite hurtful. But be prepared that this may happen, and my friend, be patient and forgiving knowing they are also in the midst of sorrow.

As you progress through the journal, be sure to go back and read past entries in order to give you encouragement as to how far you’ve come on your journey.

This is your journey. Use this journal as a safe place to bare your soul as you progress through the healing process. Treat it as your best friend as you pour your heart out on the pages within. I pray this journal speaks to your heart and brings strength for the day as you learn to cope with your loss.

Take heart,

Connie

I am not a professional. The advice