Life After Death: From Grief to Glory

By Paula Burch Jackson

From a weekend of restoration to a week of devastation is where Paula found herself in the spring of 2006. She and her husband, Robert, returned from experiencing a life-changing marriage retreat to her husband suffering a stroke that led to his untimely death at 39 years old. Paula tells of the emotional roller coaster she experienced before an

• Language: English
• Publisher: PBJ Consultanta LLC
• Release date: Nov 4, 2022
• ISBN: 9780983534846

Paula Burch Jackson

Paula Burch Jackson is an author, teacher, preacher, and motivational life coach. She wins hearts with her warm and compassionate nature, sense of humor, and an endless desire to see men and women; boys and girls discover the true essence of who God created them to be. Paula obtained a Bachelor of Arts degree in Leadership and Administration from Beulah Heights Bible College, Atlanta, Georgia, a master's in human services (Life Coaching) from Liberty University, Lynchburg VA, Life Coach certification from Dream Releaser Coaching and DISC Certified Behavior Analysis from Maxwell DISC Methods Introduction to Behavioral Analysis. Coach Paula as she is compassionately called is the founder of PBJ Consultant LLC where she empowers people of all ages and stages to discover the essence of YOU. Paula's motto is, "Life is 10% of what happens to you and 90% of how you decide to handle it. Your life was not written in pencil, so you can't erase the choices of your past, but you can start over where you are today and press forward to hope, joy, peace, and restoration. Each day is a new day with new opportunities to embrace the wonders of now."

Book preview

Acknowledgment

To my two incredible young adults: Tray and Reshena, I love you so very much. You are worth every sacrifice I have ever made.  You give me reason to keep it moving every day. You are the kids that every parent dreams about and I am blessed that God gave you to me. 

Tray, I know that this journey for you has not been an easy one. Through great trial, tribulation and every excuse to fail, you are more than a conqueror.  I know that your dad is so proud of you. Congratulations on fulfilling your ministry dream and becoming a Youth Pastor, Husband, and Father.  Keep doing you–love you son.

Reshena, you are the epitome of strength and courage.  You have the most amazing gift of taking the lemons of life and making lemonade. Daddy’s little girl is all grown up and making your dreams your reality. You should have the patent on the phrase, It is what it is. Keep living your life on God’s terms and expect doors to open that no man can close.  You are amazing and God has great things in store for you.  I love you very much.

To my parents, Paul (RIP) and Annie Jones, without you, there would be no me. You laid a solid foundation for me and stayed the course so I can run this race that has been set before me. I am eternally grateful that God chose you to be my parents.  To my brothers and sisters, Perry (Karon), Deneen (RIP), Berrell (Teri), Kenyatta and Commarcho-love you guys very much. 

To my current husband, Tony Jackson.  I am so grateful to have you in my life.  God knew you were exactly what I needed when he allowed our path to cross in 2010.  Both of us were amid our wilderness experience and God lead us to each other for such a time as this. Thank you for accepting me and my grief.  Thank you for understanding and praying me through when out of the blue a memory took control of my thoughts and emotions.  Thank you for accepting my family and loving us despite us. You are amazing.

Grief is like the ocean—it comes in waves ebbing and flowing. Sometimes the water is calm, and sometimes it is overwhelming. All we can do is learn to swim. – Vicki Harrison

Foreward

Ihave watched my mother, Paula Burch-Jackson, as she went through one of the most devastating situations a wife can endure, losing a spouse, a friend, a baby daddy, and a lover all in one person. First, there were nights when I heard her cry and cry as she missed the love of her life. Then, there were nights when I listened to her sorrow as she played the same Alicia Keys song, No One, repeatedly. No one can ever prepare you for the unexpected, especially losing a child, spouse, family member, or friend. Yet, in my mother's pit of despair, grief, and pain, God turned her pain and suffering into an opportunity to assist in healing others as God healed her.

Within this book, you will go on a journey from my mother's perspective. This journey captures some of her last intimate moments with my father. You will be able to feel the love, compassion, and concern that come with dealing with a loved one who faces tremendous health obstacles. I wish I could say there's some secret formula that expedients the grief process; however, there is not. Instead, I hope you glean from reading this book that while all grief is different, we share a common bond; loss. In this book, my mother captures this commonality and gives nuggets of truth. This journey might make you cry, smile, and bring up some emotions you thought you had dealt with a long time ago. But it's okay; you are not alone.

Over the years, I have watched my family learn to live with grief to turn it into a glorious second part of life. My mother has remarried, and Tony is a great guy. My sister Reshena has moved to LA to pursue her dream of working in the movie industry. I have a family of my own, and I bought the house my father spent his last moments in and reclaimed it for my family. So I welcome you not to a book but a journey called Life After Death: From Grief to Glory because even now, you might not be able to see it, but your best days are still in front of you. Endings are not always bad. Most times, they're just beginnings in disguise.- Kim Harrison

R. Tray Burch

Son of Paula Burch-Jackson

The reality is that you will grieve forever. You will not get over the loss of a loved one; you will learn to live with it. You will heal and rebuild yourself around the loss you have suffered. You will be whole again, but you will never be the same. Nor should you be the same, nor would you want to. –

Elizabeth Kubler-Ross

Preface

It’s the middle of the spring. The wind is vigorously blowing through the trees. Lightning is flashing through the sky, and the TV News predicts a severe thunderstorm for metro Atlanta. As I listen to the sounds of nature, my mind wanders back to the happier times of my life with my husband. For some strange reason, I remembered our first thunderstorm as husband and wife. We pulled into my parent’s driveway right as the sky opened, and all hell broke loose. We never got out of the car. Oblivious to the storm, we sat in the car and talked as if nothing or no one else in the world mattered. After noticing the rain had ceased, we started the car and went home. It was one of my most precious memories of our time together.   

As the story of the loss of my late husband continues to evolve, our son, Tray Burch, is now married to Demetria Burch and has blessed us with our first grandchild, Annalee Burch. Reshena has tapped into the world of film and television and is living her best life in Los Angeles, California. I am now remarried to Tony Jackson and still searching for meaning in this thing called life. This book is my opportunity to share with others how God gave me peace during my storm and the strength to keep moving when I wanted to die.

I am sharing personal and intimate details of my life leading up to and during my plunge into widowhood and how I move from grief to glory to experience life after death. I am sharing my emotions precisely as I recall them.  While every widow may not experience the overwhelming anguish and emotional roller coaster as I did, some aspects of death will ring true for anyone who has ever or will ever experience the loss of a loved one. 

Five years after the death of Robert, many of my friends encouraged me to share my experiences as a widow, and I self-published Life After Death, From Grief to