What is GriefShare and why is it so important? To answer this question I had to embark on my journey of living and interacting with grief on a moment by moment basis. A journey I never chose nor a journey I would wish on anyone, not even my most ferocious enemy. I lost my wife, Yolanda, to cancer in January of 2018. If I close my eyes I can still see the moment of her passing, the images are clear and the intense emotions are just as raw. It was this event that took me on a path of discovery, a path that lead to GriefShare, a path of “healing” and a path of becoming the new me.
GriefShare is a thirteen week program that enables those that are grieving to deal with their grief and the associated challenges in a Christian based manner. It is a safe place to enable those that are grieving to deal with their pain in an authentic manner, there is no judgement, there only exist an understanding as we have all been there. We know the pain as a first hand experience, we know about the endless questions, we know and have experienced the confusion and yes we have all been to those deep dark places.
I was blessed to find a calling to help and assist those in a similar situation to mine, the loss of a loved one, it was as a good mentor of mine called it a God incident. It certainly isn’t an easy task, if anything it is extremely tough, dealing with the raw emotion of the hurting is painful, painful in the sense of seeing another person going through a similar journey. A reminder that life is hard, life doesn’t go to plan, people die and some of these are people to whom we have extremely close relationships. There are times when I feel like giving up on being a facilitator, it is extremely hard and emotionally charged, however seeing someone being able to smile again and allow themselves to laugh is rewarding. Seeing someone so shattered and broken being pieced together over time is so rewarding that I continue to present GriefShare. Seeing someone put in the work and embark on the journey is treasure enough to refuel the engine.
GriefShare is a gift to those who are in need of a knowing person guide them on a painful journey, but it is also a gift to those who are called to this corner of God’s ministry. If you our a person you know have experienced a catastrophic loss please find your nearest GriefShare group and make contact. Neither the attendee nor the facilitator’s chose this path but it is a wonderful gift to both.
The Unbelief of Grief 