Healing and Hope Come One Day at a Time

Grief is a journey, and every person experiencing grief knows that. What we don’t always know, and cannot fully grasp, is the phrase, “one day at a time.” Wow! That’s so hard! How do you only look at this day – today – when so much of yesterday and so much of tomorrow has been taken away?

Living in the “today” is often the griever’s biggest heartache. Learning to grab hold of today and enjoy something about it without sorrowing about the future – the things that will never become part of our today – is often the most draining part of loss. Yet, we know that it’s a necessary part of our healing. Living just for today is hard work, but we must learn how to do it if we choose to live this life with renewed joy.

At first, one thinks only of making it through the lonely days and nights. Then, our walk becomes a bit more “normal” as we call it in the world of grieving. We come to understand that our normal is a new normal. Things will never totally be the same again. Then, our final step in this journey of grief is the total understanding of what has happened, and learning to live just for today and grasp the joy and renewed hope of today.

This change doesn’t come right away. It may take many long months, which reach into years. But, you will know with full certainty when you are living in the joy of this day.

When you can hear the birds singing their morning song and your heart whistles along, you are beginning to heal. When you can see the sunrise and smile with assurance knowing this is going to be a good day, you have begun to heal. When you hear laughter from others and you give yourself permission to join in, you will absolutely know that you are beginning to learn to live in the joy of this day!

Joy will return. It will be different than before your loss, but your new hope and joy will be deeper, more meaningful, and you will live in the presence of the gift of this day! -- Clara Hinton

“I will not try to bypass the pain of grieving. I will take it one day at a time until hope and joy return!” -- Clara Hinton

“Rest in the Lord and wait patiently for Him.” --Psalm 37:7

The Newness of Grief

Facing change under the best of circumstances is difficult and a bit frightening, to say the least. What will it be like? How can I be prepared? When wills this awful feeling leave? How long will it take me to get to a place of feeling normal again? Change brings about many new things for us, and the loss of a child is perhaps the worst change one can ever go through! We no longer can find the ground beneath us, much less travel the road of grief we have now been placed upon!

Mercifully, the sharp edges of pain that accompany grief will not always be there. With each passing day, we are making progress in finding our way through all of the new grief – even if it doesn’t feel like it. Time stops being our enemy and actually begins to help give us what we need to help navigate through this dark, winding path called grief.

If you are in the newness of grief right now, life is not at all routine for you. Everything is different from the rising of the sun to the close of the day. Hold on! Millions have walked this path you are now on, and they, too, struggled. They searched. They fell down. They suffered battle fatigue. They asked hard questions. They cried millions of tears, but they made it. And, you will make it, too!

Hope is stronger than the grief you are experiencing today. Hope will eventually help you begin to feel alive again. Hope will emerge strong. Hope will light your path. Hope will brighten your journey. Hope will calm your fears. Hope will give you purpose again. Hope will carry you through! -- Clara Hinton

“Hope is stronger than any grief, and when my aching soul surrenders to hope, I will begin to see light once again!” –C. Hinton

“The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want.” --Psalm 23:1