Healing Grief

Where is Jesus when we need him most? An influential pastor shares how despair can lead us to discover true hope and a deeper relationship with God, helping us emerge stronger and more joyful from times of crisis. None of us live free of difficulties or hardships. But how can we learn to live richly in the midst of them? And even grow spiritually because of them? The answer is found in the hopeful humanity of Jesus.

When her 20-year-old son passed away suddenly and unexpectedly, she faced an indescribable loss that changed her life forever. Healing the Broken Heart is not just a recounting of her journey through sorrow, it is a guide for others who are dealing with the heartbreaking loss of a child. It tackles the intense emotional turmoil with courage and honesty, presenting strategies for surviving and eventually healing from such an overwhelming tragedy.

"I'm not picking up a heartbeat." These are the most dreaded words an expectant mother can hear. As joy and anticipation dissolve into confusion and grief, painful questions refuse to go away: Why me? Did I do something wrong? How will this affect my ability to have a family? What do I say to my children without scaring them? With the warmth and compassion of a Licensed Professional Counselor and writing as a mother who has suffered the loss of a baby and a 16-year-old son, Pam Vredevelt offers sound answers and advice.

Over four decades ago, a diving accident left Joni a quadriplegic. Today, she faces a new battle: unrelenting pain. The ongoing urgency of this season in her life has caused Joni to return to foundational questions about suffering and God’s will. A Place of Healing is not an ivory-tower treatise on suffering. It’s an intimate look into the life of a mature woman of God. Whether listeners are enduring physical pain, financial loss, or relational grief, Joni invites them to process their suffering with her.

A Daughter’s Kaddish recounts Sarah Birnbach’s year-long odyssey through an unfamiliar world of prayer. To honor her beloved father following his death, Sarah undertakes a Jewish mourning ritual historically reserved for males—despite her father’s request that she hire a male to do so. A novice worshipper and single working mother, Sarah commits to re-citing the Mourner’s Kaddish every morning and evening in the presence of a quorum of ten people (a minyan) in synagogue for eleven months.

After the death of a child, there is no closure. It is like learning how to live with an amputation—you are forever changed and need to learn how to live a new “normal”. Laura Diehl was plunged into that place with the death of her daughter and experienced the deep need to connect with others who had experienced what cannot be put into words. When Tragedy Strikes is the raw account of her journey from deep darkness back into light and life, extending a hand of hope to those traveling on the path behind her who need to rebuild their lives after the death of a child.

Divorce is one of the most stressful, emotionally draining things you can go through, and it’s something that can stay with you for the rest of your life if you’re not careful. Rather than feeling scared of this, what if you were to feel empowered and inspired to make sure you don’t become just another statistic? The betrayal, feeling of abandonment, and self-recriminations that follow so naturally from a toxic divorce can quickly change who you feel you are as a person.

When their only child was diagnosed with cystic fibrosis (CF) at the age of two, Maryanne O'Hara and her husband were told that Caitlin could live a long life or be dead in a matter of months. Thirty-one years later, Caitlin lost her battle with this devastating disease following an excruciating two-year wait on the transplant list and a last-minute race to locate a pair of healthy lungs. The sudden spiral of events left Maryanne in an existential crisis, searching to find an answer to the eternal question: Why we are here?

When Alissa Parker lost her daughter Emilie in the Sandy Hook Elementary mass shooting, she started a life-changing journey to answer soul-searching questions about faith, hope, and healing. As she sought for the peace and comfort that could help mend her broken heart, she learned, step by step, how to open her heart to God's grace and will. The story of Alissa and Emilie reminds us that the bonds of love continue beyond this life and that despite tragedy and heartache, we can find strength in our family and our faith.

Life After Losses is a memoir with a message. Author James LaVeck offers help for grieving while taking listeners on an intimate journey of love, loss, healing, recovery, and discovery.

Have you lost someone you love to suicide? Your world was shattered the moment you heard the devastating news. Not only has someone you love died suddenly, you are also grieving the way it happened. Questions swirl: How could this happen? Where was God? Why did no one see the signs? What could you have done differently? Answers seem impossible to find. But there is hope through God's power to heal your grief and loss. He alone can restore what's been broken and lost.

In the summer of 2002, Shannon Leone Fowler, a 28-year-old marine biologist, was backpacking with her fiancé and love of her life, Sean. Sean was a tall, blue-eyed, warmhearted Australian, and he and Shannon planned to return to Australia after their excursion to Koh Pha Ngan, Thailand. Their plans, however, were devastatingly derailed when a box jellyfish wrapped around Sean's leg, stinging and killing him in a matter of minutes as Shannon helplessly watched.

You are a man who has experienced the profound loss of someone you love dearly. Feeling despondent? Lost? It could not be more understandable. After all, you had a blueprint for your future mentally and emotionally drawn out ahead of you, which included that someone you love so dearly. That was the future you had planned on...laid your dreams on!

While we can speak to the psychological and emotional ramifications of loss and sorrow, we often overlook its impact on our physical bodies. Dr. Mary-Frances O’Connor specializes in the study of grief, and in The Grieving Body she shares vital scientific research, revealing imperative new insights on its profound physiological impact. As she did in The Grieving Brain, O’Connor combines illuminating studies and personal stories to explore the toll loss takes on our cardiovascular, endocrine, and immune systems and the larger implications for our long-term well-being.

Finding Comfort is a book about easing grief and trauma after unimaginable horrors - mass shootings, catastrophic natural disasters, and terrorist acts. Through personal recollections of responding to tragedy, combined with a practical application, Earl Johnson offers listeners the tools they need to seek support and offer it to those in need. The book walks through the life cycle of disaster care from the first hours and days to the years that follow.

From the moment pets come into our lives, we know the day will arrive when we have to say farewell. Still, we are never emotionally prepared for the last adieu. In Goodbye, Friend, Gary Kowalski takes you on a journey of healing, offering warmth and sound advice on how to cope with the death of your pet.

The author’s personal journey of transformation following her son Blaise’s suicide. The book traces her path from grief to understanding and healing, shown through a collection of 21 fables and poems she wrote to Blaise in the year after his untimely death. This audiobook explores Laura’s message that it is in your power to overcome personal difficulties, no matter what, by creating something beautiful in the wake of whatever has befallen you. The terrible times you suffer are not the end of life, but can become a new beginning.

Losing your furry friend will leave a big hole in your heart, and you will miss them greatly. They bring companionship, joy, and the warmth of a critter who loves you unconditionally. They are one of life’s most precious pleasures.

Tackling one of life’s greatest mysteries, Rabbi Ben Kamin examines the diverse ways we mourn the death of a loved one. Drawn from his 40-plus years of counseling the bereaved, Kamin uses parables and stories to provide thoughtful insights on how to encounter and endure heartbreaking loss. He further stresses the importance of addressing grief in the present moment or risk harming our physical, emotional, and spiritual health.

When Kristin Meekhof lost her husband to cancer, she discovered what all widows learn: the moment you lose your partner, you must make crucial decisions that will impact the rest of your life. But where do you begin? This inspiring audiobook shows grieving widows what to expect and how to deal with the challenges of losing a life partner.