When we lose someone we love, we are forever changed. When our person dies, our grief needs room. People long to reduce the enormity of our grief. "Time heals all wounds," they tell us, or "At least she isn't in pain anymore." Yet no matter how hard others try to stuff our grief into a process or a plan, grief cannot be willed away. Leanne Friesen thought she knew a lot about bereavement. She had studied it in school and preached at memorial services. But only when her own sister died from cancer did she learn, in her very bones, what grieving people don't need--and what they do. In Grieving Room, Friesen writes with vulnerability, wisdom, and somehow even wit about the stark and sacred lessons learned at deathbeds and funerals. When someone dies, we need room for imperfect goodbyes, she writes, and room for a changing faith. We need room for regret and room to rage at the world. Room for hard holidays and room in our schedules. We need room for redemption and room for resurrection--and we also need room to never "get over it." In this poignant account of a sister's mourning and a pastor's journey, Friesen pushes back against a world that wants to minimize our sorrow and avoid our despair. She helps those of us walking with the grieving figure out what to say and what not to say, and she offers practical ways to create ample space for every emotion and experience. Reflection questions, practices, and prayers at the end of the book offer guidance and ideas for individuals and groups. In a world that wants to rush toward closure and healing, Grieving Room gives us permission to let loss linger. When the very worst happens, we can learn to give ourselves and others grieving room.

People of faith are struggling these days as they watch unbelievable events unfold. The United States, once a refuge for immigrants, has closed its borders to many of the world's most vulnerable citizens. Fear of people different from us has created an atmosphere of hatred, incivility, and violence. We are living in a time of wilderness and exile. Yet the wilderness is a familiar place for those who follow Jesus. Like Jesus, we spend 40 days in the wilderness. During Lent God calls us to examine ourselves, repent, and make room in our lives for the Holy One. Walking in the Wilderness is meant to be a companion for readers' journey through Lent. It may be studied by individuals or groups. The book includes daily reflections for Ash Wednesday through Easter. Sunday of each week introduces a spiritual practice for the wilderness. The practices for the six Sundays of Lent are Being Present, Lament, Lectio Divina, Trust, Compassion, and Hospitality. Each reading contains a quotation from an Upper Room resource, a short scripture passage, an insightful reflection and prayer written by Richardson, and a single word for readers to carry with them throughout the day. "We come hungry to this season of Lent," Richardson writes, "hungry for words of life, for rituals of preparation, for disciplines to help us on our way." Walking in the Wilderness provides a spiritual feast for readers during the longest season of the Christian year.

The Elephant in the Room is a children's storybook with whimsical illustrations and rhyming verses of positive strategies for coping with grief and loss. The gender-neutral elephant character demonstrates the potential emotions that children may experience when faced with any type of loss such as death of a pet or a relative, a friend moving away, foster care, hospitalization, etc. This book can serve to initiate a discussion or to provide unconscious messages of love, power, and healing. The practical and realistic coping strategies are developmentally appropriate for young children in early childhood and are based in best practices according to research in children's literature and social-emotional development. It is recommended that the book be read daily, as needed, during traumatic events and that the adult wait patiently for the child to initiate a discussion. It is anticipated that The Elephant in the Room will serve as a transitional object for children experiencing grief and loss and that it will help them navigate their unique and individual journey towards healing, concurrently or in the years ahead. This book is a must-have for teachers, grief counselors, healthcare practitioners, therapists, social workers, and librarians. Additionally, it can serve as an important resource for families during difficult events.

Welcome to the Grief Club - a place where one human who experienced a terrible loss, Janine Kwoh, is at the door to welcome other humans who are grieving. It is not an instruction manual, or a step-by-step playbook, or a memoir. It is, rather, a fresh, empathetic approach to all of the surprising, confusing, brutal, funny, and downright bizarre parts of grief. Combining her own experiences with grief - the author's partner died when both were in their late 20s - with what she learned from others in her 'grief club', Kwoh uses brief writings and observations, hand-drawn illustrations, and diagrams to explore all the different ways grief happens. Plus, wisdom and understanding in every line - there is no right or wrong way to grieve - and permission to grieve in whichever ways you need, for however long you need to. What to do when the world is your grief trigger. Signs you have grief brain. And gentle assurances: Grief isn't linear, but it does change and will soften over time. It is a book to put into the hands of anyone who is grieving, because from its very first page, that person will know they are no longer alone.

David Kessler, one of the most renowned experts on death and grief, takes on three uniquely shared experiences that challenge our ability to explain and fully understand the mystery of our final days. The first is "visions." As the dying lose sight of this world, some people appear to be looking into the world to come. The second shared experience is getting ready for a "trip." The phenomenon of preparing oneself for a journey isn’t new or unusual. In fact, during our loved ones’ last hours, they may often think of their impending death as a transition or journey. These trips may seem to us to be all about leaving, but for the dying, they may be more about arriving. Finally, the third phenomenon is "crowded rooms." The dying often talk about seeing a room full of people, as they constantly repeat the word crowded. In truth, we never die alone. Just as loving hands greeted us when we were born, so will loving arms embrace us when we die. In the tapestry of life and death, we may begin to see connections to the past that we missed in life. While death may look like a loss to the living, the last hours of a dying person may be filled with fullness rather than emptiness. In this fascinating book, which includes a new Afterword, Kessler brings us stunning stories from the bedsides of the dying that will educate, enlighten, and comfort us all.

EVERY MOMENT HOLY, Vol. 2: DEATH, GRIEF, & HOPE, is a book of liturgies for seasons of dying and grieving--liturgies such as "A Liturgy for the Scattering of Ashes" or "A Liturgy for the Loss of a Spouse" or "A Liturgy for the Wake of a National Tragedy" or "A Liturgy for the Weighing of Last-Stage Medical Options." These are ways of reminding us that our lives are shot through with sacred purpose and eternal hopes even when, especially when, suffering and pain threaten to overwhelm us. -over 100 liturgies for seasons of dying and grieving -beautiful leather-bound hardcover -over 20 illustrations by Ned Bustard -silk bookmark -gilded edges

A widow and therapist explores grief, loss, and our innate resilience in this updated guide, drawing on neuroscience and personal experience to lead the bereaved through the five stages of healing After studying to become a therapist and crisis intervention counselor—even doing her master’s thesis on the stages of bereavement—Christina Rasmussen thought she understood grief. But it wasn’t until losing her husband to cancer in her early 30s that she truly grasped the depths of sorrow and pain that accompany loss. Using the knowledge she gained while wading through her own grief and reading hundreds of neuroscience books, Rasmussen began to look at experiences in a new way. She realized that grief plunges you into a gap between worlds—the world before loss and the world after loss. She also realized how easy it is to become lost in this gap. In Second Firsts, Rasmussen walks you through her Life Reentry process to help you break grief’s spiral of pain, so you can stop simply surviving and begin to live again. She shows you that loss can actually be a powerful catalyst to creating a life that is in alignment with your true passions and values. The resilience, strength, and determination that have gotten you through this difficult time are the same characteristics that will help you craft your wonderful new life. Her method, which she has used successfully with thousands of clients, is based on the science of neuroplasticity and focuses on consciously releasing pain in ways that both honor suffering and rewire the brain to change your perception of the world and yourself. Using practical exercises and stories drawn from her own life and those of her clients, Rasmussen guides you through five stages of healing that help you open up to new possibilities. From acknowledging your fear, to recognizing where you stand now, to taking active steps toward a new life, Rasmussen helps you move past the pain and shows that it’s never too late to step out of the gap and experience life again—as if for the first time.