Grieving Together

My name is Cyndie Green, and my experience with grief through personal loss began in 1994 with the death of our son. In spite of a great, fairly easy pregnancy with regular medical checkups, he only lived on this earth for about 20 minutes. It’s a long story, just as anyone who experiences the loss of a loved one has,

but through it all, God repeatedly showed Himself faithful.

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight” (Proverbs 3:5-6, NIV).

I don’t believe anyone ever “gets over” the loss of a loved one, no matter how long it’s been;

but through God’s faithfulness with that loss, I was better prepared for the death of my husband 27 months ago. We married late in life and met while working with what is now Adult and Teen Challenge. We even had many happy years together in ministry after learning to work as a team instead of competing with each other. (We were both stubbornly independent by the time we got married). We were blessed to be able to spend 28 years together in full time ministry, he as a pastor and myself as a Christian counselor working with families.

It’s been over two years now since the loss of my husband and 27 since the loss of our son, but I miss them every day. I wonder what my son would be like, what he’d look like, and what he’d be doing with this life. I wonder if he’d be married by now and if we’d have had grandkids already, or if he’d be single and working as a missionary in another country. I believe my husband and our son are in Heaven now with other family members and friends who also trusted in the Lord—having a great party as they celebrate their love of our Father.

“The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit” (Psalm 34:18, NIV).

We are beginning a GriefShare ministry in our church family.

If you have lost someone and are struggling with that loss in some way, please come meet with us. We will be meeting on Sunday afternoons from 2-4 p.m. I know of many in this church who have lost someone in the past four years since I’ve been back in Springfield. Getting together with others who have suffered a similar loss and being able to share thoughts, memories, and ideas is so healing.

The holidays will be coming before you know it, and all of those ‘firsts’ are some of the toughest times you’ll experience. We’re intentionally meeting weekly through the holidays for just that reason.

We want to be here to help you—to share our grief with you and invite you to share yours with us.

The Lord tells us to share each other’s burdens, and this is a great place to do that.

“You will keep in perfect peace those whose minds are steadfast, because they trust in you” (Isaiah 26:3, NIV).