SHOW NOTES

Well, Hey Framily! Welcome to Coffee & Kathy, this is Stef from the Grief 2 Great Day Podcast. You are listening to our weekly devotional episode.

Grief is the hardest thing you’ll ever face, don’t ever let anyone diminish that – but let’s also not diminish the power of God’s Word and the transformational healing He will do in your life. I am a living testimony of going from pitiful (heartbroken, years of tears, angry at God & the world, overwhelmed and confused) to powerful (at peace, joyful and strong in my trust, hope and faith in God).

You are not alone and your today does not have to be your forever! Oh, I’m so glad you’re here today! What you need to do now is be still and just listen.

Memorable Quote:

Others would quickly throw up their hands and take a seat in a corner, rocking back and forth, moaning about the problem to all who would listen. They would even go so far as to say, “Well, obviously the King has forgotten about me. After all, He is so busy with His whole Kingdom and I am just a little steward. No one cares – and especially not the King! After all, if He cared about me, I wouldn’t have problems to overcome.” What they forgot was that the King was all wise. He knew his enemy and had control over what problems He allowed the enemy to cause.

Because, you see, the King had a deeper and wiser plan than the enemy. He knew that each problem the enemy caused could be a precious lesson for the steward, a way to help his or her corner of the Kingdom thrive. And He had already promised that to the stewards – “Whatever the enemy intends for evil, I will work together for good for you because you are a steward of my Kingdom. And even the problems you bring on yourself – even those, I will bring something beautiful from, if you will let me.”

Grief 2 Great Day Website - Connect with Me

Click Here to take Action Now - “The First Year of Grief. How to Survive with Hope and Heal.”

Join The Grief Group for Christian Women on Facebook

Read about Monica’s entire Journey, Dying to Be Healed - Book - Grief2GreatDay

The Holidays are Over but the Struggle is Not! Hear healing testimonies from Those Who Have Walked Your Journey! Holiday Grief Relief Summit (replay recording)

Visit my Church –Opendoor Church | Home

SHOW NOTES

Nobody wants to attend a funeral – regardless of who it is. But – when it’s your loved one that the funeral is being scheduled for and it’s gonna be you on the front row? Well – that’s a whole different ball game!

Is this really happening? Did we just schedule a date for their funeral? It all seems surreal, but no amount of protest can change the fact that it has been scheduled.

Beyond the shock of this event – how do you get through the day; the activities before and after and how do you navigate other’s emotions when you are just trying to breathe?

Today we’ll talk about how to get through the service of your loved one and if you are listening to this, you have probably already walked through this incredibly hard day. Listen anyway because there are very practical and helpful actions for you to take in the days, weeks and months after.

WORD of the Week the Lord is my shepherd, I lack nothing. He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, he refreshes my soul. He guides me along the right paths for his name’s sake. Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me. Psalm 23:1-4 (NIV)

Song of the Week I Will Rise by Chris Tomlin

Grief 2 Great Day Website - Connect with Me

Click Here to take Action Now - “The First Year of Grief. How to Survive with Hope and Heal.”

Join The Grief Group for Christian Women on Facebook

Read about Monica’s entire Journey, Dying to Be Healed - Book - Grief2GreatDay

The holidays are over, but the struggle is NOT! Hear from Those Who Have Walked Your Journey! Holiday Grief Relief Summit (replay recording)

Visit my Church –Opendoor Church | Home

SHOW NOTES

Well, Hey Framily! Welcome to Coffee & Kathy, this is Stef from the Grief 2 Great Day Podcast. You are listening to our weekly devotional episode.

Grief is the hardest thing you’ll ever face, don’t ever let anyone diminish that – but let’s also not diminish the power of God’s Word and the transformational healing He will do in your life. I am a living testimony of going from pitiful (heartbroken, years of tears, angry at God & the world, overwhelmed and confused) to powerful (at peace, joyful and strong in my trust, hope and faith in God).

You are not alone and your today does not have to be your forever! Oh, I’m so glad you’re here today! What you need to do now is be still and just listen.

Memorable Quote:

I say that I believe that God is real. I say a lot of things about Him. He is good. Everything He does is right. He is Sovereign, the Most High God, in complete control. He is worthy of all my praise. He is a good, good Father and He loves me. He hates sin – all sin. He loves people – all people. He is the Creator and as such, gets to set the rules. All of the rules.

But do these beliefs even inform my actions – let alone determine them?

I say, “I believe that God is good and everything He does is right.” But then something goes wrong and I immediately doubt His love for me. Or something goes wrong and I immediately go into fix-it mode, without stopping to pray or even to think about what His Word might say on this matter. Or something goes wrong and I outwardly smile but inwardly start to fret about how it.

So, do I really believe that “God is good and everything He does is right”? Or is it lip-service?

Grief 2 Great Day Website - Connect with Me

Click Here to take Action Now - “The First Year of Grief. How to Survive with Hope and Heal.”

Join The Grief Group for Christian Women on Facebook

Read about Monica’s entire Journey, Dying to Be Healed - Book - Grief2GreatDay

The Holidays are Over, but the Struggle is Not! Hear healing testimonies from Those Who Have Walked Your Journey! Holiday Grief Relief Summit (replay recording)

Visit my Church –Opendoor Church | Home

SHOW NOTES

Today is a great day because I get to introduce Cheri Eilers to you. Now, if you are in the Grief Group for Christian Women (private FB group), you have been blessed by her warm and caring welcomes. But today everyone gets to hear Cheri’s story.

Cheri’s husband of over 40 years died and soon after, her mother did also. She will share with you how these losses took her to a ‘crisis of faith,’ and what happened next.

I believe you will be able to relate to the emotional pain and spiritual questioning and I pray you will be encouraged to hold on as she shares the hope from God that makes healing possible.

WORD of the Week And provide for those who grieve in Zion— to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of joy instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair. They will be called oaks of righteousness, a planting of the Lord for the display of his splendor. Isaiah 61:3

Song of the Week "Scars" by I Am They

Grief 2 Great Day Website - Connect with Me

Click Here to take Action Now - “The First Year of Grief. How to Survive with Hope and Heal.”

Join The Grief Group for Christian Women on Facebook

Read about Monica’s entire Journey, Dying to Be Healed - Book - Grief2GreatDay

The holidays are over, but the struggle is NOT! Learn from Those Who Have Walked Your Journey! Holiday Grief Relief Summit (replay recording)

Visit my Church –Opendoor Church | Home

SHOW NOTES

Well, Hey Framily! Welcome to Coffee & Kathy, this is Stef from the Grief 2 Great Day Podcast. You are listening to our weekly devotional episode.

Grief is the hardest thing you’ll ever face, don’t ever let anyone diminish that – but let’s also not diminish the power of God’s Word and the transformational healing He will do in your life. I am a living testimony of going from pitiful (heartbroken, years of tears, angry at God & the world, overwhelmed and confused) to powerful (at peace, joyful and strong in my trust, hope and faith in God).

You are not alone and your today does not have to be your forever! Oh, I’m so glad you’re here today! What you need to do now is be still and just listen.

Memorable Quote:

When people do not meet my expectations, I have choices. I can be offended and then choose to forgive. Or I can be offended and then choose not to forgive (which, of course, would be sin). Or, I can choose to not be offended at all, remembering that we are all flawed sinners and choosing to believe the best about that person. (And yes, sometimes I have to call the other person on their behavior – but most of the time the offense committed falls under, “Love covers a multitude of sins.”.) But when GOD does not meet my expectations, I have only one correct choice.

And that is to trust Him.

To believe that He has the big picture in mind.

To remember that this world is incredibly temporary.

To “set my mind on things above” (Colossians 3), remembering that in the not-too-distant future, I will be at Home with him and all of these troubles will be what Paul calls them – “light and momentary” (2 Corinthians 4).

Grief 2 Great Day Website - Connect with Me

Click Here to take Action Now - “The First Year of Grief. How to Survive with Hope and Heal.”

Join The Grief Group for Christian Women on Facebook

Read about Monica’s entire Journey, Dying to Be Healed - Book - Grief2GreatDay

The Holidays are Over, but the Struggle is Not! Hear healing testimonies from Those Who Have Walked Your Journey! Holiday Grief Relief Summit (replay recording)

Visit my Church –Opendoor Church | Home

SHOW NOTES

What’s it like to hear from an old friend? You may not have talked for a while – months, years even decades but when you do reconnect…isn’t it amazing how you can pick right back up like no time had passed?

There may not have been a lot of contact, but there is a great connection. That’s how your relationship with God may be in grief. You may not want or be able to have a lot of contact right now, but I promise, you are still so very connected!

Remember how happy you are to talk with that old friend? Now imagine how happy God is to hear from you especially when you are going through the hardest time of life. He’s ecstatic and it doesn’t matter if it’s been a while.

Today I’ll share my reconnection with an old friend and 3 promises for you to hold onto while going through grief to help ease the pressure of how much contact you should have with God right now.

WORD of the Week And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age. Matthew 28:20

Song of the Week Why God by Austin French

Grief 2 Great Day Website - Connect with Me

Click Here to take Action Now - “The First Year of Grief. How to Survive with Hope and Heal.”

Join The Grief Group for Christian Women on Facebook

Read about Monica’s entire Journey, Dying to Be Healed - Book - Grief2GreatDay

The holidays are over, but the struggle is NOT! Hear from Those Who Have Walked Your Journey! Holiday Grief Relief Summit (replay recording)

Visit my Church –Opendoor Church | Home

SHOW NOTES

Well, Hey Framily! Welcome to Coffee & Kathy, this is Stef from the Grief 2 Great Day Podcast. You are listening to our weekly devotional episode.

Grief is the hardest thing you’ll ever face, don’t ever let anyone diminish that – but let’s also not diminish the power of God’s Word and the transformational healing He will do in your life. I am a living testimony of going from pitiful (heartbroken, years of tears, angry at God & the world, overwhelmed and confused) to powerful (at peace, joyful and strong in my trust, hope and faith in God).

You are not alone and your today does not have to be your forever! Oh, I’m so glad you’re here today! What you need to do now is be still and just listen.

Memorable Quote:

As an adult, I still have that same over-active brain. And it still loves to do its most creative, grueling and unreasonable workouts between 1 and 2 AM.

I don’t imagine disasters like house fires now. Instead, the brain kicks in with a to-do list. And a problems list. And a “how-are-we-going-to-deal-with-THAT?” list.

During the day I do a much better job catching the lists when they start to march through my mind. I wrestle them to the ground by using these steps:

Write down what needs to be done. Pray over it, releasing it to God.

Grief 2 Great Day Website - Connect with Me

Click Here to take Action Now - “The First Year of Grief. How to Survive with Hope and Heal.”

Join The Grief Group for Christian Women on Facebook

Read about Monica’s entire Journey, Dying to Be Healed - Book - Grief2GreatDay

The Holidays are Over, but the Struggle is Not! Hear healing testimonies from Those Who Have Walked Your Journey! Holiday Grief Relief Summit (replay recording)

Visit my Church –Opendoor Church | Home

SHOW NOTES

Today, I’m excited to share Juli Boit with you!

Juli Boit is an author, community builder, and nonprofit leader working at the intersection of faith, global health, and human dignity. For eighteen years, Juli has lived and worked in Africa, founding and serving as International Director of Living Room International, a community-led nonprofit providing hospice and palliative care services to adults and children in Western Kenya.

A Family Nurse Practitioner, Juli has combined her dual passions of healthcare and social justice into a unique expression of love that provides desperately needed services in an underserved community. That said, Juli would be the first to add she’s the one who has been loved the most by her patients and neighbors in her home village of Kipkaren—most notably by Titus, her Kenyan husband, and their children Sharon, Alice, Ella, Geoffrey, and Ryan.

What she is doing in Kenya is needed and exceptional! To learn more about Juli and the important work she is doing please visit her website: https://juliboit.com/

WORD of the Week Love is Patient, Love is Kind… I Corinthians 13

Song of the Week The Greatest of These is Love by Larnelle Harris

Grief 2 Great Day Website - Connect with Me

Click Here to take Action Now -“The First Year of Grief. How to Survive with Hope and Heal.”

Join The Grief Group for Christian Women on Facebook

Read about Monica’s entire Journey, Dying to Be Healed - Book - Grief2GreatDay

The holidays are over, but the struggle is NOT! Hear from Those Who Have Walked Your Journey! Holiday Grief Relief Summit (replay recording)

Visit my Church –Opendoor Church | Home