By reliving her personal journey through grief, author Connie Berg hopes to guide others who have suffered loss to experience heart-healing and find new hope for the life ahead.
Berg’s book provides opportunity for her readers to reflect, remember, and journal their thoughts and prayers as they move through the stages of grieving. Each page begins with a Bible verse, followed by a brief explanation and often a personal experience that, together, invite readers to this “safe place to bare your soul.” Lined space for the reader’s own thoughts is offered below the commentary, as well as occasional spots to add photographs. Berg readily admits, “there is no road map to grief”, but because “We live by faith, not by sight” (2 Corinthians 5:7), we can ask our heavenly Father to guide us.
Berg’s authentic and genuine voice rings true as she shares how she found healing after caring for her husband during his battle with ALS (diagnosed at age 37). During his illness, the family lost everything in a house fire. After he died, she raised three teenagers alone. She writes: “I’ll never understand why God allowed my husband to suffer and die from ALS. But I do believe in God, my Father, and I choose to trust Him to work good in all things.”
Berg scatters her grieving experiences throughout the brief narratives on each page. She waits until page 117, however, to briefly summarize her husband’s situation and the house fire. More detailed memories in the book’s initial pages would have given readers better context for her subsequent discussions.
Repeated themes of peace, hope, love, and journeying appear throughout. Some may find the repetition overdone; however, repetition is a learning tool, and when tested, we need to hear again and again where our hope lies.
Although there are many other recovery books on the market, this journal is worth the time for those searching for help in recovering from a profound loss.
Also available in hardcover and ebook.
