Grief: The Beacon of Love

By Carolyn Begley Daley

Grief has been my teacher for many years of its sorrows and joys, expounding on the way of love which leads us to the cross and God’s great love for us. I wonder what it is all about-this grief-these tears? If grief is my teacher, what do I need to learn? Grief is a journey of love that each of us has to walk alone. My tears drip, they drop, they flow and they contain my healing as I walk along my pilgrimage of grief that leads me to the joy of the love of God.

This book has won:
Literary Titan: Silver Award
New England Book Festival: Honorable Mention

• Language: English
• Publisher: WestBow Press
• Release date: Jul 21, 2022
• ISBN: 9781664271791

Carolyn Begley Daley

Carolyn Begley Daley was born in Hyden, Kentucky in the heart of Appalachia. She holds a BS in chemistry and biology from Eastern Kentucky University and an MEd in education from the University of Louisville. She also did graduate work at Southern Methodist University and the University of Kentucky. She is the author of God’s Love For You A Pictorial Devotional. She has served in leadership roles in several charitable organizations. She and her husband, Gil, have taught Sunday School and Bible study in Dallas and Lexington, Kentucky. They have three children and seven grandchildren.

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Copyright © 2022 Carolyn Begley Daley.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by

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without the written permission of the author except in the case of

brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

This book is a work of non-fiction. Unless otherwise noted, the author

and the publisher make no explicit guarantees as to the accuracy of

the information contained in this book and in some cases, names of

people and places have been altered to protect their privacy.

WestBow Press

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and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

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models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Getty Images.

Scripture taken from the King James Version of the Bible.

ISBN: 978-1-6642-7178-4 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-6642-7179-1 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2022912507

WestBow Press rev. date: 08/26/2022

CONTENTS

Acknowledgments

Preface

Note 1

Note 2

Note 3

Note 4

Note 5

Note 6

Note 7

Note 8

Note 9

Note 10

Note 11

Note 12

About the Author

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

I am most grateful to all my family members: my husband, Gil; my children, Cindy, Gil, and Bryan; daughters-in-law Stephanie and Shari Beth; son-in-law Alex; and grandchildren, Catherine, Caroline, Alexandra, Sophie, Eli Mae, Amelia, and Lane, as well as many friends who have encouraged me and offered suggestions in the writing of this book.

I am grateful to those cherished souls who have passed on but taught me many lessons on the essence of love. I am grateful for all the love and care that has been extended to me in my life. Be grateful for love when it comes to you, and receive it, for it is a blessing from the Lord. I cherish all my moments with my loved ones, and I thank God for them.

He is the God of all comfort.

Thank you to WestBow Publishing for publishing this book.

Grief has beaconed me to the love of God.

PREFACE

Everyone experiences grief sometime in their life. The grief experience is unique to each individual and is based on their personality and their attachment-detachment styles of coping with tragedy. I wish I had handled my grief in better fashion. Grief was not even clearly defined as such in my case. I have lost many friends and relatives, including grandparents, parents, a brother, aunts, uncles, and cousins. My hope is that you can benefit from my shared experiences and in doing so will lessen your burden of losses and experience new joy in the found great love of God for you. God stands with you and is an ever-present source of comfort and strength for your uncharted journey through grief.

The quoted Bible verses are from the King James Version. The word quoted as charity means love in current usage of the English language.

Many blessings to you as we traverse together the joys and sorrows of grief.

NOTE 1

Symptoms of grief may be crying, having no appetite, feeling regret over not communicating enough with our lost loved ones, being very emotional, experiencing declining health, feeling stressed, sleeping poorly, or being angry with God. Grief may include being mildly depressed, feeling sad at times, or chronically feeling sadness. Emotions may be mild depression, mild anxiety, and mild anger at God. There may be some withdrawal from life or crying spells after losing loved ones. We long to see our loved ones again. We may begin to fear death, and this fear could lead to anxiety. A coping mechanism may include the consolation that our loved ones are in heaven. We can reunite with them one day, but presently we have our good memories of them.

How do we sustain ourselves after a loss? We have lost a part of ourselves from our past, our present, and our future. We have to begin to search for a new normal without our loved ones.

We realize how much our loved ones meant to us and begin to praise God for the blessings of those people and their direct interactions in our lives.

I wonder what it is all about—this grief and these tears. Is it from loving and letting go of our loved ones? They came as a gift from God, and when they pass on, we release our loved ones back to Him. They are in His love and care for always. Does our love for them have to end when they are gone from us? Oh no. Love remains for them in our hearts forever. Our blessed hope is in Christ Jesus, our Savior, that we will one day join our loved ones for all eternity. All our days are numbered and ordered for us by the Lord God Almighty. We must proceed with our lives and do the work we have been given to do, for we are marching onward to glory forever with our heavenly Father.

I fear the silence of my lost loved one, but my memories suffice for now. What about tomorrow and the days to come? Will my tears fill the silence, the awful void? My tears drip, they drop, and they flow, and they contain my healing as I walk along my pilgrimage of grief that leads me to the joy of the love of God. My loved ones just preceded me to meet God in heaven. My turn will come, and all my loved ones will be reunited once more. The reunion will be one of deepened love, for at the end of the rainbow is the love of God for you, for me, and for everyone. Let us move forward to that blissful day while we now gladly do our work on this earth that the Lord has called us to do. He has planned our days; let us do our work joyfully as we are obedient to His calling on our lives.

Let us always extend hospitality to strangers for we know not what grief they bear. We are all united in the grief experience for it is universally felt by all at some time in our lives. Our grief can lead us to Christ. May our common grief be our introit into leading others to Christ. When we are saved, we are born again in Christ. May God find us marching onward in our work for Him to help bring His kingdom on earth. Point yourself ahead toward hope. May you live in that blessed hope and in the love of Christ that continually fills you with joy. Abide in the peace of Jesus, and rest in His love. There