Experiencing Hope and Healing In A Fallen WorldSample

FACING GRIEF The shortest distance between two points is a straight line. As David Works can tell you, this is never more true than when dealing with grief. It started out as a normal Sunday in December 2007. The sun shone bright across New Life Church in Colorado Springs as the Works family climbed into their van after that morning’s service. Then everything changed. Out of nowhere, bullets crashed through the windshield and pinged off the vehicle’s metal frame. A mere ten yards away, the muzzle of a rifle flashed toward their van. By the time the gunman moved on in search of more victims, David Works and his wife, Marie, had lost two of their four daughters. Few of us have experienced trauma quite like this, but none of us are immune to loss so deep it brings us to our knees. Psychologists will tell you we each grieve in our own way. However, David says there is one universal truth he learned that day: there are no shortcuts. You can’t heal from grief by avoiding it or going around it. You have to walk straight through the middle. And, boy, is that difficult. But with the support of family and friends and God’s loving presence, we can face our grief and make it through to healing. We may not charge ahead with confidence, and our steps may be shaky at first, but that’s okay. With time, the Lord can repair the broken places, and we’ll find ourselves stronger than we were before our world changed. For a daily dose of encouragement and perspective, check out Jim Daly’s blog, Daly Focus, at JimDalyBlog.com.