What I've Learned About Healing from Loss

One day as I knelt at Elle's headstone and sobbed and told her I loved her too much, I thought I heard her say, "Be brave and strong, Mom."

In life, I think it's pretty easy to get discouraged. Even when we know better. Even when we understand tomorrow's another day. Even when we have an eternal perspective. What I've learned is that discouragement is generally a lack of courage. Thus, the root word. I'd never made the connection before. You probably have. That's just rude, haha

To me, healing from loss has a whole lot to do with two things: courage and trust. Courage to accept the rest of your life without her/him, courage to face the substantial grief and void, courage to rebuild a life that you now understand is so vulnerable....

And for me, courage finds its foundation in trust. Trust in God's plan. Trust that through Him we can do all things. Trust in the Resurrection, and trust in the never ending happiness promised in Mosiah 2:41. 

Elder Jeffrey R. Holland said, “Believe in miracles. Hope is never lost. If those miracles do not come soon or fully or seemingly at all, remember the Savior’s own anguished example: If the bitter cup does not pass, drink it and be strong, trusting in happier days ahead.”

I caught part of an ESPN special involving a 3-year-old girl with leukemia. The night of her diagnosis, the dad asked his little girl, "What do you think about all this?" She said, "Just trust, Dad."

Just Trust.