About the Book:
Growing in Grace Through Grief
Loss is a four-letter word that grips our hearts and gridlocks our lives. Grief can hold us captive until we surrender it to God. How do we find the necessary grace to journey through the mourning process?
Juxtaposed to the outpouring of her mother’s words about grief, the author shares her parallel journey from the emotional abyss of grief after becoming an adult orphan. With candor, the author shares her own emotions experienced along the spectrum of loss after her parents’ deaths: denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance—adding interactive options for readers.
Five sections cover these common emotions and provide:
• comfort Scripture lists
• counsel sections from grief experts
• chronicling sections with detailed helps
• tangible handles on dealing with grief during holidays, capturing loved ones’ legacy, and more.
My Thoughts:
I have a hard time talking about my grief so I hope you’ll bear with me in this review as I get my thoughts together.
I realized, while reading this book, that I’ve not fully dealt with the loss of my mom almost 9 years ago. In the beginning of the book, we see how devastating the death of a loved on can be. It can suck the breath right out of you. My mom was the center of our entire family. She was the glue that held everything together. Even when she was sick and couldn’t participate, everything still revolved around her home and the traditions we had together. When she died, that glue came undone and my family was left with a huge void. Not just me either, but everyone. My husband grieved right alongside me. My step-dad, who raised me as his own for 20 years basically abandoned us all after my mom died. We were living in their guest house and had to move when he left and sold the house. Our son was 3 at the time and our oldest daughter had just been born. I had suffered a miscarriage right before her birth and another not long after. Our entire lives were overturned. I slipped into a serious depression that I don’t thing I ever really came out of. Something like that hangs on.
While reading Aftermath, I realized that I wasn’t alone. My loss and the things that happened around that time weren’t just my own. My husband went through it with me. My kids went through it with me. And while I don’t have the family that I came from anymore, I have a brand new family that God saw fit to bless me with. A family that we comes to me to be their glue. Only from now on I think we should all be glued together and we should all be the center of this family.
Aftermath opened my eyes and my heart and allowed me to let myself feel again. It helped me to see that shutting down didn’t benefit my family. Instead I was keeping myself from them and they need me fully.
I know it is just a book, but the stories inside let me see that many people are going through the exact same emotions. It let me feel for other people and realize that we share our grief and our feelings and the way we deal with things. I’m not alone. I never was. And now I know it.
Link to buy the book:
https://ow.ly/cOiNu
Margaret McSweeney is a well-published author often writing online articles for Make It Better (the former North Shore Magazine) and freelance articles for the Daily Herald, the largest suburban Chicago newspaper. In addition, she has authored and compiled several books including A Mother’s Heart Knows; Go Back and Be Happy; Pearl Girls: Encountering Grit, Experiencing Grace and most recently, Mother of Pearl.
Margaret has a master’s degree from the University of South Carolina in international business. As is the founder of Pearl Girls, Margaret collaborates with other writers on projects to help fund a safe house for WINGS, an organization that helps women and their children who are victims of domestic violence, and to build wells for schoolchildren in Uganda through Hands of Hope. For the past 10 years she has served on the board of directors and leadership advisory board for WINGS. Margaret lives with her husband and 2 daughters in the Chicago suburbs. Learn more about Margaret and the work of Pearl Girls at www.margaretmcsweeney.com.
LitFuse Aftermath Blog Tour
Check out all the reviews for Aftermath at the Litfuse Blog Tour https://litfusegroup.com/blogtours/13529019/margaretmcsweeney
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I am a stay-at-home- mom, living in KY with my husband and children. I’m a travel and lifestyle blogger encouraging folks to live their life one adventure at a time while also focusing on beauty, essential oils and health. From time to time I also like to showcase my adorable pets along with my family. Along with Cinnamon Hollow I can be found at The Martin Family Adventure … read more
