Have you been asked to walk a path through the wilderness of grief? A path no mother would’ve ever chosen. Have you said the most impossible goodbye, standing beside a tiny grave, wandering along the path…wondering what faith looks like when the answer to your prayer is not the one you hoped for this side of heaven? Wondering about the broken praise or if you would ever find your way out of the pit? How do we continue to trust God, in the midst of our deepest fears becoming reality? What happens to a marriage tested by fire, more than once?

What does it look like to grieve with hope?

That walk, it’s no flower-laden path. It is a dark alley with old jagged concrete, filled with mud puddles and “Do Not Enter” Signs. Dark and foreboding…if we look with our human eyes. That walk is not for the faint of heart. It is the nitty gritty stuff of life and death, loss and hope, pain and healing, sorrow and joy. It is a bitter cup that one day becomes a soothing sweetness to your soul, but for a time breaks you into pieces. And, on that walk, it’s unpredictable. The rain pours. The tears flow. The mud rises. That’s what we see, at least.

Internally, the Lord is working. In the place we cannot see with our eyes, the heart is being shaped and mended, formed into a more beautiful instrument of love and grace than it was before we took that walk. Inside, our soul is being healed and filled up, even as the rains fall…even as we feel poured out and empty.

When all we see are ashes, He sees the beauty that will come from them. When we behold the darkness before us, surrounding us, smothering us…He sees the light that He will shine in those dark places.

There are moments on that walk when we feel we cannot go on. Moments when a friend comes alongside us to point us again to the One who sustains us. A friend to lift us in prayer. A friend to allow us to lean on her as she leans on Him. A friend, who is not afraid to walk through the valley in the rain, with a storm mounting. She is not afraid, because the Lord is her strength and her shield. She is not afraid because she doesn’t walk alone.

And because He has walked with her through the valleys and the storms, He has sent her to walk with you. And He will carry you both through the rain, through the storm, through the unknown dark alleys to secure, dry ground.

Whether you are a newly bereaved mother or a seasoned mom who has watched the Lord make beauty from ashes in her life. Whether you need someone to lean on or you are the shoulder that can bear the burden, we hope you will walk with us as we are walking with Him. We hope you will join us with our broken umbrellas, with all our little quirks and imperfections in our various stages on this walk, as His grace washes over us in the pouring rain.

Click here to learn more about Kelly’s compelling book where she shares her own family’s painful journey through the stormy sea of grief after the loss of three of their five children, but also shares the lessons they learned about the true faith and grace God gives to His people, even in the midst of life’s storms. Through their story of grief, brokenness, and healing in their marriage and in their lives we find great hope in an infinite God who is faithful to carry His children through whatever we face in this life. In Part II of the book, Kelly shares the birth of Sufficient Grace Ministries, and offers helpful information for families walking through grief after the loss of a child. Her mission to comfort others with the comfort she received continues, as she tells her compelling story of trading ashes for beauty