After the funeral, when the cards and flowers have stopped coming, most of the people around you return to their normal lives. Many grieving people find they are only beginning the work of healing after their friends and family have returned to their daily life routines. Yet, your grief continues and you feel alone. The grief is still there eating away at you as you struggle to deal with the loss. What can you do? Friends and family may want to help you, but don't know how. Where can you go for comfort? A support group for those who have lost a loved one, "Grief Share," may be exactly what you need to get you through this painful time.
"Grief Share" features biblical, Christ-centered teaching that focuses on various grief topics associated with the death of a loved one. The program combines DVDs featuring nationally respected grief experts and real-life stories of people from all walks of life who have dealt with grief as well as small group discussion with others involved with the grieving process. There is also journaling as well as personal study exercises to reinforce the weekly session topics.
Your bereavement experience may be recent or years in process already. With the "Grief Share" program, you will find encouragement, comfort, and help in grieving whether it is for the loss of a spouse, a parent, a child, a sibling, other family member, or friend. No matter what the cause of your loved one's death, this is an opportunity for you to be around other who understand what you are experiencing. Participants will learn how to recognize the symptoms of being stuck in grief, and that you do not need to live in pain. Through this program, you will learn valuable information about dealing with the new "normal" in your life and how to renew your hope for the future.
The program will run weekly from Thursday, September 6, through Thursday, December 6, 2018. Sessions will begin at 9:30 a.m. and run to 11:00 a.m. in the Kinane Center of St. Paul of the Cross Church in Park Ridge (the Kinance Center is located at 215 Ridge Terrace adjacent to the main Church). Doors will open at 9:00 a.m. Each session is "self-contained" so you do not have to attend in sequence (you will be able to pick up any sessions you missed in the next 13-week cycle). Although there is a registration fee of $25, scholarships are also available. No one will be turned away from this program because of their finances.
Grief is one of the most powerful and painful experiences of our lives. Remember, you don't have to go through it alone. If you would like more information or wish to register please contact Adrienne Timm, Social Service Ministry Director of St. Paul of the Cross at (847) 692-6767.
Weekly seminar topics:
--Is this normal?
--Challenges of grief
--The journey of grief - part one
--The journey of grief - part two
--Grief and your relationships
--Why?
--Guilt and anger
--Complicating factors
--Stuck
--Lessons of grief - part one
--Lessons of grief - part two
--Heaven
--What do I live for now?