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Finding Joy Amid Loss: A Christian Perspective on Grief w/ Dr. Jerri Woodbridge
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What happens when grief arrives unexpectedly, shattering the life you carefully built? Dr. Jerry Woodbridge knows this terrain intimately. After losing her husband to cancer just one day after his diagnosis, she found herself navigating not only her own grief but also guiding her children through theirs.
In this profound conversation, Dr. Woodbridge dispels common misconceptions about the grieving process. Forget the neat, orderly stages you've heard about—grief is more like "having a thousand hornets around your head" or bouncing on a trampoline while attempting to climb stairs. You make progress, fall back, bounce up again, and repeat in an unpredictable cycle that doesn't follow a timetable.
The discussion delves into how grief fundamentally challenges our identity. For Dr. Woodbridge, becoming a widow at 42 wasn't part of her plan. "I made a choice to become a wife," she explains, "I did not say yes to becoming a widow." This identity crisis led to honest, sometimes angry conversations with God that ultimately strengthened her faith through Scripture passages specifically addressing God's care for widows.
Perhaps most eye-opening is Dr. Woodbridge's insight into children's grief. Adults often try to shield children from pain or expect them to bounce back quickly, not realizing this approach can lead to unresolved grief manifesting later as identity issues, risky behaviors, and spiritual struggles. Her experience inspired her to write children's books about grief, filling a crucial gap in literature for middle-grade readers who need narratives validating their experiences.
A beautiful metaphor emerges: both sorrow and joy can coexist like liquids in a coffee cup, with love serving as the bridge between them. We grieve because we love, and eventually, that same love allows us to experience joy again—not as a replacement for our loss, but alongside it.
Whether you're currently walking through grief or supporting someone who is, this episode offers both comfort and practical wisdom. As Dr. Woodbridge reminds us, "You have to heal before you reveal," and sometimes the path to the high places of joy necessarily travels through the valleys of sorrow and suffering.
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My mission is to help you understand your attachment style to learn how you can heal from the pain you’ve experienced in your relationship with God, the church and yourself.
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Chapters
1. Introduction to Grief Discussion (00:00:00)
2. Dr. Woodbridge's Personal Faith Journey (00:05:10)
3. Defining Grief and Sudden Loss (00:09:06)
4. Year Three of Grief: No Escape (00:20:29)
5. Identity Crisis After Loss (00:30:05)
6. How Children Process Grief (00:37:55)
7. Faith's Role in Grief Recovery (00:43:22)
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