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When Grief Comes: Finding Strength for Today and Hope for Tomorrow

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With the strong heart of a pastor who has ministered to grieving friends, but more importantly with the broken heart of a parent who has experienced the grief of losing a son, Kirk Neely leads us through the grief process in this special book. His personal walk with grief makes this not just a book with facts about sorrow, but a book that touches and teaches the heart. Neely writes with tender love and care and just enough humor to provide relief. This is a book to keep!

Pastor and counselor, Kirk H. Neely, writes with compassion and empathy. In "When Grief Comes", Kirk shares from a heart of understanding and brokenness as he relates the tragic loss of his young adult son, Erik. In his over forty years of ministry, Pastor Neely has counseled hundreds of bereaved and their families, as he conducted services for their deceased loved ones.

The format of the book lends itself to reading as a whole or in small portions. The comprehensive table of contents enables the reader to choose a specific area of interest, for personal comfort, for information, or for use in offering encouragement and comfort to others.

Part one covers the six stages of the grief process and the phase's of grief during extended illness. Part two deals with attachments and separations, grief in adulthood, and helping children with grief. Part three reminds the reader of the gifts of grace and the tender mercies of God as well as offering hope in the midst of grief. Another unique feature of the book is a compilation of selected Scriptures which offer comfort and encouragement in the bereavement process.

In recent years my parents as well as four of my siblings have preceded me in death. Earlier this year, I lost a grandson in a tragic death. This book has given me insights which are helping me through the healing process and sorrow of grief. Of the several books on the subject I have read during these ensuing months, I would put Kirk Neely's "When Grief Comes" at the top of the list as most helpful.

I read Kirk Neely's book following the death of my twenty six year old daughter in law. Katie was pregnant with a baby boy when she succumbed to an aggressive form of leukemia. Like Dr. Neely, I've lost numerous relatives over the years, but this particular death devastated me like no other. When Grief Comes provided an understanding of the grief process and God's place in it that I found invaluable. The first section of the book specifically addresses issues unique to sudden death scenerios and enabled me to release myself into a healthy grief, realizing that the river of sorrow flows where it wills until finding its place in God's comfort. The yearning for a departed loved one never completely goes away, but we can eventually live in a new reality. When Grief Comes makes its points succinctly yet contains effective and poignent anecdotes from Dr. Neely's life and ministry. Every pastor or person touched by deep loss should have this book available. It remains on my night stand.