We have all lost someone we love during the pandemic. I believe A Year of Yearning by Tricia K. Brown, will offer comfort.
On September 18, 2018, my twenty-year-old son, Brandon, was killed in a car crash. In the days following Brandon’s death, I begged God to please let it all be a bad dream. I knew my God could bring my son back to life, and every time I opened my eyes from sleep, I searched for evidence that He had done so. But He said, “No.” My heart broke not only from the loss of my son but also from years of unanswered prayers, the prayers that God seemed to have ignored.
How do you find hope when it seems as if all hope is lost?
During the darkness of the immediate aftermath of Brandon’s death, I felt God’s voice so clearly that it seemed almost audible. He whispered to my soul, “You are loved.” I recited to myself often, “I love my God, and my God loves me,” because, let’s be honest, nothing about losing a 20-year-old seems very loving. God knew, more than ever, I needed the reassurance of His voice and His presence. My utter and complete brokenness also allowed me to be more fully present to God in a way that I had never been before.
I had a choice to make about what I was going to believe and who I was going to trust. As I struggled through a fog of overwhelming grief, I began to find comfort in studying God’s word and contemplating how He uses the everyday experiences of my life to point me to Him. I found purpose in sharing those lessons with others.
Hebrews 11:1 says, “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.”
My hope rests on the knowledge that regardless of my circumstances or feelings, I can be confident in God’s love. My faith is founded not in what I see or feel; it is rooted in God’s Word. I can love and trust the God who allowed my son to die, because that God sent His Son to die so that we might live eternally with Him.
A Year of Yearning is the culmination of the devotions that I wrote the first year after Brandon’s death, a year in which my soul longed for God in new, unimaginable, and even painful ways. It’s not a study on grief or sorrow or losing someone you love, but it is a product of my grief and the hope that God continues to bring me as I delve deeper into His Word.
Brandon’s death pressed me into a greater need, a deeper desire, a persistent yearning to know God more and to grow in my relationship with Him. It’s my hope that, in some small way, A Year of Yearning helps ignite a similar desire in others.
About the Author:
As a writer and keynote speaker, Tricia K. Brown shares stories of life, loss, and laughter to encourage women in their walks with the Lord and each other. Through The Girls Get Together ministry, Tricia offers inspirational blogs, devotions, books and other resources. She is the wife of Ian Brown, the mother of Sjon- Paul, Brandon, Ryan, and Braxton and mother-in-law to Lauren (married to Sjon-Paul). Her book, A Year of Yearning, is available on Amazon. For more information or to schedule Tricia to speak at your next event, visit thegirlsgettogether.com or email tricia.brown@thegirlsgettogether.com
