Hiding in the Upper Room - Signed Author Copy

Though Catholic, she avoided attending Mass where she was haunted by images of the funerals, by other little children who resembled her own children, by people looking at her with sympathetic eyes or asking her questions she didn’t want to answer.

Until one night when God visited Kelly in a dream and gave her the answer she’d been asking of Him. This dream punctured the ice of grief that Kelly had been trapped under and she felt a deep longing for intimacy with God.

Through the sacraments of the Catholic Church, God has given Kelly a way to turn her grief into a mission of love and healing.

Don’t forget to add the book study.

Jessica

Grieving Mother

I couldn’t help but think of you today at church as they reading the liturgy from Acts! Reminded me of how delayed I have been in getting back to you on your book and inspiration!  I think a big reason is because I have been thinking of the right words to say.  The reality is I still don’t have the right words to say.  I will give it my best shot! 

To say that your book is inspirational is an understatement.  To say your book provokes the soul is an understatement.  To say that your raw and unfiltered emotion is consoling and healing to the reader is an understatement.  I cried with you in the book, I was angry with you and I felt on some level I grieved with you in your journey.  (Of course in an outsiders way) You have a gift in telling the story as it needs to be heard.

You words made me reflect on my own grief and brought to light a lot of grief that I had suppressed for one reason or another.  I’m talking about going back to childhood and auditing all the grief points in my life.  I guess you could say your book gave me permission to say, “yes, that was a loss and you are allowed to feel any emotion about it,”

More importantly, your book reminded me of the importance of staying close to the sacraments and depending on God.  I’m not the best at it cause I’ve always felt I’ve had to depend on myself, so this step for me is like an onion- peeling one layer at a time.  Good news is I’m a lot better at it than before, so the progress is slow and healthy.

As I mentioned in the Lux app, my husband and I are on the infertility roller coaster.  Right now the ride just dropped since we had another negative pregnancy test.  The positive is that the surgery I had last year (endometriosis removal and Ovarian wedge resection) seems to be improving my chances, so we are staying positive and praying for God to help us understand his Divine providence.  

I am very happy to have had the chance to read your book ( will more than likely read it a few times) and am thankful to God that He inspired you to document your experience and share with others.  

I will keep you and your family in my prayers and hope you all are making it through the challenging times.