An Autumn's Journey: Deep Growth in the Grief and Loss of Life's Seasons

by Craig D. Lounsbrough

Overview

WE LIVE IN A CULTURE THAT IS DESPERATE TO AVOID LOSS. We choose to fight it because we assume that it has come only to unfairly steal and inflict terrible pain. Loss is seen as the rogue enemy and heartless foe, rather than an opportunity for immense and improbable growth. It's in loss that some of the richest and rarest of life's lessons lay buried, eagerly waiting to be deeply mined and unearthed. In the deepest pain God does the deepest work. An Autumn's Journey - Deep Growth in the Grief and Loss of Life's Seasons does not loosely gloss over loss or provide shallow prescriptions and weak formulas for our grieving. Rather, it aggressively embraces both grief and loss, bringing fresh eyes to these times in our lives in order to draw out of them the marvelous riches that we all too often miss.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781725239289
Publisher:	Wipf & Stock Publishers
Publication date:	11/15/2017
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	160
File size:	732 KB

About the Author

Craig D. Lounsbrough’s background includes over twenty-nine years experience as a counselor in a variety of treatment settings that include psychiatric hospitals, outpatient clinics, facilities for the blind, agencies that serve both the physically handicapped and developmentally disabled, churches and various ministries. He also possesses ten years’ experience in pastoral ministry as a youth, associate and senior pastor. Craig spent two years broadcasting in Christian radio and has published both nationally and internationally. He is a Licensed Professional Counselor in Colorado, an Ordained Minister, as well as a Certified Professional Life Coach.
Craig's background includes over thirty years of experience as a counselor in a variety of treatment settings that include psychiatric hospitals, outpatient clinics, facilities for the blind, agencies that serve both the physically handicapped and developmentally disturbed, churches and various ministries. I also possess ten years of experience in pastoral ministry as a youth, associate and senior pastor.

Craig has spent two years broadcasting in Christian radio and has published both nationally and locally. Twenty years ago, he launched a private, outpatient counseling practice in Parker, Colorado which has grown into a full-fledged practice providing counseling, coaching and consulting services to individuals, marriages, families, various businesses as well as church and ministry organizations. He is a Licensed Professional Counselor in Colorado, a Certified Professional Life Coach and am also a member of the American Association of Christian Counselors. He has completed the coursework (ABD) for his Doctor of Ministry degree in Marriage and Family Counseling at Denver Seminary.

Table of Contents

Introduction 9

Chapter 1 The Colors Turn Early: Grief as Premature Loss 15

Chapter 2 Drawing Out of Reach: Grief as Letting Our Losses Go 27

Chapter 3 Closure-Fighting Against Ourselves: Releasing as Freedom to Grieve 41

Chapter 4 God as My Front Porch: A Sure Place of Solace in Loss 53

Chapter 5 Kisses in Death: Processing Grief by Escorting Our Losses to the Next Place 65

Chapter 6 A Passing in the Night: Loss as the Crowning Touch 77

Chapter 7 A Sunrise That Didn't: Expanding Our View of Life 87

Chapter 8 Making the Surreal Real: Embracing the Contradictions 97

Chapter 9 Working Through the Numbness: Loss Backlights Living 107

Chapter 10 Pheasants Along the Fence: God in the Stubble 117

Chapter 11 A Bonfire and Prayers: The Place of Prayers and Praying 127

Chapter 12 A Walk in the Woods: Walking into the Future 137

Chapter 13 Celebrating What You Had: A Gift That Lives On 149

Conclusion 157