Grief.

We feel it when we lose someone we love, when we're betrayed by someone we trust, or when life is turned upside down by circumstances out of our own control.

Grief hurts.

Grief changes us.

There's many other things grief can do.

Grief can overwhelms us, making it difficult to complete the simplest of tasks.

Grief can consume us, causing every thought to somehow wander back to our pain, our sadness, our feelings of injustice.

Grief can anger us, providing a sense of entitlement to our fits of rage and our feelings of bitterness.

Grief can depress us, making us feel so down and out that even leaving the house becomes a huge chore.

Grief can frighten us, stirring irrational fears and unhealthy anxieties.

Grief can stalk us so that we feel as if we can never escape its presence.

There are a lot of things grief can do to us.

But, there's one thing grief can NEVER, EVER, EVER do -

Grief can never stop us from waking up and facing the next dawn.

We may find it incredibly painful and difficult to put our feet on the floor and believe we have a reason for pressing on,

but grief can NEVER stop us from trying to live in spite of our heartache.

What's the secret to facing dawn even when your heart is broken?

Here it is:

Get up anyway.

Yes, that's the secret.

Nothing fancy.

Nothing complicated.

And definitely nothing magic.

When life is hard, you have one choice to make every single morning.

You can either face the day or hide from it.

Grief may scare you, overwhelm you, anger you, depress you, or consume you,

but it cannot STOP you.

SO........

Get up scared.

Get up angry.

Get up sad.

Get up consumed.

Get up overwhelmed.

BUT GET UP ANYWAY.

And every time you choose to face a new dawn,

you will find yourself one day closer to the One who longs to carry all of your pain.

Get up,

Look up,

Cry out,

Reach out,

and

Know that God smiles when, even though your heart is broken, He looks downs and sees you FACING DAWN.

My prayer is that when you find yourself struggling to face another dawn, you will choose to turn to God for your strength.

Click HERE to order your copy of Facing Dawn:  A Morning Devotional for the Brokenhearted,

a journey through my early grief after losing Nick and a place to share your heart as you journey through your own.

Half of the proceeds from this book will be used by the Nicholas Yancy Nischan Foundation to help the lost and hurting find peace and purpose in their pain.

Thank you for praying for our family today as we faced the dawn of the five-year anniversary of Nick's death.

We faced it,

and

We embraced it.

God was with us every step of the way.

He's with  you too!