Solutions April 2019 | Page 6

Come Sit Beside By Justine Froelker We all know it. We all have it. We all struggle to know how to speak about it. How much in the faith community do we hear, or perhaps even use the simple answers, quick fixes, and Band- Aids for pain - ours and theirs? Which means the hole only grows deeper and darker for many of us. “God has a plan.” “Everything happens for a reason.” I could be talking about so many things, especially as a mental health therapist by trade…today, I’m talking grief. Or perhaps we throw scripture at it… For he wounds, but he also binds up… Consider it pure joy… Know that in all things God works for the good… For I know the plans I have for you… Grief. None of us get out of this life unscathed. He told us this nugget long ago, “In this world, you will have trouble.” John 16:33 I call this grief, and because I am not sure any person walks this earth with the life they hoped, dreamed, and planned for, I believe we all have it. 6 • Solutions “ It takes courage to sit beside someone with their pain; it takes even more courage to not have the simple answers and quick fixes for them.”