When Your Heart Starts to Breathe Again - Renewal

A January Mini-Series: New Beginnings After Loss

✨ There comes a time, sometimes months or years after loss, when your heart takes a small breath you didn’t expect. It’s not that the grief is gone; it’s still there, part of your story. But something changes. A tiny place inside you feels a little bit lighter, a little bit softer. Maybe it’s the first time laughter doesn’t feel strange or awkward, or a morning when the sun looks a bit brighter than it did before. These small mercies are the quiet beginnings of hope. God makes room for them long before we notice.

🌱 1. Grief Doesn’t End — It Changes

Children especially need to know that grief doesn’t end. They need the reassurance that it changes. Some days, children experience strong emotional feelings that lead to tears, anger, confusion, and acting out. Grief can come in waves that surge, but eventually they soften to bring relief. That relief is a step toward hope. This step in healing doesn’t mean forgetting about the loved one - not at all!

👣 2. Small Steps Count as New Beginnings

Hope rarely comes in big moments; it often comes in simple things, such as

• A smile

• A memory that warms instead of stings

• A friend showing up

• A moment of calm after tears

• A day without overwhelming heaviness

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🙏 3. God Makes Space for Hope and Renewal

“Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail.
They are new every morning.” -- Lamentations 3:22–23

This verse basically opens the new year with renewal, not pressure. I believe that God has led me to choose the word “RENEW” as my word of the year. Not everyone chooses a word of the year, but I have found that it helps to give me a focus where I can find Scripture to reinforce that word, and my prayers help me to know how to pray.
This verse speaks of mercy, tenderness, and the slow return of hope, perfect for when your heart is ready to start breathing again. Children (and adults) can learn that God works in whispers, not always dramatic rescue.

Grief is still present… but mercies are new. The heart exhale begins.

🫁 4. Breathing Again Is Not Forgetting

This is huge for grieving hearts, especially kids who fear:

• “If I’m happy, will I forget them?”

• “Does healing mean I don’t love them anymore?”

This was one of the hardest things for me to face. As I’ve gone through the years, I’ve forgotten voices. I’ve had memories that have dwindled to a short scene or two. I’ve also forgotten faces because it has been 54 years since I lost my daddy. Strangely, sometimes it seems like just a few years. But I have the picture in my mind of him from when I was 8 years old, so I constantly wonder what he would look like and sound like if he had lived today.

The optimistic viewpoint here is that the love for that person - my daddy, in this case - has only grown over the years. You never forget them, but our memories become dull. Being joyful does not mean you are forgetting their memory. Living through grief does not mean that you are “getting over it.” Thank God that those who are in Christ will again see their loved ones in heaven.

Healing honors the person we love.

⚓ 5. Hope is Quiet at First

Hope isn’t loud. It doesn’t scream, “Hey, I’m great now.”
It is:

• A sunrise

• A soft breeze

• A comforting memory

• A butterfly that floats across the ground

• A prayer that feels heard

• A small wish for the future

  As David stated in Psalms, “The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit,” (34:18) and “He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds” (147:3). David experienced this, but it takes time. Whether we have spent a lifetime or a moment with a loved one, grief and love go hand in hand, and deep love hurts. It does not go away once life gets back to a “normal” state. But things do get better. Our hearts are renewed. God meets us where we are.

A Word to Parents & Caregivers

Encourage your children to notice the little signs of growth, no matter how small. Maybe just being able to walk into a room or into the house where the loved one lived will be a step forward. Measure those steps and keep them as reminders that growth is happening. Offer gentle reassurance to the children that they are moving forward with each step.

A Closing Prayer

Lord, help us notice the small steps of hope You give us toward the light of your love, even on the days when grief still feels heavy.

📚 More Hope-Filled Resources, Just for You

Check out my website at https://marygracejohnsonauthor.com and download the “Seven Affirmations of Hope” for free.

I also have two collaborative books available on Amazon:
Hope for the Holidays: Stories and Traditions for a Peaceful Season (2024) and the new 365-day devotional, A Year of Hope (2025).

🔜 Soon to be released !

And the Sun Came Up: A True Story of Grief and Hope, my picture book, and an accompanying hope activity journal, Sunlight for the Soul: A Hope Journal for Kids Walking Through Sadness(ages 4-10). I will be looking for launch team members to participate in this book release where there will be giveaways, behind-the-scenes updates, and early access to the book!