When the Story Becomes Real

From Grief to Hope: The Journey We Don’t Talk About

🌱 A Childhood Full of Life

Let me start with my early years. I grew up on a farm with an amazing family and with the outdoors as my playground. In 1971, school had just gotten out for the summer, and we (my siblings and I) were excited to spend the summer planning great adventures around the farm. We planned to ride our bikes, play in the playhouse our daddy and a friend had built, spend time with the animals around the yard, go on a vacation of some kind, and just be outdoors enjoying playing together.

💔 When Everything Changed

Little did we know that our plans would change drastically after Memorial Day weekend, and not in a good way. The confusion, shock, fear, and grief that occurred during that holiday changed my life forever.

🌾 Remembering Both Joy and Pain

I recently shared on a podcast with Jeff Gould, America’s Storyteller with “I Like That Story,” (airing around May 28) that Memorial Day weekend was when I lost my daddy in a farm accident. As I wrote my children’s book about this time, it brought up a lot of memories, both good and bad. I remembered so many great times on the farm with my family, the way my daddy made special plans with each of us children, the fun we had traveling with my parents’ family friends to Colorado to go camping. I also have those painful memories of the day when he died, and those aren’t fun to think about. But I don’t brush them out of my mind, because I know that God brought out many different results from what happened that day.

🌿 God’s Hand in the Midst of Tragedy

I share how we had a flat tire twice before leaving the yard, which kept us at home so we wouldn’t be out at the field where Daddy died. This also gave my grandparents time to get to us with the news, just as we were leaving the yard.

💛 A Journey Through Anxiety, Faith, and Healing

I’ve shared in my blog that I struggle with anxiety and depression, but I’m also learning (however slowly) to trust in God, my Wonderful Counselor, who has brought me through so many tragic and traumatic events in my life, and in turn, bringing Him glory.

“May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope…” -- Romans 15:13

📖 Why This Story Had to Be Told

And I have this opportunity to share what I’ve learned about grief as a child, and now as an adult, that would not have come about without the events of my book, And the Sun Came Up: A True Story of Grief and Hope and the companion journal, Sunlight For the Soul.

“So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God…” -- Isaiah 41:10

🌸 A Message for Children and Families

I never had aspirations to write a children’s book, but I am amazed at the number of people and organizations who have told me recently about a situation where a child has been affected by the death of a close loved one. These children need to feel the love and support of the adults around them and receive help through the confusion, sadness, and effects of grief. I hope that, in some small way, my book and companion journal will be a resource to help them move at whatever pace is needed from grief to hope.

✨ Sharing the Story Going Forward

For more information on getting through difficult trials or on my children’s book and other books I am writing or recommend, please follow my blog on my website or here for FREE on Substack.

My book releases on May 12 through a number of vendors, and the journal is available now on Amazon.

I will also announce the dates for the recent interviews I have had, one with Kim Mosiman of the “My Friend Writes” podcast and the other with Jeff Gould, who I mentioned above. I look forward to sharing more of myself and my message with you all.

💬 Reflection Question

What part of your story feels hardest right now, and can you invite God into that place? OR What is something that feels hard in your heart right now?

✏️ Simple Activity or Thought

“A Place for Hope” 🌱

• Draw a heart.

• Inside the heart, draw or write something that feels hard or sad.

• Then, draw a small flower or light inside that same space to show where hope can begin.

Even in hard places, God can begin to grow something new.

🙏 Breath Prayer

Inhale: Lord, plant Your hope…

Exhale: Deep in my heart.

Even in the hardest parts of your story, God is gently planting seeds of hope that will grow in time.

🌷 Be Part of Something Hope-Filled

Everyone knows a child who has gone through loss or an adult who has never dealt with the loss of a loved one. On May 12, And the Sun Came Up: A True Story of Grief and Hope is released into the world, and I am inviting YOU to read it or share it with someone you know who could benefit from it.

• If you have a heart for children walking through grief…

• If you believe in helping families grow stronger through faith…

• If you know an adult who struggles to get through a loss from early in life…

✨ I would be honored for you to share this book.

By doing this, you will:

• ✨ Help share hope with families who need it most

• ✨ Play a meaningful role in bringing this message to children

• ✨ Promote a faith-based outlook on the grief we all deal with at some point in life

Children walking through grief need hope, and you can help place it in their hands.

🌿 I would love for you to be part of this hope-filled journey. After reading it, your sharing (after May 12) on social media and reviews on Amazon, Goodreads, and other platforms are extremely important to getting this book into the hands of children who need the hope it brings.

Following are some links where you can preorder my book. Preorders are important as they push the book to where it is seen more often by those who need it.

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/s?k=Mary%20Grace%20Johnson...

Publisher: https://www.hopebooksstore.com/.../and-the-sun-came-up-a...

Barnes & Noble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/.../And%20the%20Sun%20Came...

Walmart: https://www.walmart.com/search?q=And+the+Sun+Came+Up+book

Books-a-Million: https://www.booksamillion.com/.../Mary.../9798891852730

Bookshop.org: https://bookshop.org/p/books/and-the-sun-came-up-a-true-story-of-grief-and-hope/d74dd3781808266d?ean=9798891852730&next=t

Thanks for reading Hope Lives Here! I appreciate every one of you.