Dr. Penny has been a valuable asset to our Pastoral Care Team at St. Vincent’s East Hospital. She works daily with patients who are suffering, to relieve their worry and fear and to remind them of the comfort of the touch of our Lord. From this front line perspective, Dr. Penny brings her real world experiences to life in the work of “Healing Hope for Grief and Bereavement”. Dealing with loss and the grief that flows from that is something we will all face. As Dr. Penny does in her day to day, this work is meant to help those that will one day pass through those normal experiences of loss and to bring them out the other side through a remembrance of Christ’s promises through His scriptures. As Dr. Penny writes”…..as God wraps His loving arms around us, we have the assurance of His faithful care”. I personally recommend this work for all who have experienced loss and are trying to cope with the road ahead.

Todd Kennedy, MSHA, MBA
President/COO
St. Vincent’s East Hospital.

Dr. Penny has been a valuable asset to our Pastoral Care Team at St. Vincent’s East Hospital. She works daily with patients who are suffering, to relieve their worry and fear and to remind them of the comfort of the touch of our Lord. From this front line perspective, Dr. Penny brings her real world experiences to life in the work of “Healing Hope for Grief and Bereavement”. Dealing with loss and the grief that flows from that is something we will all face. As Dr. Penny does in her day to day, this work is meant to help those that will one day pass through those normal experiences of loss and to bring them out the other side through a remembrance of Christ’s promises through His scriptures. As Dr. Penny writes”…..as God wraps His loving arms around us, we have the assurance of His faithful care”. I personally recommend this work for all who have experienced loss and are trying to cope with the road ahead.

Todd Kennedy, MSHA, MBA
President/COO
St. Vincent’s East Hospital.

This Funeral Guide is written to help Family Members address the sobering, yet necessary, responsibilities of carrying out the many and often unrealized tasks involved in managing the Funeral of a Loved One. It offers helpful insights, cautions, instructions, and Biblical Resources for dealing with the emotional impact of the Loss of a Loved One and moving forward with one’s Life.

Pastors and Counselors can also use this Guide in preparation for and counseling of Family Members. Bereavement Support Groups will also benefit from this Guide.

This Funeral Guide is written to help Family Members address the sobering, yet necessary, responsibilities of carrying out the many and often unrealized tasks involved in managing the Funeral of a Loved One. It offers helpful insights, cautions, instructions, and Biblical Resources for dealing with the emotional impact of the Loss of a Loved One and moving forward with one’s Life.

Pastors and Counselors can also use this Guide in preparation for and counseling of Family Members. Bereavement Support Groups will also benefit from this Guide.

Unmet expectations and conflicts arise, when a person is hurting and doesn’t know what they need, and their loved ones don’t know what to say or how to help.

By the time author Erica McNeal was thirty-two years old, she was already a three-time cancer survivor, and had experienced the loss of five children, two of which she held in her arms. Those close to her were not sure of how to console her, and some well-intended comments only served to hurt Erica and her family in their healing process.

For example, imagine being diagnosed with a rare form of cancer, at twenty-two years old, and having your best friend tell you that she wished she had cancer too, so that people would like her. Or imagine being pressured to hold a friend’s baby—a child that was born the same day you buried your daughter, in order to “prove your love” for the couple.

These statements represent only a fraction, and not even the worst, of the painful words spoken to her family while they struggled through cancer treatments and grieved the loss of their children.

Good Grief! is a book filled with tangible solutions for determining what to say, what not to say, and what to do, in order to love others well, through difficult times!

Unmet expectations and conflicts arise, when a person is hurting and doesn’t know what they need, and their loved ones don’t know what to say or how to help.

By the time author Erica McNeal was thirty-two years old, she was already a three-time cancer survivor, and had experienced the loss of five children, two of which she held in her arms. Those close to her were not sure of how to console her, and some well-intended comments only served to hurt Erica and her family in their healing process.

For example, imagine being diagnosed with a rare form of cancer, at twenty-two years old, and having your best friend tell you that she wished she had cancer too, so that people would like her. Or imagine being pressured to hold a friend’s baby—a child that was born the same day you buried your daughter, in order to “prove your love” for the couple.

These statements represent only a fraction, and not even the worst, of the painful words spoken to her family while they struggled through cancer treatments and grieved the loss of their children.

Good Grief! is a book filled with tangible solutions for determining what to say, what not to say, and what to do, in order to love others well, through difficult times!

Unmet expectations and conflicts arise, when a person is hurting and doesn’t know what they need, and their loved ones don’t know what to say or how to help.

By the time author Erica McNeal was thirty-two years old, she was already a three-time cancer survivor, and had experienced the loss of five children, two of which she held in her arms. Those close to her were not sure of how to console her, and some well-intended comments only served to hurt Erica and her family in their healing process.

For example, imagine being diagnosed with a rare form of cancer, at twenty-two years old, and having your best friend tell you that she wished she had cancer too, so that people would like her. Or imagine being pressured to hold a friend’s baby—a child that was born the same day you buried your daughter, in order to “prove your love” for the couple.

These statements represent only a fraction, and not even the worst, of the painful words spoken to her family while they struggled through cancer treatments and grieved the loss of their children.

Good Grief! is a book filled with tangible solutions for determining what to say, what not to say, and what to do, in order to love others well, through difficult times!

This Funeral Guide is written to help Family Members address the sobering, yet necessary, responsibilities of carrying out the many and often unrealized tasks involved in managing the Funeral of a Loved One. It offers helpful insights, cautions, instructions, and Biblical Resources for dealing with the emotional impact of the Loss of a Loved One and moving forward with one’s Life.

Pastors and Counselors can also use this Guide in preparation for and counseling of Family Members. Bereavement Support Groups will also benefit from this Guide.