Heavenly Grief: A Christian Guide to Spiritual and Emotional Healing

Don and Karen Clifford are life-long Christians whose marriage and faith have survived the loss of three of their living children. Because of their total dependence on God during the multiple losses, they began to learn things about surviving grief that aren't covered in the textbooks. They not only learned how to survive the losses, but how to recover in a reasonable time and return to a joyous Christian life. They simply learned (sometimes through trial and error) to avail themselves of the helps and comforts God provides. Don and Karen discuss the help they found and how God's provisions are all part of His all-sufficient grace. They offer practical guidance to help avoid traps that can easily lead to continuing sorrow. They focus on the recovery process and the spiritual lessons that can help the grieving individual find healing and go on to a full and happy life. As young parents, Don and Karen lost their 2-year-old son Mike, who suffered from seizures, when he suffocated in his bedding in the night. A few years later, their baby daughter Rachel contracted spinal meningitis at 3 months but lived in a severely brain-damaged body for over 3 years. Finally, their 5-year-old daughter Beth, who also suffered seizures, died in a bathtub drowning accident at the age of five. Two of their daughters survived and are now married and have given Don and Karen six grandchildren. Both Don and Karen have served faithfully in their churches, team teaching adult Bible classes for most of their adult lives. Don worked as an aerospace engineer while Karen was kept busy in the home with their children. Later Karen became a travel agent and the couple traveled extensively, leading or participating in mission trips around the world. They are now retired and reside in St. Charles, Missouri