Faith and Soul Care | Grow Closer to God | How To Find Joy In Life Again | Spiritual Growth | Biblical Counseling | Christian Mindfulness

When Grief Overwhelms: How to Heal, Especially When Someone You Love Dies Unexpectedly | Death of Husband, Wife, Mother, Father, Child, Sister, Brother, Friend

As a Christian, how do we handle grief? And how to we begin to heal?

Few things are more disorienting than losing someone you love — especially when it's sudden, unexpected, or traumatic. The world shifts. Time slows. Your nervous system is overwhelmed with waves of shock, sadness, confusion, or even numbness. And you wonder how to even begin functioning, let alone healing.

RESOURCES:

Register for the Faith & Soul Care Foundations Cohort Starting July 14, 2025 HERE

https://sherryelaine.com/cohorts

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Haddasah Treu's book Drawing Near: How Painful Experiences Become the Birthplace of Blessings

https://www.amazon.com/Draw-Near-Experiences-Birthplace-Blessings/dp/B0CWSD5Q87

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Article by Haddasah to Read:  "The Art of Emotional Connection" https://onthewaybg.com/the-art-of-emotional-connection/

List for Healing Painful Emotions (from Haddasah Treu's article above):

• Acknowledging emotional disconnect
• Identifying the lies we believe about emotions
• Replacing those lies with God’s truth
• Naming and expressing emotion in God's presence
• Allowing others to witness and hold space for our pain

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About Faith & Soul Care with Sherry Elaine

https://sherryelaine.com/about

 

 

 

 

How Do We Anchor Our Souls In A World That Is Chaotic & Divided? | Hebrews 6:19; 12:26-27 | Hebrew Meaning of "Perfect Peace"| Meaning of "Be Still" raphah Psalm 46:10

Today, I want to speak directly to the soul that’s feeling disoriented—discouraged—by everything going on in the world right now. Have you felt it too? The weight of the chaos.  The anger, the division, the fear in the news cycle, the confusion about what’s true, the constant pessimism?

It feels like shifting ground beneath our feet.

RESOURCES:

Sherry's private FB group w/live teachings: https://www.facebook.com/groups/ministrymall

 

Subscribe for free resources, updates, and online Bible Studies:

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Summer 2025 Cohort - CLOSED - Check back in mid-July for Fall 2025:

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Main Site | About Sherry Elaine:

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Faith & Soul Care Author's Books on Amazon:

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But here's what I want to tell you today: as the world grows more chaotic, that's not our cue to panic—that’s our signal to come closer to God. This is what I regularly teach – whenever you have any problem – whether it be a personal problem that you have a little control over or one that you have no control over. Or whether it’s a problem in the world that you have no control over.  The key question to choosing the right option for problem solving is this key question:  Is how I am working to handle this or resolve this – is the option I’ve chosen bringing me closer to God?  Or is it taking me further away.  The decisions we make in response to stress and problems in our lives – when we have options – the option that is more likely to bring us closer to God – that is always the best option. That is where our soul will find peace, safety, and comfort that cannot be shaken.

Let’s start with a foundational truth from James 1:17. It says:

“Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.” — James 1:17

 

What Does Our Soul Miss Out On When We Do Not Pray? | And What Does "You Have Not Because You Ask Not" Mean? James 4:2

I want to take us deeper. Not to guilt us into praying—but to inspire us with what’s actually happening in the spiritual realm when we do.

Let’s begin with this: Do you really understand what’s happening when you pray?

RESOUCES MENTIONED:

Teaching on Youtube on Effective Prayer Methods: https://youtu.be/wexBh0Q3IE8

 

Join Sherry's Private Facebook Group where she gives live teachings (free replays are also available in the group):

https://www.facebook.com/groups/ministrymall/

 

Free 5 Soul Care Practices in 5 Days: https://sherryelaine.com/freecourse

 

Affordable Small Group "Life-Counseling" Life Coaching with Sherry  Elaine, Registration Opens in July for Fall Cohort: https://sherryelaine.com/registration

 

Main Website:  https://sherryelaine.com/

 

What is prayer actually doing? Why does it matter?

Well, Scripture tells us some beautiful, powerful truths.

Help for an Exhausted Soul | Strategies to release stress & overwhelm (Evidenced-based, simple, and free!)

What is the number one strategy being recommended now to help overcome low energy and fatigue, especially in midlife? Today, I want to talk about something that’s gaining even more attention in the world of wellness and health—and honestly, it’s something we as believers can fully embrace with biblical wisdom too.

Online RESOURCES:

Join Sherry's Private Facebook Group where she gives live teachings (free replays are also available in the group):

https://www.facebook.com/groups/ministrymall/

 

Free 5 Soul Care Practices in 5 Days: https://sherryelaine.com/freecourse

 

Affordable Small Group "Life-Counseling" Life Coaching with Sherry  Elaine, Registration Opens in July for Fall Cohort: https://sherryelaine.com/registration

 

Main Website:  https://sherryelaine.com/

 

Harvard Health recently updated its recommendations for women in midlife who are struggling with fatigue, low energy, burnout—and guess what their number one recommendation is now?

Relaxation exercises.
Yes—before supplements. Before exercise regimens. Before cognitive strategies or even sleep hygiene.

They’re now saying the best starting point for women who are feeling worn out and weary is to learn how to release tension from the body, breathe deeply and intentionally, and begin restoring from the inside out.

What Does the Soul Do? Does It Have a Job? And Other Deep Thoughts About Soul Keeping

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Main Website:  https://sherryelaine.com/

Affordable Small Group "Life-Counseling" Christian Life Coaching with Sherry Elaine, Register Now: https://sherryelaine.com/registration

Quotes in this episode are from Soul Keeping, by John Ortberg. Zondervan (2014).

“Your soul is what integrates your will (your intentions), your mind (your thoughts and feelings), and your body (your face, body language, and actions) into a single life.”

“The soul seeks God with its whole being. Because it is desperate to be whole, the soul is God-smitten and God-crazy and God-obsessed.”

“You are not the keeper of your brother’s soul. You are the keeper of your own soul.”

 

 

 

 

What’s the Difference Between Christian Counseling and Counseling with a Person Who Is a Christian?

At first glance, those two things might sound pretty similar, right? But there's actually a big difference — and understanding it can really help you make the best decision for your emotional, mental, and spiritual care.

Let’s break it down.

JOIN ME in the Private Facebook Group for the Faith and Soul Care Retreat Teachings -->

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Christian counseling isn’t just therapy with a few Bible verses sprinkled in. It’s counseling that is rooted in Scripture, guided by a Christian, biblical worldview, and intentionally integrates prayer, spiritual formation practices, and the truths of God’s Word into the healing process.

In Christian counseling, we absolutely use research-based strategies — like cognitive behavioral therapy, solution-focused therapy, and mindfulness techniques — but we pair them with soul-deep truths. And Christian counseling itself is a subset of professional counseling that has it’s own research journals sharing evidence-based practices. Two of these are the Journal of Psychology and Christianity and the Marriage and Family Journal. Both of those are peer reviewed bodies of research that focus on the integration of Christian life principles with evidenced based mental health and counseling strategies. So the difference is that – in full Christian Counseling - the work isn’t just about behavior or mindset change... it’s also about spiritual transformation.

A Way of Prayer for When You Are Feeling Overwhelmed | When We Don’t Know What to Do

Have you ever whispered, “God, I don’t even know what to pray anymore, or if I can even keep praying on this anymore”—because everything feels too heavy, too confusing, too much? Maybe you're staring at a situation that’s out of your hands... and out of your control. If that’s where you are today, this episode is for you. We're going to sit with one powerful verse, and I’m going to show you a simple prayer practice that can help you breathe again—even when the overwhelm seems to be too much.

 

JOIN ME in the Private Facebook Group for the Faith and Soul Care Retreat Teachings -->

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SESSION SCHEDULE and Optional Upgrades:

Retreat Session Schedule, Free Registration and Cohort Optional Upgrades 

or https://sherryelaine.com/cohorts

 

All Books by Sherry Elaine: 

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Peace and Joy – Are They Actually Feelings? - Or Soul Care Gifts? How to Grow In Purpose, Peace. and Joy

Let’s talk about peace and joy.

I don’t mean the kind that comes after a day at the spa or  a good vacation, not even a vacation to a beautiful beach or beautiful lake destination. I mean real peace. Lasting joy. The kind that doesn’t evaporate when you go back to the loud world. Or when something really unexpected happens. Or when heartache or loss enters into our lives.

JOIN the Private Facebook Group for the Faith and Soul Care Retreat Teachings -->

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SESSION SCHEDULE and Optional Upgrades:

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or https://sherryelaine.com/cohorts

Here’s the thing I’ve been learning (and re-learning): Peace and joy are not actually just emotions. They are not fleeting feelings we try to chase down or manufacture on our own. They are fruit—fruit of the Spirit. They are gifts of which the seeds of peace and joy are given to us by the Spirit of God, and we are to grow and cultivate them.

Grow and cultivate them? Peace and joy? You mean, like strawberries or peaches? What does that mean? How do we grow our sense of joy?

Well, let’s take a look.