Book: When your heart breaks - navigating grief and loss

Whether you have lost a job, a dream, a friendship, or a loved one, you mourn. You might mourn for a few weeks, or your grief may extend for years. Sadness seems to build a permanent residence in your bones, weighing down your soul. You wonder if you’ll ever feel whole again.

Then—hope.

God plunges into your heartbreak and works abiding and holy transformation in your life. It may take months or years for you to heal, but you can ground your hope for healing in Jesus. 
He will always be your hope when your heart breaks.

When your heart breaks gives you an opportunity for  a place of refuge and a point of reference as you navigate the path of grief.    Grieving occurs in many situations in life; grief is usually associated with death, but it can occur after any loss-divorce, layoffs, the end of a friendship.    The book can be read cover to cover, or readers can flip to one of the 52 devotions that will help them most in this season of life.    The focus of each chapter is the presence of God in the midst of grief and the comfort and hope that can be found in that knowledge.

Where you can buy Hope when your heart breaks
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What others are saying

Written from a grace-filled pastor’s heart, Michael Newman has penned an essential resource for embracing hope amidst grief. Hope dims when life’s storms hit, but Michael skillfully uses Scripture to ignite the torch of healing. His beautiful insights into grief tell us he’s been there. He wraps God’s words of hope around the grieving like a toasty blanket on a frosty night. Compassionate, crucial, Christ-centered—and critically needed. I will absorb and share this brilliant resource for years to come.

DONNA PYLE, ARTESIAN MINISTRIES, AUTHOR, SPEAKER

Grief is messy. Life after loss doesn’t follow an ordered and predictable path, but looks more like a tangled plate of spaghetti. Navigating confusing emotions and thoughts requires a reliable guide, and you’ve got a friend in Michael W. Newman. Grief is messy, and Michael Newman understands messy. These short chapters explore the untidy realities of what happens after loss. Hope When Your Heart Breaks validates the pain of loss, offers helpful insight, and gently points to a Savior who redeems your suffering with purpose and hope. Read and gift this book. You will be comforted and the Holy Spirit will grow your faith.

RUTH N. KOCH, MA, NCC, MENTAL HEALTH EDUCATOR

This is a refreshing book! The Bible is absolutely unique among the sacred writings of all religions. It is the historical description of God’s love influencing the lives of real people facing real situations. Michael Newman has taken this unique reality and put it to use in the daily struggles of the Christian. He offers a clear connection between biblical life situations and the reader’s daily life. Through it all, he shows the intricate way that God’s love is at work in the lives of His people, giving direction and hope to those struggling with difficult emotions and tough situations.

REV. DR. DAVID J. LUDWIG, PASTOR, PROFESSOR, AUTHOR

Michael Newman’s book . . . demonstrates a personal and pastoral acquaintance with the gut-wrenching realities of the grief process from a variety of losses—death of a loved one, loss of a job, family crisis, and dramatic changes in the aging process. The issues and questions raised by each chapter strike raw emotions, thoughts, and faith struggles at various stages in the grief process. Each chapter also connects the struggle with biblical narratives and comforting Christ-centered passages, which bring hope to the situation while encouraging the ongoing work of grief. I strongly recommend this book for personal

use and for giving to family and friends in need.

REV. DR. STEPHEN J. CARTER, PASTOR, PROFESSOR, AND AUTHOR

There is a reason they call it grief work. This resource honors the process of grief, as well as the value of the loss experience, the tears, the struggle, and the sadness even. It also recognizes the breadth of diversity in the grief experience for each individual. The text is artfully organized so that the readers can pick it up and look through a section that speaks to them, or read through the book as a whole. The insight into the humanity of those who have walked through loss in Scripture is unique and deeply comforting. If you are grieving, if you are walking alongside someone who is grieving, if you are in clinical practice or offer spiritual care, this book is a welcome resource for your shelf!

HEIDI GOEHMANN, DEACONESS, WRITER, BLOGGER,  AND SPEAKER AT I LOVE MY SHEPHERD MINISTRIES

Grief is involved in every change in life. Michael Newman understands this and seeks to find the threads of grief that are in life experiences such as fear, anger, depression, guilt, and purposelessness. Each of the fifty-two devotional chapters is independent of the others. The meditation itself will connect with you; devotional guides follow every chapter for further spiritual work; prayer encouragement and direction end each chapter.

BRUCE M. HARTUNG, PHD, PROFESSOR EMERITUS, PRACTICAL THEOLOGY

Michael Newman speaks the truth in love with empathy and acknowledgment of what happens to a person during grief and loss— emotionally, physically, chemically, spiritually, and relationally. He writes about the reality of life and brings our focus back to our Lord God through Scripture in a nonthreatening way. When one is weakened by grief, he or she can’t concentrate on a whole book or a long reading, but these short chapters get right to the point. I recommend this book as a resource for parish nurses, lay ministers, Stephen Ministers, pastors, and others who walk alongside someone experiencing heartbreak.

KAREN HARDECOPF, RN, CERTIFIED LAY MINISTER– PARISH NURSE, STEPHEN MINISTER LEADER

Grief hits us all at various times throughout our lives. This book gives encouragement by taking us on a journey through the lives of people in the Scriptures who grieve, yes, but with the hope that comes from trusting in the God of heaven and earth, the one who rules over life and death, who conquers grief with eternal joy. It is a book to share, but even more importantly, it is a book to read.

REV. DR. GREGORY P. SELTZ, SPEAKER OF THE LUTHERAN HOUR

Michael Newman provides the reader with insight, sensitivity, and encouragement. He consistently shares the love of God and assures us that Jesus understands and cares. His personal style suggests that the author also understands and cares. As a parish nurse, I will use this book with individuals and groups experiencing grief and loss. I also recommend that parish nurses and others involved in congregational health ministry read and discuss in small groups to enhance their compassionate care to the person who is grieving.

MARCIA SCHNORR, EDD, RN-BC, CERTIFIED LAY MINISTER– PARISH NURSE

When looking through a prism, light is refracted into a full spectrum of colors. Michael W. Newman accomplishes the same thing here, treating grief as a prism through which we see the full spectrum of emotions and experiences that loss brings to life. The conversational tone of his writing makes the reader feel as if he has crawled into his or her mind, truly grasping the nuances of grief as one struggles to move from brokenness to healing. Best of all, each and every chapter clearly articulates that we cannot accomplish this on our own, pointing to Jesus Christ as the true source of hope and strength. A must-have for all of us, at any stage of life.

JANE P. WILKE, EDUCATOR, AUTHOR, SPEAKER, ENCOURAGER