Dreams

Dear Father,

I have so many dreams related to helping grieving people, so many dreams about the ways in which Cornerstone could help grieving people. Please help me to know if these dreams are from you or if they are my own desires.

I dream that Cornerstone could:

* Offer GriefShare sessions year-round with only a short break between sessions at the most
(possibly with a modified format during the summer months);

* Offer a grief support group for kids with facilitators who are trained about the special needs
of grieving kids;

* Offer special workshops or events related to grief at certain times of the year that could
trigger more intense grief. Examples:

-a yearly Surviving the Holidays seminar,

-events on Mother's Day and Father's Day aimed at mothers and fathers who have lost a
child or people whose mother or father has died or for the surviving parent of children
whose mother or father has died - whether a luncheon or tea with a presentation or just a
special acknowledgment of those populations during a Mother's Day or Father's Day
church service,

-a yearly Longest Night service in December for people who are hurting and having
trouble finding joy in the holidays.

*Offer opportunities for grieving children and adults to express and share their grief through
journaling, various visual art activities, music, and drama;

*Provide a lending library of selected books on grief and mourning for adults, children, and
teens;

*Form a Steven Ministry and partner with the Steven Ministry to help those in grief;

*Pair each member of GriefShare with a church member who would commit to praying for
that person specifically, calling that person on occasion, and sending cards and notes of
support (especially on birthdays, anniversaries, etc.);

*Provide quality training to GriefShare faciliators and others who are helping in the grief
ministry;

*Provide a mentoring program in which each GriefShare member could be matched up with
someone a little farther along in the grief journey with whom they could talk about their grief
and related issues;

*Provide opportunities for those who have been through GriefShare before and who are
farther along in their grief journey to assist with GriefShare meetings and to possibly begin
training to be a GriefShare facilitator.

There are a couple of other dreams that have been on my heart recently as well that are not directly related to the grief ministry at Cornerstone, but which are indirectly related.

I would like to write a books for grieving children, for children with a serious illness, and for the siblings of a child with a serious illness. I would also like to create journals for children in each of those catagories, with prompts to help them process their feelings.

Dear Lord, help me to know if these dreams are coming from you or if they are the result of me relying on my own knowledge and my own strength to try to plan what I think would be good or what I think we should do. If these dreams are from you, then help me to know what I should do to try to reach them and what I should just be waiting on you for. If you want these things done, then please bring the people that you want to help with them forward, and help each of us to know what place you have for us in this vision.

Please give to me generously of your wisdom and help me to lean on your strength. I know I cannot do any of this without you - or if I were to do it without you and your help, then it would really be meaningless, as is anything without you at the center.

Thank you for giving us dreams and visions for the future and for using us in your plans.

Amen