Gift in Grief - Volume 1

"Better than Resilient"

GIFT Word: Transformation

After giving birth to her second daughter, Phaedra’s life changed overnight. What she thought was exhaustion became a diagnosis that altered everything she knew about strength, control, and faith. Through years of pain, prayer, and surrender, she discovered that resilience wasn’t the end goal — transformation was. 

"Twice Broken, Still Blooming"

GIFT Word: Growth

At just eighteen, Sheila buried her newborn daughter — and two years later, her husband. Decades of prayer and perseverance taught her that faith doesn’t erase pain; it grows through it. Her story reminds us that love and loss can coexist, and that even the hardest seasons can birth lasting strength. 

"For the Plot"

GIFT Word: Introspection

Montgomery writes with candor about navigating early-career disappointments and the ache of pursuing purpose without the father who inspired his dreams. Through his reflections, he reframes failure, discovering that grief isn’t only about loss—it’s about learning to keep writing the script when life edits the plot. 

"The Father I Borrowed"

GIFT Word: Gratitude

As a biomedical researcher, she’s used to observing life through the lens of science, but losing her Godfather required a different kind of study — one of the heart. Her story explores how grief can deepen understanding, not just of loss, but of love itself.

Through her lens of gratitude, Veniesha shows that healing isn’t the absence of sorrow — it’s learning to carry memories as motivation. Her story reminds us that faith and science are not opposites but companions in understanding the miracle of life and the grace of release.

"Grace in the rhythm of grief"

GIFT Word: Gratitude

Losing her sister Patti was not a single moment of grief — it was a long goodbye marked by shared laughter, mirrored diagnoses, chemo visits, prayer, and the quiet ache of watching a loved one slip away. 

Lorina discovered that gratitude can coexist with grief. Remembering Patti — her light, her faith, her courage — became the anchor that steadied her in the waves. Even now, grief remains, but so does the goodness of what they shared.

"Brick by Brick, Breath by Breath"

GIFT Word: Tenacity

When Alzheimer’s began stealing her mother piece by piece, Rose’s life unraveled too—divorce, strained friendships, financial pressure, and a ministry on pause. Grief became a “living loss,” and survival meant compartmentalizing what her heart could no longer carry.

In time, Rose learned that rebuilding doesn’t come by force. Guided by prayer and Scripture, her strength was formed in surrender, not striving—brick by brick, breath by breath. 

"From Graveyard to Garden"

GIFT Word: Tenacity

When Tikeena’s daughter, Trinity Briana, transitioned just ten days after birth, her world collapsed in a single morning. What followed was a grief so consuming it felt like fire from the inside out. Yet in the middle of that devastation, a quiet war rose within her—one that pulled her back from the edge and asked her to live. Not instead of her daughter, but for her.

Today, through The Purpose Ark™, she transforms her sorrow into support for grieving mothers, reminding them they are not alone and that gardens can grow from unthinkable loss.

"Through it all, I survived"

GIFT Word: Tenacity

From childhood near-misses to unimaginable adult loss, Lisa’s story is a living testament of endurance. She’s faced tragedy after tragedy — losing her parents, her husband, and countless loved ones — yet through every heartbreak, she found her way back to faith.

Each season of loss could have broken her, but instead, it built her. Her survival is not denial of pain, but devotion through it. Lisa’s strength was never in avoiding sorrow — it was in trusting God enough to rise again.

"The Beauty after the Broken"

GIFT Word: Transformation

Ronnie’s world shattered in a way most hearts can’t imagine: first, her son Jakeith was murdered… and just two weeks later, her husband Rodney died from what doctors called “broken heart syndrome.” In a single month, she went from wife and mother in a family of four to a grieving widow with a daughter who needed answers, stability, and hope.

Grief took her through anger, isolation, and questions that had no easy answers. But through counseling, community, and the steady work of God, something began to shift. Ronnie didn’t go back to who she was—she became someone new.

"When the Understudy becomes the Lead"

GIFT Word: Forward-Thinking

After losing his father, MJ found himself unexpectedly stepping into roles he once assumed he’d grow into slowly. Navigating legacy became both a weight and a guide as he learned to carry forward the values his father modeled while forging his own path. Through honest reflection, he realized that honoring someone’s memory isn’t about replacing them—it’s about progressing because of them.

His story explores what it means to move forward with courage, uncertainty, and a deep sense of responsibility for the next generation. In the echoes of grief, MJ discovers that forward-thinking is not about having all the answers, but choosing the next step with intention. 

"Grief of Yourself"

GIFT Word: Growth

Max shares a different kind of grief — the grief of who you once were. After losing his father at sixteen, he poured himself into theatre, only to later find his dreams shifting in unexpected ways. When his long-held plan of pursuing Musical Theatre shifted, he discovered a new passion for directing, realizing that growth sometimes requires releasing earlier versions of ourselves.

His story reminds us that grieving change is natural, but it can also reveal gifts we didn’t know were waiting. In embracing a new path, Max shows how growth can emerge from loss, leading us toward becoming who we’re meant to be. 

"Souvenirs of Love and Loss"

GIFT Word: Growth

Theresa writes from the deepest place a mother can speak—life after the loss of a child. Her story honors how grief reshapes us, becoming a lifelong companion rather than a moment to “move past.” In tender detail, she shares the sacred “souvenirs” she carries: memories that steady her, questions that linger, and the love that continues to grow even in absence. While the world around her moves on, Theresa names the courage it takes to keep going, establishing boundaries, protecting her peace, and learning to live with what cannot be undone.

Her reflection offers comfort to grieving parents everywhere, reminding them that healing happens slowly—day by day, inch by inch—as we carry the ones we’ve loved and lost forward in heart and memory.