God Can Turn Your Child’s Mourning Into Dancing

Posted on Jun 06, 2019 Topic : Men's Christian Living, Women's Christian Living
Posted by : Amy Ford

You have turned my mourning into joyful dancing. (Psalm 30:11)

Do you know a grieving child?

At first thought, many would say no. We often assume that a grieving child is someone under the age of 18 who has experienced the recent death of a loved one—usually a parent.

But there are millions of grieving children in the United States right now, today, even as you are reading this post. Grief comes as a result of loss. That means that a child experiencing loss will also experience grief.

Loss can come from any of the following:

Death of a pet
Divorce or restructure of a family
Growing up without one or both parents
A sibling who died (including miscarriage), or a sibling with significant health care requirements
Death of a friend, including suicide
Moving to a new home or community
A transition that created an unplanned and unwanted environment

It puts a new context on grieving children, doesn’t it?

Even deeper, grieving children go unnoticed…sometimes for their whole lives.

I have a friend whose father died as a soldier in the Vietnam War. She was 13 years old at the time, and no one ever talked to her about it. She just lived her life, thinking that losing her father was sad but not significant.

My friend began to tear up when she told me this story. No one ever saw her as a grieving child. But she was. And even though she’s now an adult, she still is a grieving child. Because grief doesn’t go away until it’s healed.

Are you an adult child who hasn’t yet grieved a loss?

When Your Child is Grieving is written for caregivers of children who have experienced all types of loss. It provides support and resources for their children, but I think you will find it’s a healing resource for you, too.

I wrote this book because, well, God asked me to. Even before I began writing, I felt God’s Spirit move in my heart. He told me how He could see the hearts of grieving children all over the world, and how their grief broke His heart, too. God promises that He will turn mourning into joy (Psalm 30:11). This is His heart’s desire for you, for your child, and for the entire world.

Do you know a grieving child? Are you a grieving child? Open your heart to Jesus, the healer. He’s longing to see you dance.