Your spiritual companion through the journey of grief.

A spiritual companion on the journey of grief, the Present Comfort Study Guide reflects on the many aspects of loss, reminding you that you’re not alone, connecting you to the healing presence of God, and lovingly guiding you through grief into hope and new life.

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In our modern world, we’re faced with near daily experiences of grief: random acts of violence, school shootings, natural disasters, global pandemics, job loss, divorce, losing a home or a friend. We experience heartbreak that is personal and collective, direct and indirect, the result of death but also the result of loss of any kind.

With so much chaos and uncertainty, how can we create space to acknowledge and process our grief – and find the deeper experience of love and faith it holds for us?

The Present Comfort Study Guide is a collection of meditations on modern loss and grief that offers you comfort, encouragement, perspective, and compassion for the many complex emotions and experiences encountered on the journey of grief. A spiritual companion through the grieving process, these meditations reflect on the many facets of personal and collective loss, remind you that you’re not alone, and lovingly guide you through grief to hope and new life.

Through the Present Comfort Study Guide, you will encounter the healing presence of God and find a new way of looking at grief: as a sacred experience that leads to a deeper, more honest, and more meaningful way of relating to God, yourself, and others.

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Julie Yarbrough

Julie Yarbrough lives in Dallas, Texas and is President of Yarbrough Investments. She has written extensively on grief, inspired by the death of her beloved husband. Julie is the author of several books that address the practical and spiritual challenges of grief including Present Comfort, the Beyond the Broken Heart grief group resources, Inside the Broken Heart, Beyond the Broken Heart: Daily Devotions for Your Grief Journey, A Journey Through Grief, and Secure in the Storm (Abingdon Press). In writing about grief, her premise is that those who grieve seek answers found only when they understand the personal dimensions of their own individual grief.

Julie is a member of the Board of Methodist Health System, Texas Methodist Foundation, and the Executive Board of Perkins School of Theology at Southern Methodist University. She is an active member of Highland Park United Methodist and blogs at www.beyondthebrokenheart.com.

Reviews

What people are saying...

Julie Yarbrough’s extraordinary work invites us to encounter the very presence of God through biblically grounded insights into the nature of grief that engage the mind and touch the heart as she takes us on a journey toward spiritual and emotional wholeness. Present Comfort is an essential resource to help us faithfully and deftly navigate the path of life.

Rev. Robert Hasley

Founding Pastor, St. Andrew United Methodist Church, Plano, Texas

Julie Yarbrough weaves understanding, care, and comfort together in such a way that the seemingly intolerable becomes tolerable, one breath at a time. This resource provides everything you need to promote, establish, and conduct grief groups throughout the year.

Judith Bone

Director of Adult Discipleship, Brentwood United Methodist Church, Nashville, Tennessee

In Present Comfort Julie Yarbrough eloquently gives voice to the experience of loss, both personal and societal, and provides reassurance of God’s steadfast presence in each moment. Individuals and groups alike will find Present Comfort: Meditations on Modern Loss and Grief a powerful compendium for working through the layers of grief to find a place of trust and joy we thought unimaginable.

Rev. Connie L. Nelson

Perkins School of Theology, Southern Methodist University

Present Comfort is a rich exploration of the sacred space of grief. Filled with deep spiritual insight and her own personal story, Julie Yarbrough writes in exquisite prose to lead her readers through the “valley of the shadow” into the bright hope of God’s love, joy and new life.

Bishop Janice Riggle Huie

Texas Methodist Foundation, Leadership Formation

In this exceptional volume of meditations, Julie Yarbrough has provided a fountain of wisdom, insight, honesty, and hope. This book of meditations can be diligently read as a whole volume or digested in daily doses to renew our reliance on God, who is with us as a present comfort in time of grief.

Dr. William B. Lawrence

Professor Emeritus of American Church History, Perkins School of Theology, Southern Methodist University and Research Fellow, Duke Center for Studies in the Wesleyan Tradition

Julie Yarbrough draws from her personal experiences and her deep Christian faith to offer an excellent resource for one who is living with grief. I commend it to clergy and counselors as they will find rich and helpful resources for their own vocations in working with people who are struggling with grief.

Bishop Michael McKee

North Texas Conference of The United Methodist Church

We don’t get a choice about whether or not we grieve. When death or loss occurs, grief enters our life uninvited, a force that brings pain, heartache, sadness, hurt, anger, and confusion into our lives.

What do you do with these overwhelming emotions that feel like they have taken over? Is this all there is to your life now? Is there still hope?

The Present Comfort Study Guide is a spiritual companion on the journey of grief that will help you:

See grief as a sacred journey

Grief is a spiritual experience where we encounter the depth of God’s love for us and learn the true meaning of trust, even in the midst of pain.

Find comfort and hope

Be reminded that you’re not alone and assured that grief isn’t the end of the road.

Encounter the presence of God

Learn to recognize the quiet, unexpected ways God is present in every circumstance of life, at work in the world to give us victory over loss, destruction, death, and grief.

Find hope and comfort on the sacred journey of grief.

Learn to see the healing presence of God where you least expect it. Find new life on the other side of grief.

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