Present Comfort (Paperback)

I wish I had had this marvelous resource available several years ago when I lost my wife of 48 years to cancer. Julie’s deep faith, compassionate wisdom, and unconditional love shine through her words to touch and heal our hearts. Give this book to anyone you know who has suffered loses and they will be comforted and strengthened for the journey ahead.

In Present Comfort, Julie Yarbrough mindfully and compassionately shepherds the reader through the vast, precarious landscape of grief. By inviting the reader into her personal challenges with grief, Julie becomes a kindred spirit rather than dispassionate expert. This book transcends the realm of self-help books and becomes a ministry of hope and reassurance.

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.

Julie Yarbrough takes us on a thoughtful and sacred journey to the inner recesses of the most fundamental of human experiences—grief. Gently, she encourages the reader to release fear and examine grief’s complexity as an individual and communal phenomenon. For those of us who have wept the bitter tears of loss, this book is a welcome balm to the soul.

Julie Yarbrough attends to grief in a way that provides for us all. There is personal, private grief over loss suffered alone. There is also shared, collective grief over the large calamities suffered by all. Grief provides us a way ahead, difficult though it may be. And Julie provides us both thoughtfulness and companionship for the journey. These reflections and resources of the spirit reorient and remind us that we are not alone and not without direction.

With the rich resources of Scripture, poetry, and stories, Present Comfort is a marvelous exposition of one of the grand themes of the Bible; that “God is with us,” especially in the darkest and most difficult times in our lives. This is simply a wonderfully “hope-full” book for all of us in uncertain and challenging seasons in our lives.

In her newest book, Present Comfort, Julie Yarbrough gives us rich language to understand the complexity of grief. Weaving scripture with personal experience and insights, she invites us not only to face our grief, but to embrace it. In today’s climate, Present Comfort can be just that: a comforting companion for a weary soul, a reminder that we are not alone as we walk through the valley.

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.

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.

With each turn of page, readers of Present Comfort will come to know Julie as a new friend who has a vulnerable, compassionate, and courageous heart–just like them. They will be informed about new varieties and components of grief in our modern world and will be comforted by hearing the presence of God in new contexts that lead them to live and move and have their being in love that is stronger than death.

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.

Julie’s newest work is many things: wise, biblical, poetic. But, most of all, it’s truly helpful. There are certain writers who radiate comfort. Julie is one of those. And Present Comfort could not be more timely.

In her new book, Present Comfort: Meditations on Modern Loss and Grief, author Julie Yarbrough beautifully and masterfully explores the human experience of loss and grief through the spiritual lens of Hope, Grace, and Peace. She invites us to connect with the spirit of who we are and who we were created to be, inviting us to know the everlasting love of those we grieve and that they will always be with us in spirit and love.