When I first began to research the topic of grief in divorce, I never expected to find evidence of God’s grace so prevalent in the stories I heard from the women I interviewed.  Though they were sharing intimate details of confusion, pain and sorrow, I realized that God had consistently shown up, even in this most unexpected situation.

Divorce is one of those topics no one likes to talk about.  Despite the common accusation heard from some people (usually those who have not personally gone through a divorce), it is not too easy to get a divorce!  Time and time again I have sat with individuals who are grieving the loss of a marriage they thought would last a lifetime – this is true whether or not the person initiated the divorce.

So where does Grace enter into this morass of confusion?  Knowing the character of Jesus, who was frequently accused of hanging out with the wrong sort of people, I think he shows up at times when we are at the end of ourselves, when we have been stripped of all pretense and all we can do is truly cry out, “Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, Have mercy on me!”  And he does!