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Jen Bradbury
Dec 19 · 5 min read

Death as Discipleship

Our American culture does not handle death well. We don’t know how to grieve or how to be with people in their despair. Uncomfortable with silence, we attempt to fill it. When we do, we often say something dumb that only heightens everyone’s...

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#death #grief #youth ministry #discipleship

Jen Bradbury
Dec 10 · 5 min read

Five Minute Friday: Reflect

5minutefriday

Today, I'm linking up with Lisa-Jo Baker‘s Five Minute Friday. The rules: Write for 5 minutes flat – no editing, no over thinking, no backtracking.

This week's prompt: Reflect. 

19 years ago yesterday, my Grandma died.

I still remember...

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#Five Minute Friday #Family #grief

Jen Bradbury
Nov 12 · 5 min read

Follow footsteps, not doctrine

There's a story in the Gospel of Matthew about a woman who hemorrhaged for twelve years.

It's not typically one we pay much attention to.

Why would we? In it's entirety, this woman's story comprises three verses. As with so many of her female...

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#scripture #miscarriage #grief #Jesus

Jen Bradbury
Nov 05 · 5 min read

Thankful Tuesday: Grief & Gratitude

In the last several weeks, I've been ever so slowly working my way through Brene Brown's Daring Greatly . It's a book that's every bit as wonderful as everyone says it is. 

Last week, I read the chapter on Vulnerability Armory and was struck...

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#miscarriage #grief #gratitude #Leaders #hope #death #books

Jen Bradbury
Aug 23 · 5 min read

Recent Reads: The Return of the Prodigal Son by Henri Nouwen

Filed in Recent Reads

What the book's about:  Henri Nouwen's The Return of the Prodigal Son: A Story of Homecoming  chronicles the author's encounter with Rembrandt's The Return of the Prodigal Son and the exploration of Luke's parable prompted by it. 

...

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#scripture #grief

Jen Bradbury
Aug 21 · 5 min read

The couch

As I've been reading the Bible in Margaret Feinberg's 40 Day Bible Reading Challenge, I've been struck by the physicality of our faith. Our Christian faith is one that's very much attached to people and places. It is physical, tangible, and real....

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#comfort #miscarriage #small group #Prayer #scripture #grief #faith formation

Jen Bradbury
Jul 25 · 5 min read

The Heartbreak of Miscarriage: 4 months later

Four months ago, I sat in my doctor's office and learned I was having a miscarriage.

The months since then have been a whirlwind: I finished my master's degree, wrapped up another school year in ministry, vacationed, and led one of our summer...

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#one word 365 #grace #brave #crucifixion #miscarriage #grief

Jen Bradbury
Apr 25 · 5 min read

The Heartbreak of Miscarriage

I'm 32 and childless.

Though this has not always been the case, right now, that's an incredibly painful thing for me to say.

My husband and I have been married for 10 years. We got married young and knew we didn't want kids right away. But after...

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#one word 365 #brave #miscarriage #grief

Jen Bradbury
Apr 17 · 5 min read

God is still God, even when we grieve

My husband and I were on our way home from a brief trip to a local state park on Monday when we stopped for lunch and heard the news about the bombings at the Boston marathon.

Immediately, my heart sunk. As I watched the images from Boston flit...

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#tragedy #grief

Jen Bradbury
Apr 12 · 5 min read

Review: An Exact Replica of a Figment of My Imagination by Elizabeth McCracken

Filed in Book Review

Next to fiction, memoir is my favorite kind of book. My love for memoir attracted me to Elizabeth McCracken's An Exact Replica of a Figment of My Imagination, a book she calls the “happiest story in the world with the saddest ending”.

Indeed, it...

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#death #grief

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Latest Posts

  • Death as Discipleship
  • Five Minute Friday: Reflect
  • Follow footsteps, not doctrine
  • Thankful Tuesday: Grief & Gratitude
  • Recent Reads: The Return of the Prodigal Son by Henri Nouwen
  • The couch
  • The Heartbreak of Miscarriage: 4 months later
  • The Heartbreak of Miscarriage
  • God is still God, even when we grieve
  • Review: An Exact Replica of a Figment of My Imagination by Elizabeth McCracken

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