When the People Who Should Build You Up, Tear You Down

The Reunion is Real

The reunion is not a sentiment. It is a promise. This episode closes the Grief Series with the most important truth of all five days — and the most personal story Raymond has shared all week. A few months after Wendy died, a woman at church pulled Raymond aside and told him something Wendy had once said — that in their entire 33-year marriage, she had never doubted once that he loved her. This episode is about what is coming. What Revelation 21:4 actually promises. What the reunion looks like. And why you should not waste a single ordinary day you still have. In this episode: * Revelation 21:4 — not reduced, not managed, gone forever * What 1 Thessalonians 4 says about the reunion in specific terms * Why the hope of eternity does not make the grief smaller — it makes it bearable * The charge to love out loud while you still can * Next week: Loneliness — why the most connected generation in history is also the loneliest Scripture: Revelation 21:4, 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17 (NLT) GET THE BOOK — The Greater the Love, the Deeper the Grief https://www.discipleblueprintpress.com [https://www.discipleblueprintpress.com] FREE DOWNLOAD — Grief to Grace: A 5-Day Devotional https://discipleblueprint.com/grief [https://discipleblueprint.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/Grief-Free-Grief-to-Grace.pdf] DISCIPLE BLUEPRINT MEMBERSHIP — Founding pricing through June https://www.discipleblueprint.com/explore-membership [https://www.discipleblueprint.com/explore-membership]

How to Hold On to Faith When You are Grieving

You are allowed to grieve and believe at the same time. This episode talks about how — and why the separation grief creates is a window into something far bigger than any of us expected. Raymond shares the hardest realization of his grief: that the daily absence of Wendy — the conversations, the hand-holding, the four or five kisses a day — gave him a picture of what permanent separation from God actually feels like. And why that changes everything. In this episode: * Why faith and grief are not enemies * What 1 Thessalonians 4 says about grieving with hope * The separation grief creates — and the permanent separation it points toward * Why Raymond's separation from Wendy is hard and temporary * How to hold your faith when everything in you is grieving Scripture: 1 Thessalonians 4:13-14 (NLT) DISCIPLE BLUEPRINT MEMBERSHIP — 51 prayer guides including Praying Through Difficult Times. Founding pricing through June. https://www.discipleblueprint.com/explore-membership [https://www.discipleblueprint.com/explore-membership] FREE DOWNLOAD — Grief to Grace: A 5-Day Devotional https://discipleblueprint.com/grief [https://discipleblueprint.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/Grief-Free-Grief-to-Grace.pdf] GET THE BOOK — The Greater the Love, the Deeper the Grief https://www.discipleblueprintpress.com [https://www.discipleblueprintpress.com]

Can God Use Your Grief?

Three months after Wendy died, Raymond walked into a bank to open a business account. On the credenza behind the desk was a sign that said three words: In The Midst. What happened next changed everything he thought he knew about Romans 8:28. This episode is about whether God is actually doing something in your grief — not as a concept, but as something you can see. Raymond shares the bank story, Wendy's retreat, and the woman whose life was changed by a message Wendy delivered with chains around her neck. In this episode: * Why Romans 8:28 is not a platitude * What “called according to his purpose” means for the person you lost * The difference between a life cut short and a life completed * Why God may not show you the purpose yet — but that does not mean it is not there Scripture: Romans 8:28 (NLT) FREE DOWNLOAD — Grief to Grace: A 5-Day Devotional https://discipleblueprint.com/grief [https://discipleblueprint.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/Grief-Free-Grief-to-Grace.pdf] GET THE BOOK — The Greater the Love, the Deeper the Grief https://www.discipleblueprintpress.com [https://www.discipleblueprintpress.com] DISCIPLE BLUEPRINT MEMBERSHIP — Founding pricing through June https://www.discipleblueprint.com/explore-membership [https://www.discipleblueprint.com/explore-membership]

Why Grief Feels Like it is Breaking You

Grief doesn't just break your heart. It disrupts your mind, drains your body, and forces you to rebuild a daily life you never asked to change. This episode talks honestly about what that looks like — and why it is not a spiritual problem. Raymond shares the story of camp, Lily, and selling the RV — the routines grief destroys and the new ones it forces on you. Then he walks through what the Psalms say about the physical and mental weight of loss. In this episode: * What Psalm 6 and Psalm 31 say about the body under grief * Why fog, fatigue, and forgetfulness are normal — not failure * The difference between a broken person and a grieving one * Psalm 121 — the God who does not sleep is awake with you at 3am Scripture: Psalm 6:6-7, Psalm 31:9-10, Psalm 121:3-4 (NLT) GET THE BOOK — The Greater the Love, the Deeper the Grief https://www.discipleblueprintpress.com [https://www.discipleblueprintpress.com] FREE DOWNLOAD — Grief to Grace: A 5-Day Devotional https://discipleblueprint.com/grief [https://discipleblueprint.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/Grief-Free-Grief-to-Grace.pdf] DISCIPLE BLUEPRINT MEMBERSHIP — Founding pricing through June https://www.discipleblueprint.com/explore-membership [https://www.discipleblueprint.com/explore-membership]

Is Grief the Sign of Weak Faith?

Is grief a sign of weak faith? If you have ever felt guilty for how hard you are crying, or wondered why a stronger faith does not seem to be making this easier — this episode is for you. Raymond opens the Grief Series with the story of his daily routine with Wendy — the lunch check-ins, the three porches, the two white rocking chairs, the brothers who showed up every evening. And what happened to all of it when she died. In this episode: * Why Jesus wept at the tomb of Lazarus — even knowing the resurrection was minutes away * What John 11:35 tells us about grief and faith * Why tears are not a sign of weak faith — they are the cost of loving deeply * Psalm 34:18 and the promise that God is close to the brokenhearted Scripture: John 11:35, Psalm 34:18 (NLT) FREE DOWNLOAD — Grief to Grace: A 5-Day Devotional https://discipleblueprint.com/grief [https://discipleblueprint.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/Grief-Free-Grief-to-Grace.pdf] GET THE BOOK — The Greater the Love, the Deeper the Grief https://www.discipleblueprintpress.com [https://www.discipleblueprintpress.com] DISCIPLE BLUEPRINT MEMBERSHIP — Founding pricing through June https://www.discipleblueprint.com/explore-membership [https://www.discipleblueprint.com/explore-membership]