Hi, and welcome to the Five Word Prayers Daily, a five-day-a-week, daily devotional where we share the word, prayers, and our heart.

I'm Lisa Whittle, and I welcome you to just five minutes with me, which I trust and pray will be five minutes well spent.

I have known many friends through the years I've admired for one reason or another, but maybe none of them I've had such respect for in the way they've

journeyed through hard things, in particular in the watching public eye, and done it with

perseverance and outspoken love for Jesus, no one more than my friend, Jill Kelly.

You probably know her best as the wife of NFL Hall of Fame quarterback Jim Kelly, but to me,

she's just my dear friend. She's a beautiful writer and a mother and a dear soul who has been

through not only her husband's public battle with cancer, but the loss of her beloved son,

Hunter. This woman knows grief, she knows pain, and through it all, she's loved and trusted God.

What's really crazy to me is that she and I met online first. Yeah, it's true. The internet has

brought me a few really important relationship gifts, and this is definitely one of them.

Jill was scheduled to come on, but has instead been right where she needed to be with Jim and another surgery.

So I'm pinch-hitting for my own guest today. Stay with me because, though Jill's not here, she has left something for us that I'm going to share.

So my friend Jill has written several best-selling books, but she wrote a devotional book back

in 2017 called Peace in the Face of Loss, and I loved it personally. It's a sweet, honest

offering that ministered to me in my own loss of my father. And I felt like it would be perfect

to share a small portion of it with you

today during our week of grieving on the show, as the holidays for so many can be a tough time

of the year. Even if that's not your story, you know someone who might benefit from Jill's words.

So tell them about her book in this show, because it might be exactly what they need to hear

today. Here's what Jill writes in Peace in the Face of Loss on day one.

He was the protege son, a chip off the old block, the heir to a celebrated football legacy,

...