Welcome to Teach Back Tuesday, where we play the most popular episodes from previous seasons.

This week's episode, The Empty Chair and Other Firsts of Grief, is approaching the 15,000 download mark,

and we're getting the impression that this really is an area that is a rotation in everyone's life.

You know, some of us are in the role of comforters right now

because we have friends or loved ones who have someone who has passed away from their lives.

But when it's our turn to grieve, we experience how deeply it changes life. The absence of a loved one,

there's just no words to describe it. I heard a song that had

this lyric line in it. Death can be so inconvenient. You try to live in love, it comes and interrupts.

But we know actually that death is not merely an interruption. It's actually part of God's plan.

We are not meant to be here forever. If you're experiencing the empty chair and all the changes that come with it,

I hope this episode will be a help to you. Let's listen again. Whenever we get to the holidays, there's always the chance that there will be people who are going through a season of firsts.

Those are the things that come up in life that are happening for the first time, like having an empty spot at the dining room table for the holidays.

It's really disorienting, and we may find ourselves feeling like we'd rather

not celebrate. It's really hard to know what to do when you're going through something for the first

time. It's kind of like being in a choir with a new piece of sheet music, and you don't really know

how to sing the song. Even if you're familiar with reading music,

that first time is often rough. That's what it's like when you're going through a season of

firsts because of changes in your life due to grief.

Thank you for joining Keep the Heart for today's podcast with Francie Taylor.

Francie is an author, teacher, and conference speaker.

Sharing lessons from the Word of God is her passion.

Now, back to today's important study.

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