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christian counseling today
Vol. 20 no. 4
gave the welcome. The guest speaker
spoke on how divorce could be such a
great loss that the associated grief could
turn into deep depression and require
a lengthy healing process. Jerry cried…
he sat in the back and cried during the
entire talk. He could not believe his
life had come to this—it just seemed
totally hopeless. After the talk, everyone
else moved into small groups as Jerry
slowly gathered himself and left, but
he decided he was going to come back
again.
Soon, Jerry’s entire week was in
anticipation of Monday. He knew
that as long as he made it to Monday,
he would be okay. Jerry joined one of
the small groups. The group leader
and everyone else there were either
going through, or had been through,
divorce… and Jerry got to know their
stories well. Bob’s wife had told him
she had been cheating during their
entire relationship. Carrie’s husband’s
physical abuse had finally gone too far
when he shook their baby until it had a
seizure. “Maybe there are worse things
than what happened to me,” Jerry
thought. Each week he felt comforted
and supported by his group in a way
he never expected. No one gave Jerry
advice or questioned him; they just
listened and cared. He began to think
that maybe he wasn’t a totally unlovable
human being after all.
Over the course of that first year,
Jerry realized he was no longer crying
as much. He was productive again at
work, and life was tolerable. One day,
Jerry asked the DR program coordinator
about becoming a small group leader. He
was not entirely sure he was ready, but
wanted to try “the next step.” Eventually,
Jerry led his own small group and found
it extremely rewarding, almost exciting,
to watch his group members experience
hope and a sense of belonging.
A few years later, Jerry had a chance
to substitute for the MC and gradually
found himself in that role. He loved
being able to welcome everyone and
would warm up with a short joke before
