Stories of Hope: Action Steps

1. Give Yourself Permission to Be Honest With God
   • You do not have to clean up your prayers.
   • You do not have to pretend you are okay when you are not.
   • This week—find a quiet moment and say the thing you have been afraid to say.
   • The anger. The fear. The confusion. The grief.
   • God can handle every single word of it.
   • Honesty is not a lack of faith. It is faith in its most raw and real form.
2. Find One Person Who Has Been Where You Are
   • Justin sat in this chair today not as someone with all the answers— but as someone who survived what you may still be walking through.
   • Find that person in your life.
     • Someone further down the road.
     • Someone whose faith survived the fire.
     • Let their survival be evidence that yours can too.
3. Take Your Pain and Give It a Direction
   • You may not be ready to serve yet.
   • You may still be in the middle of the hardest part.
   • But ask yourself honestly: “What could my pain build—when I am ready?”
     • A nonprofit. A support group. A conversation with one other parent.
   • Purpose does not erase grief. But it gives grief somewhere to go.
4. Choose to Hold On for One More Day
   • Not forever. Not until everything is resolved. Just today.
   • Make the choice Justin made.
     • One more day of believing.
     • One more day of showing up.
     • One more day of holding on.

Additional Resources:

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