Baptist Burden Bearers

12/10/2024

Early Sunday morning, Joyanna Logue, the 12-year old daughter of Ben and Becca Logue, passed away from complications related to a life-limiting genetic disease.

Ben is the Dean of Students at Heartland, and both he and Becca have served at Heartland for many years. The Heartland staff and students throughout the years have loved the Logue family and have walked with them through each step of Joyanna’s journey. She was known by those who knew her for her ready smile and fun-loving spirit. ❤

A visitation will be held on Thursday evening from 6 to 8 p.m. at the Mercer-Adams funeral home in Bethany, OK. The link to the obituary can be found here: https://www.mercer-adams.com/obituaries/Joyanna-Elisabeth-Logue?obId=34014061

The funeral service will be held on Friday morning at 10 a.m. at Southwest Baptist Church in Oklahoma City. For those who cannot attend, the service will be live-streamed on SWBC's website.

07/29/2022

🚫Don't hide your grief from Children~
Children easily pick up on emotions from adults and they know when "something's wrong". They are already learning how to deal with normal growing emotions. When you add grief to the mix it seriously complicates their life. They need to see that adults do grieve but they also need to learn how to handle that grief. Let them see your tears. Let them feel your pain. Let them comfort you. The pattern that we show them as adults is the path that they will take when they face grief later in their life.

07/29/2022

05/26/2022

Children grieve as deeply as adults~
When children do grieve they can grieve as intensely as adults. They will cry, act out, get angry and exhibit many of the same symptoms of grief as would any adult. We should never minimize their grief simply because they are children. They may not understand all the ramifications when a loved one dies but they do feel the effects. They hurt, they cry, they grieve and they ask why.

Children grieve in spurts~
Children have a built in “grief regulator”. It’s a very normal thing to see a child that is grieving go from tears one minute to laughing the next. They may come home from a family member’s funeral and go out to play or watch a cartoon show. Adults try and process all of their grief at once but children will grieve in spurts. It’s a God given, built in preservation mechanism.

04/29/2022

Helping a Grieving Child

Children are definitely one of the “forgotten mourners” in our society. Sometimes we ignore their grief because we don’t realize they actually grieve. Sometimes we don’t know how to deal with their grief. Still there are times when we’re so engulfed in our own grief that we don’t have the time or energy to give to them. Children that are grieving must have our help. Their emotional, mental and spiritual development depends on it. Learning to grieve is as important as learning other life skills. Therefore in order for adults to teach them how to grieve well we need to understand how they grieve.

Children grieve in their own way
When adults grieve they will grieve the past, the present and the future. For example, we understand that death means we have lost a loved one for the rest of this life, that there will be no more memories created and any future dreams are gone. Children will concentrate on the present. They don’t think about past memories or about what future events they won’t have. They only know … and feel … that their life is messed up and someone is missing.

Continued .............

04/04/2022

~Regardless of how you feel right now there is purpose and meaning behind your grief.
Romans 8:28 begins with the words “We know that all things work together for good …” That doesn’t mean that you’re ready to accept what happened. It doesn’t mean that you even understand or agree with that meaning or purpose. However, it is true that God is always good and He is always in control. The time will come when God will remove all the fog and you’ll be able to see His hand in your life. Until then you are on a journey down the painful and sorrowful road of grief.

~One day everything will be made right again.
“And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain …” Rev 21:4 Right now you can’t see how your life could ever be “fixed”. It appears impossible that you could feel happiness, safety and peace ever again. Your loved one is gone, your dreams have been destroyed and your life has been turned upside down. Please remember this truth “… With God all things are possible” Matt 19:26

03/23/2022

THE GRIEF JOURNEY CONTINUES:

You have to decide to live again...
Everyone grieves differently. We all have different emotional, physical, mental and spiritual foundations. It’s the combination of all of these factors that determines how we react to grief. Even with all these facts there are some basic reactions that you will be faced with as you begin your grief journey.

Don’t ignore your grief...
You shouldn’t ignore a disease or an injury and neither should you ignore the fact that you are in grief.

Don’t get bogged down in mourning...
You also don’t want to remain in a state of mourning. You have to conquer this grief.

Don’t try to replace your grief...
Becoming a workaholic or turning to drugs and alcohol never helps. You can’t replace the pain. You must go through it.

Do begin a plan of attack...
The only way to conquer your grief is to attack it. Find a grief partner or a support group and let them walk with you.

03/17/2022

...the Journey Continues ...
You don’t know what to do next -
When your life is turned upside down it’s almost impossible to see through the fog and have any idea where to go next. How do you go on without your loved one? How do you handle the bad health condition? How do you cope when everything in life has changed? Remember this … you’re not alone. Others have gone through what you’re enduring and there is someone to help you walk this journey. Don’t make any major decisions. Don’t rush into more life changes. Wait … and reach out to someone that can help.