113. Joy After Sorrow: Processing Grief with Dr. Jerry Woodbridge

In this deeply compassionate episode, I sit down with Dr. Jerry Woodbridge—a Christian author, grief advocate, and educator—to explore the complex journey of grieving with faith, honesty, and hope.

What You’ll Discover

• Grief isn’t linear. Dr. Woodbridge likens it to “having a thousand hornets around your head” or bouncing on a trampoline while climbing stairs—progress, setbacks, repeat.
• Identity after loss. The unexpected transition into widowhood isn’t a choice anyone makes. Dr. Woodbridge reflects on how that identity shift challenged both her role and faith.
• Children and grief. Kids aren’t little adults. Dr. Woodbridge explains how avoiding their grief can lead to long-term emotional struggles, and how stories can offer healing validation.
• Writing to heal and help. Through her faith-based children’s book Joy Overcame Sorrow, she gives young readers—and the adults who love them—language and solace in the midst of loss.
• Metaphor of sorrow and joy. She shares a beautiful visual: “Both sorrow and joy can coexist like liquids in a coffee cup, with love bridging the gap. We grieve because we love—and that same love makes room for joy, even alongside the sadness.”

Why Listen

This episode is a sanctuary for anyone walking with grief—or alongside someone who is. Whether you’re a parent, friend, pastor, or caregiver, Dr. Woodbridge’s insight is balm for the wounded heart.

Learn More About Dr. Jerry Woodbridge

Visit her website to explore her books, helpful resources, and connect with her directly: drjerrylwoodbridge.com

Related Content

Be sure to check out episodes 29 through 36, an eight-part summer series where I share my journey through grief, how I met Christ, and how He transformed my life—from the very beginning to a reflection on what living by faith looks like now: Episode 29, Episode 30, Episode 31, Episode 32, Episode 35, Episode 36

Scripture References

These Scriptures were thoughtfully embedded throughout Joy Overcame Sorrow and grouped by theme—perfect for personal meditation or guiding children through grief:

God Sees Every Tear | Psalm 56:8; Psalm 119:28
Trusting in His Care | Luke 12:24; Jeremiah 17:7
Hope for the Future | Jeremiah 29:11; Psalm 9:18
Comfort in Mourning | Matthew 5:4; Hebrews 13:8
Joy Restored | Psalm 126:2; Jeremiah 31:12–13; Isaiah 35:10
Peace Within | Proverbs 14:30; Luke 2:46 

Reflection Question:

How might God be inviting you to hold both sorrow and joy together in this season of your life?

 Call to Action:

Be sure to subscribe so you don’t miss future episodes, and share this episode with someone who may need encouragement today.

Remember: “Weeping may endure for a night, but joy comes in the morning” (Psalm 30:5).

Thanks for listening! Your support means the world. Join our Curious for Christ Facebook Group and become an Insider for weekly inspiration and encouragement on your faith journey.

Want to go deeper? Let's connect—set up a FREE Discovery Call today. See you next time!

Transcript

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Thank you for joining me on Curious for Christ. Today we are going to be talking about a very tender topic, grief, how children grieve and loss. The truth is, in this life, we will have sorrow, just as the Bible says, but take heart. Jesus reminds us I have overcome the world. John 16, verse 33, and in him we do have hope. If you've been listening for a while, you may remember my summer series last year when I was traveling in California and reflecting on the many ways God has met mean in seasons of deep grief. If you'd like to hear more of that story, I invite you to listen back to episode 20, to episodes 29 through 36, episode 29 shares how God found me and gave me peace when I became a Christian and the final episode. We flex on what living by faith looks like. It's not perfect, but it's honest. And all the episodes in between show how God has walked with me through every step of this journey. For those who don't know my story, I'll share briefly. I was born in Brussels, Belgium. My mother was from Bulgaria, which was still under communism at the time. She passed away when I was just five. And with her loss, I also lost the connection to that side of the family, and that's something that shaped me deeply. I built. Walls of protection that lasted decades to shield myself from the emptiness I felt losing my father in 2000, reopened that wound, and at each 22 I realized I had never truly grieved. Later. I also lost my sister who had disabilities, and so I can say that I know grief intimately, and I also know that God is intimately familiar with it too. Our darkness is always light to him as. The Bible says, even though I did not know that at the time, I did not know him yet. After college I worked for the European Union, but beneath the surface, I knew I hadn't faced my story, That journey eventually led me to the United States where I entered acting school, which I thought would be a safe outlet to explore and express my emotions. But what I truly needed was the unconditional love of Christ. His love never left me, and he gave me safety in himself. God also blessed me with my wonderful husband who has walked with me and loved me faithfully. And this Sunday, September 14, we are celebrating 19 years of marriage together with we have two amazing children aged 11 and 14. And looking back, I can see how much healing has come through. Love, safety, and the presence of God, but the truth. Is grief never simply disappears. We don't just move on unless we find space to process it in love. It can affect many areas of our lives. That's why I'm so grateful to welcome today's guest, Dr. Jerry Woodbridge. She has walked through her own seasons of loss and has written books to help children and families process grief with honesty, hope, and healing. Dr. Jerry Woodbridge, Christian author, grief Advocate, and lifelong educator with more than 40 years of classroom experience. After losing her husband unexpectedly in 2004, Jerry found herself walking the difficult road of widowhood while helping her children process grief in ways that were often misunderstood. And out of those real life experiences came her books, joy, overcame Sorrow, A Children's Story Told from a 10 year old's perspective. Joyce Journal, a guided workbook for kids age nine through 12, and training my sorrows for the joy of the Lord. A devotional drawn from her own journey of faith through loss. In our conversation, Jerry shares how God met her in the depths of sorrow, how ballroom dance. Sing and journaling became part of her healing and why it's so vital to give children language and safe spaces to process grief. Her story reminds us that while sorrow may visit, joy is never out of reach. Let's listen to Dr. Jerry Woodbridge. Welcome to Curious for Christ. Do you ever find yourself lying, awake at night wondering about God's plan for your life? Maybe you wake up with big dreams, but feel unsure where to start or what your next step should be. If you're curious about exploring your faith and finding purpose, then you've come to the right place. Hi, I'm Alexandra. I too felt lost and sure of the direction my life was taking. I yearned to understand my purpose and have someone guide me, but I kept telling myself I was too busy. The timing wasn't right, and my lack of clarity prevented me from being consistent until I found Christ. He brought peace into my life and revealed the way to find purpose by anchoring myself. In him. In this podcast, we'll journey together exploring the Bible to gain a deeper understanding of him and cultivate your own personal relationship with Christ. So open up your Bible, put in those earbuds and listen up because God is speaking to you. He's making everything new and you don't wanna miss it. Let's get started. Dr. Woodbridge, thank you so much for being here at Cures for Christ. It's a pleasure to have you. A pleasure to be here. I look forward to this conversation and to hear more about your story. I love to always start with personal stories because they're so telling and they also represent a setting in which God works and start the good work that he has in store for us. But it sometimes comes with. Grief and heartache. And so I look forward to hearing how you have managed and worked through it all from personal experience. So could you share your personal journey with grief and how it led to your calling of helping children process loss through faith and writing? So I've known Christ since I was a child. And then of course as we grow up. We have to sometimes recommit and, ask the Lord, what would you like me to do with my life? And in 10th grade, he called me to teach. And I knew that was a calling from him, even though my parents said, we think you should do something else. But as a result of that I started teaching in a Christian school in Jacksonville, Florida. Probably not very far from where you are. And that is where I met my wonderful husband and the Lord brought him to me and told me for sure he was the one that I was supposed to marry. So having these events, I think prepared me for what was to come. And then we were we were able to have my daughter Julie, and then as a result, right after that. We wanted to have additional children, but my body did not wanna cooperate. So we had a couple miscarriages, a couple premature births, and then finally the Lord directed us to choose adoption. And that's where I had my beautiful, wonderful son and my two. I, I've seen God redeem situations in my life. Throughout my life. So when it came to having to deal with the loss of a child, I went to Christian counseling and they asked me to visualize my child in heaven. And I could see Jesus holding my child. And there came a realization that if I could not hold that child in my arms, what better place could they be than to be in heaven? With the savior. So I had a friend who shocked me one day because I was feeling sad, and she said, you lucky duck. Wait what? She goes, you have heavenly four heavenly deposits in heaven. And that just really changed the perspective. I knew my children were in heaven and I knew that I would see them again. Then in 2004 when I lost my husband Dave to colon cancer it was the same kind of thing. I knew where he was. I knew he was in a better place. I knew he didn't have any more suffering, but the reality of what that meant for me as a young widow and for my children having lost their father, who was a good godly Christian man. That took a little toll on us and we had to figure out things from there. So one thing I really struggled with my identity I chose to become a missus. I chose to become a mother, and now I don't have a choice. I'm a widow. I am a single mom. My mom was a single mom throughout my life a lot of times, so these were things that I had not planned and had not wished for. But, so probably year three of the grief is when God and I had a come to Jesus meeting because first of all the first year, you're not supposed to do anything different. No major changes. But by the second year I needed employment, so we did make a cross country move. So new job, new house during year two, year three was when grief said, you're not ignoring me anymore. We've got to deal with something. And that's when I started studying the scriptures and saying, okay, Lord who am I in your eyes? Because who is the widow? Who is the fatherless? In your eyes. And from studying the scriptures I came to realize that he was my provider. He was my protector. He says he will keep the widows boundaries intact. And I thought, wow. Okay excuse me, woe to those who mess with the widow. Okay. So that was empowering. I'd also started attending a young widows fellowship lunch once a month with other widows and I'd started ballroom dancing, so I found other widows and widowers there. So we shared our stories and I was invited to a writing conference. Christian Writing Conference had no idea what I was gonna do, but during year three I started journaling and some of the journals are intense, but, so I grabbed the journals. It was the last minute invite, grabbed the journals, went to this Christian writing conference, not knowing what I was going to do while I was there, but by the end of the writing conference I knew. Then I was gonna turn it into a widow's devotional. So I have my book training my SARS for the Joy of the Lord. I don't know if you're familiar with this song by Darrel Evans? No. Which one? Very upbeat song. And so I wrote to him and I said, I would like to name my devotional after your song. Do I have any permission? And he said, sure. And I went, all so that was good. So then we transitioned to figuring out what am I going to do or how do I get to the place where I write a children's book about grief? And that was going to be my next question. Why, I'm sorry. Why did you choose to write a children's book to, to help children grieve? Was it for you personally, like the. A child that grieved or help other children? Your children? Actually, it's a funny story. I actually wanted to do a che speech, and I was trying to do one about how ballroom dancing helped me move through my grief, because after six months I was feeling stuck. And I said I need to do something new. I needed some new social connections. I needed to learn something new because I'm a teacher, so lifelong learner. And so I started started taking the ballroom dancing. So I thought doing a Ted X speech about how that helped me. Move through grief was a wonderful idea. When I went to Connecticut, I had backstage passes to learn what it was all about, to do a TEDx speech. The next day we met with all these business women who wanted to use TEDx speech to promote their business and here I am. I'm like, I just trying to promote an idea. I was 50 something, they really could not understand. What are you gonna do? Are you gonna dance on stage? And they just looked at me like I was very strange with a whole idea or concept. So I started elaborating. I said, oh I'm a teacher. And so I've had students in my class where I was the perfect teacher for them because I understood grief and I understood how. You know how there would be moments where they were still in grief and, I could respect, their place and where they were at and tell'em it's okay. We can do the lesson later, or you can take it home for homework and in, and they said, oh, you should write a children's book. This is where, oops. This is where joy overcame Sarah came from. And this was November, 2019. I didn't know what, I didn't know about writing fiction. I didn't know what I didn't know about writing for children. And so it took a few years for me to figure that out. And sometimes we put it in the, on the shelf for a little bit until inspiration came again. But it eventually came down to writing from a 10-year-old girl's perspective. Her point of view of when she loses her dad, is that your daughter's age when she lost her dad. My daughter was 16. 16, but my daughter was a journaler. So she would journal a lot of her feelings early in childhood. She was diagnosed with depression but she's very creative and so my husband would actually go sneak into her room and try to read her journals just so he would know what she was thinking about. But yes, there were times I said, okay, Julie, what about this is, is this how you felt? Or, we would have conversations about that. Now, my son was totally opposite. I didn't know what he was thinking at all. Again, he had only lived in Jacksonville, Florida, and then we moved. I think he was. 13 at the time, so eighth grade so totally changing state, schools, friends, everything, stuff. And what I didn't realize at the time was he was having a lot of anxiety, a lot of panic attacks, and he didn't know what they were he's right at the cusp of teenage being a teenager, and exploring, and he's not knowing what this pounding in his chest is all about. So he just had this idea that he was gonna die like his dad, and because he didn't verbalize. That to me, that would've changed a lot of things about our relationship at that time, if I'd understood that. But he shared it later with me when he was about 17. So I bring that up in every podcast just to make parents aware, or grandparents or whoever the caregiver is that a lot of times our children can't verbalize what they're feeling. Especially if they're having anxiety or a panic attack. So these are just some things that we need to be aware of so that we can observe and, listen to them rather than try to fix things. Yeah. Do you agree with that saying that children's ability to process and express grief is often shaped by how their caregivers handle and model grief? And also why is it important for the adults to have the right tools to help their children navigate their own emotions? And I think as parents we can model, but I also believe that every individual grieves differently. They carry their own. So for me, I'm very verbal, very expressive. But in the situation of my son, he was not, he kind withdrew. So how do you help, how do you guide parents and caregivers to be aware to, to draw them out, to help them walk through their own emotions? I'd say, first of all, observe. Because children are gonna process things differently than adults anyway. So observe, and then let them take the lead as far as what we can do to help support them. So there's the expression of listen, don't try to fix it. All of us have to face grief. All of us have to experience it, there. There's individual grief triggers that happen. Like in my example, I was in middle of a ballroom dance lesson and having trouble with a certain pattern. I had a substitute teacher at the time and I was just having a lot of difficulty and grief triggered and breakdown on the dance floor. So grief triggers are unpredictable and you don't know what's gonna cause them. But a lot of times it's these, I miss you moments. I miss reading books with my dad, and hearing his voice. So this is where we can teach our children to name their grief. And they may not have the tools to process it, but we can help them with it. So it's what is wrong? Why are you feeling sad? Or why are you feeling angry? Can you tell me why? And if they can verbalize it, that's great, because then we know what we can do to help them. But sometimes the best thing we can do is watch and know that we're not the only ones that can comfort our children. Sometimes a friend can do a better job. Not better, but different. Sometimes a favorite uncle can step in too close to be able to help them. I feel comfortable and if we're parents that are grieving ourselves, we have a range of emotions and things we're trying to deal with. So we may not always be the best observer or the best one to connect. True. And that's okay. As long as we know that what our children will need and allow those things to happen. You talk about creating safe spaces for kids to name their grief. What does that look like in a home or a church setting and what are simple ways adults can begin those conversations? Again, let the child take the lead. I know. Like with my own grandson, I hear a lot of times he will verbalize things during bedtime. And my daughter is like that too. Yeah. He'll talk about the, things with his mom, and I, and it just brings me joy to listen to it because I'm not here all the time, but just. Trying to be present in the moment, especially during bedtime when we're exhausted ourselves. Yes. And then you mentioned creative spaces, perhaps also you on the dance floor. Instead of it being a trigger maybe it was a release right. Of grief that you were carrying. And so sometimes through movement going out walking. That can release certain emotions that would otherwise remain stuck within us. But they're there nonetheless. Exactly. Or participating in sports or a lot of times we drawing those Yeah. We can withdraw to, because we may, there may be financial issues that, keep us from participating in things that we could do before. I know. My son chose to do other things rather than what he used to do with his dad, like baseball or T-ball or, those kind of things. He went a different direction. He started doing more of the computers and the video games and writing ATVs, that kind of thing. Paintball, I remember paint having a paintball party with his friends. I see. How have you seen God redeem your own grief through the ministry he has given you? Are there any highlights that you'd like to mention? I really have asked the Lord to take my sorrow and pain and suffering and redeem it so that it, so that the pain has a purpose. And part of our healing is to help another. So helping another widow, I know I had a friend that I work with she had lost her husband. I sent her my book and I said, read this when you're ready. You can throw it in your purse and just have it whenever you need it, but. So that was a way that I shared with her. And she's able to do the same kind of things now with other widows. So it's like taking another person and there's always somebody ahead of you that has been grieving longer. There's always somebody behind you and there's always somebody probably right there where you are at. So part of the grieving process, we have to go through it. Even though we try to avoid it because we don't like pain yeah we do have to go through it. And getting through it is part of how we heal. It's not that time heals all. It's going through the process that heals it. Can you say the process is different from one person? It is, it's individualized because, there will be different triggers. Sometimes we have wonderful memories of people we loved and sometimes we don't. So every situation is different. I'm sure grieving, grieving, when there was a crime involved is is different than someone who loses someone of cancer. There, there may have been anti anticipatory grief, right? During the cancer time to prepare people or someone who dies suddenly from a car accident, right? So there's all these different aspects. So while I've written one book about joy, and this is the only book that I I did my research and I found out that there's a lot of books out there that are picture books. They talk about death and dying, but there's not a lot of fiction books where a child can read about a fictional character that goes through the grief process and can see healing as hope. So I do plan to write more more of these books because I feel like children need to see narratives. That may reflect their own experience. The other resource that I created was Joyce Journal. And Joyce Journal goes along with the book and it starts off with prompts. For example do you mind if I just read a little bit relevant? No, absolutely. Okay. So I'm going to talk about back to school and grief work. So this, I'm a teacher, so this is relevant for what I did. What group age age group do you teach? I've taught everything from kindergarten through ninth grade science. But anyway, joy had a dream about her dad. Being disappointed in her math grades. She's in fourth grade right now. So Mrs. Thornbury, her teacher pulls her aside and Joy thinks it's about the math assignment that she didn't finish.'cause she's looking down at the paper on her desk and so she says, joy, she said, touching my shoulder. I didn't call you here to discuss this math paper. I know why it's not finished. You can take it home and finish it tonight. No rush. I looked up. Surprise. My teacher wasn't upset at all. She went on. Enjoy your grieving, the loss of your dad. When we love someone and we lose them, we grieve for them is hard work. I know how much you loved your dad and I know you always will. Working through those feelings is more important than long division or recess. Her words made me feel like she understood. I took a deep breath. I hadn't realized I was holding and gave her a big bear hug walking to the gym. I wondered, how long will this grief work take? So then in Joy's journal we have some book prompts. What was more important for Joy to focus on? Healing from the grief. And then have you been in a situation where you suddenly felt grief and sorrow and you did not know what to do? So that's where we can have easily journal to personalize it. That's good. Now this can be written by a student, fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh grade, teach grades. But a caregiver can also. Do the writing. For the children as well, and use this as conversation. So that's creating that safe space because it's not about their grief when they're reading about joy. So they can internalize some of the feelings that joy is that feeling and identify within themselves and then reflect on it and use the journal. That's great. It's always hard to, we have, and especially as children grow, their emotions are so intense and there's so many things, what will PE people think, how am I feeling? And then the work that needs to be done at school and the pressures and that they feel, and in social media. So all that adds on to a lot of pressure on them. And in, in the story of joy. The teacher's questions really helped her kind of release things that are there, and she was able to take a deep breath and feel closer to her teacher. Her situation felt more, know that she could handle it. It wasn't too much. Correct. That she felt supported. She felt supported. Yeah. Yeah. It's so important. I see my daughter being very emotional and sometimes it all comes out at once. And to be aware of what, what is causing, what is really happening, instead of just correcting the behavior that we can't lash on, we, we have to, understanding. The Bible talks about understanding Proverbs three. That's so important, and I myself lost my mother when I was five. So my grief was always absence of everything, of every experience, absence of everything never will, right? And so filling it up with God is just I have to go back to that place of emptiness, of void. And so that's not easy. I've had adults, when I was starting to promote the book in social media and I have actually had adults reach out and say, I need to read the book. Because sometimes we think children are resilient, and I don't mean that they're not, but when we're dealing with grief, they do still need support and assistance to help them. Because we want to get them, we want them to face. What they're feeling. And acknowledge it and validate it because that will bring healing and Right. When you have healing, then you can have joy again. And you did say love is the footbridge to both sorrow and joy. Perhaps you can comment briefly and then leave a word of encouragement to the listeners today. Absolutely. So if you are grieving, it's because you love someone. And love connects us to sorrow and it connects us to joy and love is the connector. So that's why we get really excited when somebody graduates or somebody does a, something spectacular, publish a book or whatever. We get very excited for them because we love them. But we also, when we are grieving the loss of them, we're sad. So can we hold joy and sorrow at the same time? Yes. And do you think that joy. She says at the end, I know I'm not done grieving. I'm sorry about that. But she says, I know I'm not done grieving. And yeah, Mrs. Thornbury was right. Grief is hard work. I know I'm not done grieving, just like I'll never be done loving dad, but the sorrow is fading. Grief changes you, but teaches you how to help others who have felt the same loss. It's not the end. It's a new beginning. Slowly, my sadness is turning into peace, contentment, and even joy again. I believe life goes on after death. I believe there is heaven and there is heaven, and we'll see the ones we love again someday. That belief gives me hope, and I wanna share that hope with others who are grieving. Yeah. Sometimes we're afraid to grieve because we don't have hope that, we think the loss is definitive and it's forever. But with God, we do have the hope. And in working through the sorrow for me, I think it was hard to love again because of losing and that pain. But then you don't experience joy again. So you don't experience sorrow. But then you cut yourself from all of those beautiful things that life is about. But then your experience with your daughter you love again. It's a wonderful feeling. That's so true. So where can our listeners find you, your books, your resources, and thank you so much for sharing them with us. No problem. You can go to Dr. jerry woodbridge.com. That is my website and it's under construction right now, but it'll be available soon. And it also has links to my blog, Jerry l Woodbridge dot blog, and you can find them all the books. Trading My Sorrows. Joy Overcame. Sorrow. Trading. Yeah, trading my sorrow. Joy, overcame Sorrow and Joy's journal all on Amazon. Barnes and Noble. Has Joy, overcame Sorrow and Walmart and Books A Million. Fantastic. I put all the links in the show notes and thank you so much for your time. I look forward to experiencing more joy and sorrow and much love. And I wish you the best with your work. Thank you so much. What a great conversation. Here are some key takeaways that I gathered. Number one, grief is love in another form. We grieve because we have loved deeply, and that same love is also what makes joy possible again. Number two, children. Need language for loss. Fictional stories, journaling prompts and safe conversations help kids express what they often cannot put into words. Number three, caregivers can't always fix, but they can listen sometimes. Being present, observing and allowing children to lead is more healing than trying to provide quick solutions. Number four. Grief is unpredictable and unique. It may appear as silence, panic, or unexpected triggers. Healing looks different for every person and every family. Number five, God redeemed sorrow with purpose. Jerry has prayed for her pain to be redeemed, and today her books and testimony are offering hope, tools and encouragement. To families around the world. And number six, hope is the foundation of healing because of Christ. Grief is not the end of your story. The promise of heaven and reunion with loved ones give strength to keep moving forward. Dr. Woodbridge. Dr. Jerry Woodbridge story reminds us that grief doesn't have to be the final chapter with God. With God, sorrow can be transformed into purpose, compassion, and even joy. Again, if you'd like to explore Jerry's resources, you can find joy, overcame sorrow, joy's journal, and trading my sorrows for the joy of the Lord On Amazon, Barnes and Nobles, Walmart, and books a million. You can also connect with her through her website, Dr. jerry woodbridge.com and her blog at Jerry Woodbridge. Do blog. Thank you for joining us today on Curious for Christ. If this conversation encouraged you, please share it with someone who may be walking through their own season of grief. And let me leave you with this, what grief. Are you carrying in this season? And how might God want to redeem that pain to give it purpose? Remember, sorrow may visit, but joy is never out of reach when we place our hope in Christ. Bye for now. Hi, I hope you enjoy today's episode. If so, would you like to take 30 seconds and share it with a friend who may also struggle with knowing God and his purpose for their life? Also, leave a review on Apple. Podcast and let me know what topics you'd like to hear about in the future. Your voice matters. I'll meet you back next Friday for another episode.