Maribeth Ferry moved to Lynchburg in January 2013, hoping to make a fresh start after a very trying 2012. Her pregnant sister nearly died of a brain aneurism and spent nine weeks in intensive care that fall.
Maribeth, who is working on a counseling degree at Liberty University, was just settling into life in Lynchburg, when her father was diagnosed in February with pancreatic cancer. Maribeth went home to Buffalo, N.Y., for spring break to be with her father and siblings during her father’s last days. He died in hospice on March 13.
Coming back to Lynchburg for school, where she had lived for less than three months, meant she had little support.
“I felt very alienated from everything here with the exception of a couple of new friends I had made…it really was the grace of God that kept me grounded,” Maribeth said.
One of her LU professors suggested she find a local grief support group. She went online to search and soon found that Blue Ridge was just starting GriefShare. The 13-week curriculum helps walk participants through their loss in a safe and welcoming environment.
“When I joined the GriefShare group, I was amazed,” she said. “It was really timely. Looking back over the last six months, I can honestly say that through my dad's death, God gave me an opportunity to develop a network of women who are now my church family. It’s amazing how He can take tragedy and turn it into something beautiful, just like the verse states in Romans 8:28:
And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them.”
Though she didn’t attend Blue Ridge when she began GriefShare, Maribeth is now a Saturday night regular.
“I had tried out a few churches and the more I prayed about where to attend, the more I thought, ‘These women go to Blue Ridge and they are very real. They're very accepting,’” Maribeth said. “So I attended a couple of occasions and decided that here, I can grow and be myself. You don't have to put on a show.”
Maribeth is in the process of plugging in to serve at Blue Ridge.
“I still have hard days, but it's all about continually handing it over to God and trusting that His Word is true,” she said. “He does bind up the brokenhearted.”
The next session of GriefShare starts January 23.