Hope for the Heartbroken

Find hope and healing as you walk through grief and navigate life after loss. This yearlong devotional journal offers Scripture-based comfort in a lonely and difficult season.

If you’ve experienced loss, then you’ve had days when sorrow overshadows every step, nights when the pain seems all-consuming, and moments when you feel utterly alone in your grief. What if, in the midst of your sorrow, you found something sacred? Hope for the Heartbroken reaches into those often-unseen moments. It is your companion for those vulnerable spaces, offering gentle reminders that God is present in the heartbreak and is grieving alongside you.

Whether you're mourning the death of a loved one, grieving the loss of a relationship or season of life, walking through a painful divorce, or simply struggling to name the sorrow you carry, Hope for the Heartbroken offers a gentle, biblical path forward.

Each week follows a simple, healing rhythm designed to walk readers through layers of processing grief:
Day 1—Ponder: Read a heartfelt devotion grounded in ScriptureDay 2—Pen: Answer guided reflection questions that invite honest self-evaluationDay 3—Pray: Write a prayer, expressing sorrow and hope before GodDay 4—Pause: Process your feelings to position you best for spiritual growthDay 5—Pathway: Take an intentional step toward healing or self-care
Authors Karen Ehman, Ruth Schwenk, and Amber Emily Smith—friends whose hearts have been knit together by the gruesome yet grace-filled threads of grief—have personally endured profound heartache, including miscarriages; the death of a spouse, a child, and multiple family members in a short timeframe; physical and emotional abuse; broken friendships; job losses; and much more. They know that grief and healing do not follow a linear path, that many people are well-meaning but often say the wrong thing, and that some days the ache feels just as sharp as it did in the beginning. With honesty, compassion, and deep faith, they’ve created a resource to gently walk with others through the ongoing, sacred work of grieving.

This devotional is a meaningful guide for your own experience with grief or a thoughtful way to support someone you love during times of loss, holidays, or difficult anniversaries. Hope for the Heartbroken is a reminder that you are not alone and that healing, though gradual, is possible.