The death of a spouse is a horrific and life-changing event, but by holding onto God’s hand, one can learn to walk through the tunnel of grief and find joy on the other side. Such was the position author Kay E. Thomson found herself in when on August 10, 2008 her beloved husband, Dale, passed away after 44 years of marriage together. In Journey to Joy: In God’s Loving Grip Through Two Years of Grief and Loss, she shows readers how to live again after losing a spouse in death. With each turn of each page, readers will learn that the will of God will never take them where the grace of God will not protect them.

“Widowhood is a lonely and difficult place to find ourselves,” the author says. “This book will address the many ways we learn to cope, find joy in the memories, and know we are not alone in the ‘new normal’ phase of our life. We can’t walk the journey in a successful process without God by our side. He will never fail us or leave us.”

Thomson, who grew up in a Christian home in New Jersey, says that although she has only been a widow for two and a half years, her struggles have allowed her to find God in a whole new way. “We don’t know Jesus is all we need until Jesus is all we have,” she explains. “I was eventually able to put one foot in front of the other and be open to what God had for me next.” God’s plans, she says, were for her to form The Encouragers Group, which is made up of both men and women walking in the tunnel of grief as they learn to encourage each other on their own journey to joy in Christ.