In the Cleft: Joy Comes in the Mourning is a a story of unstoppable hope. Goodman shares about her family's journey through trauma and how they found hope in the midst of debilitating pain. In the Cleft will help people:
-Find renewal, meaning and purpose again after losing a loved one
-Enter into and understand the mourning process
-Support people who have suffered loss so you can be truly present to their intimate pain
-Understand how pain can increase your capacity to love and have deeper compassion
-Restore your dreams after unthinkable tragedy
To find out what others are saying about In the Cleft, visit Amazon and Goodreads.
Tofts Reviews says this about In the Cleft:
“Every day my heart grieves, and every day I find joy.”
This is such a heartbreaking story of losing not one, but three, family members is a very short period of time. What a soul can go through during this lifetime is unfathomable to many. Author Dana Goodman opens her heart and pours emotion into this gut-wrenching narrative in a tender, but loving way. Her approach teaches many of us unknowingly blessed souls what a mother/wife/daughter/sister can go through.
“Grief can be a very self-focused journey, but my heart began to burn for the greater purposes of love God had for me. I wanted to use my pain to heal others.” This line reminds the reader just how brave and strong Dana is. Not many people get to this point in their lives.
As hard as it is to watch another soul go through overwhelming pain and agony, this story gives us the confidence and reassurance that we can get through the darkness with compassion and gratitude.
“You and I have only a short time here on this earth. We are blessed beyond what we deserve, but we are also required to endure much heartache. In the broken moments of our lives, seeds are planted in the very rich soil of God’s kindness and when those seeds are showered with his love they bear much fruit and multiply. Just when I thought nothing could grow in the barren waste of broken dreams, seeds began to grow into beautiful plants of love and hope.” Archangels could not have said it better.
Family photos throughout the book make the love and bonding more real. Their beautiful smiles captivate the reader.
After living the pain and torture the author goes through (as readers usually do), the reader is left wishing to cocoon the author and her family members from further hurt. Hopefully, there is a follow up/update in the works as the reader is left with a loving concerned feeling for the author and family members.
--Tofts Reviews
Dana, you are a wonderful and beautiful Earth Angel and I am so very glad you here with us. It was such an amazing honour to read and be inspired by your story. I have never cried through a review before. You reminded me what life is all about. Thank you. Namaste. Lisa.
Be Inspired - Quotes from “In The Cleft: Joy Comes In The Mourning”**
“I sensed Jesus wiping our tears. He looked into our aching hearts and wept along with us.”
“For a long time after Jay’s death, life ebbed and flowed, full colour one moment and then dark night the next. I called it the grief dance.”
“Anger tricked me into thinking I could fight cancer with adrenalin.”
“… delving into our feelings would be like setting a match to gasoline.”
“Cancer could not destroy the parts of my children’s personalities that had been unique to them since they were born.”
“Zach and Carter’s enthusiasm reminded me that our family life had not been reduced to facts, prognoses and to-do lists. Their personalities buoyed the heavy cancer atmosphere and wove into my pain like balm.”
“My inward grief was terrifyingly loud, but outwardly it was silent.”
“Around each twist and turn in the road there was a false summit.”
“I wondered if I would ever be in such an intimate place with God.”
“As the months passed, God’s compassion melted away the sharp edges of my grief… the shadows became gray instead of black…”
“Suffering up close looks like a bleeding mess of broken dreams.”
