When your person dies, when you face insurmountable loss, when that thing happens to you that you never saw coming and it breaks you into a million pieces, and it feels as if your world has ended. How do you come back from that? Is it even possible? These questions are valid. The grief is valid. In this episode of the Can You Just Sit With Me? podcast, I welcome Dawn Sanders, associate minister at First Baptist Church of Glenarden and author of the book When Your World Ends, God’s Creative Process for Rebuilding a Life. We chat about how to sit with rebuilding when your world ends.
Dawn shares her personal journey through multiple losses, including the death of her husband and miscarriages, and reflects on the unique nature of grief and the challenges of confronting it. Using biblical stories and teachings, she invites listeners to embrace the creative process of rebuilding their lives after devastating loss. We discuss the importance of witnessing grief, offering support, and the profound impact of God’s presence during difficult times.
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God was asking me to live through the end of the world as I knew it. And as I was praying and, you know, asking him to take me and coming to this realization that he’s saying, no, I sensed him saying, Dawn, I want you to join me in creating your new life.
Dawn Mann Sanders
Dawn Sanders has traveled this path before and lived to tell the tale―not once but twice. After a divorce and then the sudden death of her second husband, Dawn discovered a buried treasure in Genesis 1: God’s process for creating new life out of chaos. In When Your World Ends, Dawn digs deep into the creation story and unearths a seven-step process by which God brings us out of the void and into new beginnings. With her unique perspective, authenticity, and courage, Dawn meets those who are starting over and guides us into renewed hope.
Get the book here.
Main Points
- Embracing the creative process of rebuilding
- Importance of witnessing grief
- Importance of support
- God’s presence during difficult times
Episode Talking Points
- 00:00 Introduction and Guest Welcome
- 01:06 Dawn Sanders’ Personal Grief Journey
- 06:01 The Impact of Reggie’s Encouragement
- 08:20 Dawn’s Story of Loss and Resilience
- 17:09 God’s Invitation to Rebuild
- 21:53 Jonah’s Story and Wrestling with Grief
- 29:05 Finding Hope and Moving Forward
- 30:03 Conclusion
Other Ways to Listen to this Podcast with Dawn Mann Sanders:
About the Guest
Dawn Sanders (MDiv, Bethel Seminary) is an associate minister at First Baptist Church of Glenarden (FBCG), where she serves as the director of the sermon-based life groups ministry. Her passion is expository teaching and sharing the wonderful insights God has shown her in his Word. She does this through writing weekly discussion guides for the life groups as well as teaching several in-depth Bible studies. Dawn has written and taught extensively on overcoming adversity and creating a new life, both at FBCG and on her personal blog. Connect with Dawn here.