GriefShare

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When I (Ben) was first told that I was going to have to conduct over 150 hours of group therapy as part of my counseling program, I remember feeling really drawn to GriefShare, a support group for people who have suffered recent loss of a loved one.  Having been through grief myself with the loss of my brother Luke, I felt like I had some idea of how to be with people during this painful time.  I also had a bit of a selfish motive: I wanted to get more grief-based therapy myself.

I went to the first meeting, excited about the possibility of helping others going through the grief process.  That first night I heard over 20 people share their stories of recent loss of a loved one.  Some people were so overwhelmed that they literally could not speak more than a few words.  Immediately, I began feeling uncomfortable and wondering what I was doing here.  It was almost too overwhelming to listen to all these tragic stories in one sitting.

Despite being very uncomfortable that first week, I came back and was incredibly blessed in the next 13 weeks.  We started watching a GriefShare video series.  The first video talked about how grief was unique to each person.  This was great for me to hear because I had seen from my own experience how differently people can respond to the same situation.

Each week, after watching the video we split up into smaller groups.  It was in this group where I saw amazing transformations in peoples' lives.  I saw people, who literally in the first week could not talk, begin to change and even become encouraging and supportive to others in the group.  I couldn't believe how quickly people were transformed through this group.  It was powerful.  It was humbling knowing that the Lord was able to use me here, even in a small way.

After leading another incredible GriefShare group over the summer, I decided to try my hand at something else so I began co-leading an addictions recovery group for men.  I am only a few weeks into this group but already I am being stretched in a new way and am excited to see the Lord work in the lives of the members of this group.

For more information on GriefShare, visit their website (www.griefshare.org) or click here.

The First 3 Months

Ben and I the day we found out we were going to have a baby! 

My first "baby" picture!  We found out on my birthday which was so special.

It is still hard for me to fathom that there is a little baby growing inside of ME!  It's so surreal and wonderful and scary and amazing all at once.  For the most part, I absolutely love being pregnant...in the second trimester. :)  The first couple of months were really difficult to get through.  I was nauseous and tired ALL the time.  Thus, my energy level was the lowest it's perhaps ever been.

The biggest surprise, though, was that I lost my appetite for many of my favorite foods!  Even pasta with tomato sauce which has always been a staple in my diet.  Saltine crackers fell off of the "acceptable foods" list, along with soup, rice and beans, and, well nearly everything that would usually taste good to me when I'm not feeling well.  It was very challenging to find food that I could stand to eat.  Papa John's cheese pizza actually made the cut!  It became a weekly staple for a little while.

Ben was a HUGE help during this time!  He said that he felt the Lord giving him extra strength, peace and assurance as he was my caretaker for these months.  He made me breakfast in bed nearly every morning, did all of the cooking and cleaning, and was such a strong encouragement to me.  At the same time, he was taking four challenging classes, leading a counseling group and seeing clients nearly every night!  I still don't know how he did it; makes perfect sense that the Holy Spirit was providing him with supernatural strength and energy.

There were some days when I almost didn't even believe that I was pregnant!  In the first trimester, your belly stays the same (or in my case, got smaller as I struggled to eat!), so the visual signs of pregnancy were not there.  I wondered if I had just caught a bad flu!  Thus, the doctor's appointments were key.  It was there that we got to hear Baby's heartbeat and, at our first appointment, saw our first ultrasound of Baby.  It was a thrill!!

Throughout this time, I prayed that my nausea would ease up and that my energy would come back in time for the second trimester.  And boy was I ever so thankful that this happened!!

Kids Ministry

I (Laurie) wear many hats during the week.  I work in an administrative capacity at both Reformed Theological Seminary and the Oviedo Counseling Clinic (where Ben does his counseling internship).  I also am privileged to work as a Kids Ministry Assistant at Lake Baldwin Church.  This position has allowed me to use some of the knowledge and skills I acquired through my Master's program.  For those of you who do not know, I have a Master's Degree in School Counseling.  So it is very rewarding for me to work with kids and share God's love with them in this capacity.

My favorite aspect of this role is to plan and lead a monthly worship service for the kids, ages 2-11.  This combines my passion for kids with my passion for music, while at the same time focusing it all on the goal of the kids knowing God more.  It's a winning combo!  Each week, the 2-4 year old children come in for a 15 minute worship time where we pray together, sing songs, play musical instruments, and dance and act silly.  I try to create an environment that is filled with JOY for these little ones as they absorb some truth through the lyrics and enjoy the music.  It is always a fun time.

I get to be with the 5-11 year old kids for about 45 minutes each month.  In this time, I have not only sought to give them time to learn and sing worship songs and watch worship videos but to become more familiar with what it means to give praise to God for the happenings in our daily lives.  So each month, we have a 5-10 minute time of sharing praises for the month.  The kids seem to appreciate this time very much.  We give all glory to God for the blessings that they share.  This time also helps me to get to know their stories better.  We also have a church member give a short devotion and we end our time with a Bible game.  I have also been working with them on a song that we will be singing in church next month!  

My life has been blessed tremendously through this role.  I have been challenged and have learned more about what kids ministry looks like "behind the scenes."  It's hard work!  But such rewarding work.

Welcome!

Welcome to the online home of Ben and Laurie Mills!  We are thrilled to have this "home" to share with you and to communicate through.  We are gearing up for an exciting Fall semester.  Ben's text books are being purchased and his summer classes are winding down.  Hard to believe that the summer is coming to a close!

As you can see, at the top of this website are links to pages on our blog.  

Our Story is where you can go to read a letter from us sharing our story and our invitation to join us in this season.  If you have not read it already, we invite you to do so!

Join Our Support Team provides all of the information you will need to, well, join us in this journey!  We are looking for prayer partners and financial supporters.  You can also subscribe to receive our Email Newsletter.  It makes us thrilled to be inviting you to join in on the work God is doing here!  

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