An Index of What I’ve Written on Loss, Grief, Eternal Hope, and Nanci’s Life and Homecoming

In the years since Nanci’s cancer diagnosis, and her subsequent homecoming in March 2022, grief has become my companion—a friend, and a necessary part of my growth. It is not an enemy; rather, it’s an instrument in the hand of the Master Artist, or the anvil on which the blacksmith crafts and hones his metalwork. Indeed, as painful as they are, these “light and momentary troubles are achieving in us an eternal weight of glory” (2 Corinthians 4:17).

The only way to avoid grief is to avoid love. The only way I could grieve Nanci less is to have loved her less. I’m so thankful to have had a relationship so great that the absence of it has left that great hole in my life. The hole doesn’t feel as big now, not just because of the passing of time, but because of healthy grieving and my certainty that our relationship hasn’t been terminated, just interrupted. 

Writing about Nanci’s life, my grief, and our blood-bought hope in Christ has been therapeutic for me. I’ve often wished for a single page where what I’ve written is listed in one place, to share with those who ask questions and want to know Nanci’s story. Stephanie Anderson, part of our wonderful EPM staff, categorized our resources, so you can click on ones that especially interest you or that you’ve missed entirely. Even people who regularly read my blog don’t see them all, and those who do will have forgotten some that they might want to reread or send to a friend.

Articles about my personal grief process:

Nanci’s Death Isn’t the End of Our Relationship, Only a Temporary Interruption

The Opening Weekend of NFL Football, and Christ’s Companionship in Unanticipated Grief

A Season of Many Firsts without Nanci by My Side

Eternity Changed Because Nanci and I Met 55 Years Ago

The Four Biggest Assets in My Grief

The Great Reunion Awaits: Reflections a Year After Nanci Entered Heaven

A Brief Interruption in Our Relationship: Our Daughter Angela’s Reflections about Her Mom

What I’ve Learned about Grieving with Hope in the Two Years Since Nanci’s Homegoing

Articles about Nanci’s life and walk with Jesus:

Can Cancer Be God’s Servant? What I Saw in My Wife’s Last Four Years

Why the Year After Her Cancer Diagnosis Was the Best Year of Nanci’s Life

She Was Like a Tree Planted by Water

Nanci’s Memorial Service and Life Story

Ordinary Faithfulness Has Great Eternal Impact: My Message at Nanci’s Memorial Service

Her Children Rise Up and Call Her Blessed: Thoughts from Nanci’s Family at Her Memorial

She Loved Her Life: Thoughts from Some of Nanci’s Friends and Pastors at Her Memorial

An Introvert Can Have Great Impact in God’s Kingdom: Thoughts from Nanci’s Friends at Her Memorial

Articles written by Nanci, or with many quotes from her:

A Prayer to the Shepherd of My Life

“My Cancer Is God’s Servant”: Reflections by Nanci Alcorn

What Faith Is, and Is Not

We Would Do Well to Dig Deep into God

Jesus Accomplished the Healing from Sin We Need, Even More Than Healing from Cancer

Contentment Turns All It Touches to Gold

God’s Purposes Prevail in Both Good News and Bad News

What Do You Like Most About Jesus?

God’s Good Plans for Us Are Better Than We Can Imagine

Trials Make Us Crave God's Mercy and Love

Life Is Far from Certain, but Jesus Is

Articles about grief:

Recommended Books and Resources for Those Who Are Grieving

Christians Grieve the Death of Believing Loved Ones, But We Don’t Grieve Without Hope

Rediscovering Your God-Given Identity after Loss

Articles about helping others who are grieving:

Comforting Grieving People and Encouraging Them to Hold on to Solid Truth

Three Things to Remember When Giving Comfort to Grieving People

Helpful Things to Say to Those Grieving or Suffering

How to Care for Those Who Are Suffering and Grieving at Christmastime

Audios and videos about suffering, grief, loss, and Heaven:

A Theology of Suffering and Grief (message at Liberty University)

Trusting His Loving Purposes (message on Nanci, Suffering, and Heaven at California Baptist University)

Having Loved Ones in Heaven Makes Our Anticipation of Eternity Stronger Than Ever (video Q&A with fellow widower Steve Silver)

Remembering Nanci, Anticipating Heaven (interview on the Chris Fabry Show)

God’s Promise of the New Earth Gives Us Hope and Perspective in Loss (interview with Dr. Lee Warren)

An Eternal Perspective on Suffering, Loss, and Grief (message at my home church, Good Shepherd Community Church)

Real Grief, Real Hope (interview on Revive Our Hearts Podcast)

Walking Through Cancer with a Loved One (podcast episode for Joni and Friends)

No More Curse (message about the New Earth, given at my home church, Good Shepherd Community Church)

Articles about death, including Nanci‘s:

Dying Is but Going Home (written right after Nanci’s homecoming to Heaven)      

Joining the Real Party in Heaven

We Are Not Dying Out; We Are Hastening on to a More Glorious Life

What Happens to Us When We Die?

Why We Don’t Need to Fear the Moment of Our Death

Articles written during Nanci’s years of suffering and facing her cancer, and after her death:

Discovering the Wonders of God in the Low Tides of Life

Delighting in God and Trusting in Him through Cancer

Sorrow’s End

Suffering Is No Accident

Freedom and Comfort in Truth

Honest Faith Can Cry out to God

God’s Providence in Joseph’s Story—and Ours

God’s Word Sustains Us When Life Is Hard

Finding Resurrection Hope, and How Suffering Can Drive Us Deeper into God’s Love

Articles about Heaven and the New Earth, and our loved ones who are already in Christ’s presence:

Our Best Life Yet to Come: The New Earth, Our Eternal Home

What’s the Difference Between the Present Heaven and the Future Heaven?

Biblical Hope Is a Solid Certainty

Meet the Resurrected You

What Are My Loved Ones Experiencing in the Present Heaven?

Can We or Should We Talk to Loved Ones in Heaven?

Can Our Loved Ones in Heaven See Us During Important Times in Our Lives?

Is It Right to Long for Reunion with Loved Ones Who Have Died?

Does Our Marriage to Christ in Heaven Mean Our Earthly Marriage Partners Won’t Be Important to Us?

Grieving with HopeRandy’s booklet Grieving with Hope: Walking with Jesus in Heartbreak is available from Eternal Perspective Ministries.

Are you facing a great loss? Perhaps a loved one or close friend has died. Great love brings great sorrow, and healthy sorrow recognizes the immensity of loss. But when death and loss come close, the temptation toward despair and hopelessness is often not far behind.

Author Randy Alcorn encourages you to go to God with all your sorrows and to remember that Jesus, your Good Shepherd, walks with you—a suffering Savior who is well acquainted with sorrow. No one can bypass grief, but you don't walk this dark valley alone. Jesus will lead you, and he guarantees that death is not the end and Heaven awaits. In Grieving with Hope, Randy gives perspective and practical advice to help readers on the grieving journey, so that in time, your grief will be accompanied by joy and hope.

Photo: Unsplash

Randy Alcorn (@randyalcorn) is the author of over sixty books and the founder and director of Eternal Perspective Ministries

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