Summer Book Club: Finding Hope Through Grief

This summer, we invite you into a sacred space of reflection, healing, and gentle conversation.

Beginning Tuesday, July 7, 2026, join us for a 6-week Summer Book Club as we explore the many ways grief touches our lives—and how God meets us within it.

🗓 Tuesdays | July 7 – August 11
⏰ 7:00 – 8:00 p.m. ET
📍 Live on Zoom
💲 No charge to attend

Together, we will read and reflect on It’s Okay to Be Okay: Grief as a Pathway to Blessing and New Life by Leah Chrest.

This deeply personal and faith-filled book shares Leah’s journey through the first year after the loss of her husband. With honesty and hope, she reminds us:

• There is life after grief
• Loss can become a sacred gift
• Healing is possible, even when the heart feels broken
• It’s okay to be okay again

Through this time together, we will gently explore:

• Navigating the early days of loss
• Healing from grief and trauma
• Letting go of “what-ifs”
• Adjusting to a life that has changed
• Rediscovering purpose and identity in God
• Finding moments of joy again

✨ Facilitated by:
 Leah Chrest and Kate Devine Brady

Leah Chrest is the author of At the Edge of the Jordan and It’s Okay to Be Okay.  She is a Christian Meditation teacher, blogger, and podcast guest.  Both books as well as her blog speak of the transformative power of God’s love in the face of loss and the intimate walk with our Creator that is possible, even while here on this Earth.  Leah and her husband reside in Maryland and are blessed with four children between them.  In her other (equally interesting) life, she is a special education teacher.  Learn more about Leah at her website: www.thecontemplativechristian.com

Kate Devine Brady, founder of Art Well LA, is a certified therapeutic art practitioner specializing in Christianity. Author of Fallen Leaves So Much Sky, a collection of poems on grief, loss and the courage to love more. Her affinity for art blossomed at a young age and eventually led her to New York, where she earned her Visual Fine Arts degree at New York University, with a major in art and a minor in religious studies. Following her experience teaching English in Japan, Korea, and Indonesia, she returned to the States and pursued her early childhood education training. She began teaching art in public and Catholic schools on the West Coast.  Firmly believing in the importance of connecting art and spirituality in the academic curriculum her students develop self-expression, meditation, and creativity skills while learning eclectic art techniques. On weekends, she dedicates her time to teaching catechism.

She is married to her husband, Mark, and is a mother to her son, Luke. She enjoys spending time with family and friends, as well as her two pups, Piper and Yoda. Reading spiritual literature and expressing her voice through painting and poetry restores her soul.

Whether your loss is recent or from years past, you are welcome here. This is a space to listen, share (as you feel comfortable), and rest in God’s presence with others who understand.

💛 Come as you are.
💛 Share as you’re able.
💛 Be held in a community of grace.

Register today!

Registration Form