After the last casserole dish has gone home, the bereaved still have the difficult task of trying to piece their lives back together, find some sense of direction and purpose in their life, and fill the void losing their loved one has created. The reality of their grief has only just begun.
Rainbow Faith is a Christian Grief Ministry. Our mission is to encourage and uplift those traveling the painful journey through grief with words of inspiration, faith and hope through our heartfelt grief poems and stories, a weekly "Life After Loss" column, and a full line of unique and inspirational bereavement gifts.
Ferna Lary Mills
Author/Director
Ferna Lary Mills manages Rainbow Faith, an online Christian Grief Ministry, and Rainbow Faith Gifts, an online Sympathy Gift Shop, from her home in East Texas.
After losing both of her parents within a ten-month span, she relied heavily on her deep faith in God for the strength to make it through her own personal grief, channeling her most heartfelt thoughts and feelings in poems, essays and journaling. After she began her own personal road to recovery, she decided to put together words of encouragement online at Rainbow Faith and in her book, "The Rainbow, Words of Inspiration, Faith and Hope".
Rainbow Faith began with a simple poem, “Letter From Heaven”, that she wrote as a tribute to her mother in 1999. She created a single web page to share with her brother who lives many miles from her home in Texas. He shared it with a friend who had just lost her father and the response was so heartwarming, Ferna decided to share it with others who may be going through that same loss.
From that single poem, Rainbow Faith exploded online with literally hundreds of poems and stories of inspiration for the bereaved. She says, "I was encouraged to share many of my other poems and stories that I had written after my parent's deaths, and thus Rainbow Faith began. Rainbow is simply a symbol of one of God's many promises and Faith is simply the courage to trust in His promises."
This led to Rainbow Faith Gifts, an online sympathy gift shop where many of her inspirational poems and stories are reflected in her gifts and gift cards. The proceeds from the gift sales help to support the encouragement ministry at RainbowFaith.
Ferna’s strong faith shows in every aspect of her life as she strives to continue to be a source of encouragement to others for Christ. Although she sites poetry as her first love, her essays and stories ranging from personal life experiences to genealogy advice have been published in various literary magazines, newsletters, multiple Chicken Soup for the Soul books, and online e-zines. In addition to her book, “The Rainbow”, Ferna is also the author of “Survival Guide: Handbook for Parents With Problem Teens”.
Ferna is very passionate about helping the bereaved as well as encouraging those in the community and in other ministries that help the bereaved. As a result, she is also available for speaking engagements at conferences nationally and most recently she was the keynote speaker for the Robeson County End of Life Coalition Annual Conference in Lumberton, North Carolina. The theme was "Life Goes On" and Ferna also gave an encouraging breakout session on "Journaling Your Way to Healing".
Betty Sue Eaton
Associate Author
As our Rainbow Faith Associate, Betty is a woman of amazing grace and diversity. Her stories on Life After Loss come from a wide range of grief experiences: her daughter died as a result of a car-pedestrian accident at the age of eleven; her son died from renal cancer; her grandson died from injuries he received in a motorcycle accident. Yet, through all of her losses, Betty has clung tightly to her faith and the amazing grace that God has bestowed on her.
She is the author of "Bittersweet Autumn", and "Listening to the Garden Grow", a spiritual book about finding God in the garden. Prior to moving to her new home in Texas, she also co-sponsored a grief recovery counseling group in St. George, Utah.
From the cover of her book, "Listening to the Garden Grow", Jack Canfield, author of Chicken Soup for the Soul said it best: "Betty Sue Eaton uncovers the silver lining behind every cloud ~ the pot of gold beneath each rainbow."
Bereavement Gifts, Memorial Gifts, and Sympathy Gifts
Our special selection of bereavement and sympathy gifts was added for those who wanted to say they cared but just couldn't find the words. Every sympathy gift we offer is faith based and from the heart. With each gift purchased, you also have the option of adding a special gift card with your exact sentiments at no additional cost.
The proceeds from the sale of our sympathy gifts help to support our online grief ministry. We also accept donations to help defray our online expenses for this ministry.
