Beverly Heald knew as a very young child that God was putting on her heart to help those in a state of grief. It became very evident that this was the gift that He had given her to serve Him. He placed her in areas where people needed the natural God-given gift she possesses. Wherever she has been - in churches, with neighbors, in organizations and jobs - she has always easily come in contact with those people who were grieving, had losses and needed help.
People naturally like to think that life as we know it will go on and on, and we don’t like to think about when we will have to see our loved ones leave this earth. The reality is that it will happen to us and we do not know the time or the circumstances. Death is such a harsh word, but it must be faced. It doesn’t care who you are or how old you are. Beverly Heald has a special calling from God to serve people in need of grief recovery.
God always seemed to be opening doors and putting her in situations to show her that her gift was to help those who were grieving. In her thirties, she left a CPA firm to become a full-time accountant for two funeral homes. Another funeral home then wanted to hire her. She stipulated that she wanted to learn everything about the funeral business. The owner in California, who was accustomed to women in the business, thought it was a great idea. With God opening doors for Beverly financially, she was able to finish college and attend Mortuary College and become a licensed practicing funeral director and embalmer in both New Mexico and Texas.
According to Beverly, a funeral home employee didn’t make much money back in the 80’s, and she worked many extra jobs to support her family, but God always provided. She says, “I had years and hundreds of opportunities to share how awesome our Lord is and death is not the end. . .it’s really the beginning.”
After Beverly began to attend Sagemont, she was invited to a function at the Sagemont Youth Building. She happened to sit with Linda Boone. Linda then served and is still serving at the Sagemont Counseling Center. She asked Beverly about her background and her interests, and as the saying goes, the rest is history. Beverly says she heard that knock on the door of her heart again from the Lord telling her that she had a gift to share. She became an integral part of the Grief Recovery Program at Sagemont.
The Grief Recovery Class sessions last for eight weeks and take place twice a year. It’s open to all of our members, as well as members of other churches of all denominations. All are welcome. Those who have recently lost a loved one are encouraged to attend, but many people who come have never dealt with their grief. It may have been several years since they’ve experienced death before they realize that they really need to deal with the death or in some cases several deaths. They need to get through these sad times and start remembering things in a happy way, and Beverly says that is the whole purpose of trying to recover from grief.