Tossing the Dross in Your Loss

About the Book

People experience personal loss in many ways: through natural disaster, war, murder and crime, illness, divorce, death of loved ones or friends, loss of career, broken hopes and dreams, loss of reputation, friends and material things.

This book is written to help others see that tragedies and loss can be used to enrich our lives and help us experience new growth as individuals. We can learn to use pain and suffering as God’s vehicle to get to know him better and become more like Christ.

Throughout the Bible, it speaks of God using pain and suffering as a refining process. Through pain, the dross (or worthless things) becomes evident. God is in the process of obtaining a people who are zealous for him and love him. His desire is to remove the impurities from our lives. Refining is not a fun process. It causes pain and discomfort. It reveals our true values and character. God is trying to teach us that this world is not going to last and only what we are and do for Christ is what is going to count for eternity. As we realize this and learn to give thanks in our trials, we can then rejoice when we go through them, and find peace in knowing that “…your faith,--of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire--may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed.” 1 Peter 1:7

About the Author

Jennie VanBemmel is a Christian who shares her personal experiences of loss, disappointment and failure in this book. She grew up in a military family, and was familiar with having to say goodbye to loved ones and friends frequently. Growing up, it was impossible to develop roots in any one place. She missed out on having connection and developing a relationship with distant loved ones. She knows what it is to experience loneliness, boredom, isolation and disappointment. Living as an “outsider” in the Midwest for 23 years, and never feeling like she, her husband and children ever truly “fit in” has helped her understand the pain of rejection that so many people experience. Through the death of her father, living apart from her relatives, problems with her teenage children, trials in her marriage, and disappointment and even failure in her career, the Lord has taught her insight into how to view these things in light of eternity. She has learned that self worth is not determined by what the world says you should be, but in what God says you are. These insights can help anyone experiencing pain and / or suffering, by realizing that trials do have a purpose. God hasn’t abandoned you or thrown your life to the wind. He is concerned and aware of all that goes on in your life. She has been married for 29 years, has three grown children, and is a registered nurse.