title: Friday's Rain: revealing what grief washes away
author:  Brooke Mardell 
description: It's like a conversation with your best friend, where you don't have to explain everything because they already know how you feel. - Sarah S. This study allowed me to touch sorrow and learn that it's a gift, a grace - to hurt, to heal, and to hold hope in our faithful God. - Freida H. Prepare to be challenged, encouraged, inspired and assured of how great God is. Do yourself a favor, step into the discomfort, and embrace Friday's Rain. - Hannah H. When I started this Study, I thought I was looking for new answers to my pain. Turns out I was looking for new questions ... - Cheryl W. Brooke's fresh, honest, original approach appealed to our entire group, aged 20-69. We couldn't get through the chapters fast enough! - Judie S. My husband and I did the series together and it was very healing. I'm starting to see glimpses of light and small, weary bits of hope beyond my loss. - Sam R.
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  ![Images](../Images/00011.jpeg)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  For Elias and Jonah
  
  
  
  
  
  ![Images](../Images/00012.jpeg)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ## Acknowledgments
  
  
  
  
  
  Them that I love, know that I love them. This time I want to thank my readers,
  who have stuck with me through this whole epic roller coaster of a saga,
  through cliff-hangers and angst and feels. I wouldn’t trade you for all the
  glitter in Magnus’s loft.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  In God ’tis glory: And when men aspire,
  
  
  
  
  
  ’Tis but a spark too much of heavenly fire.
  
  
  
  
  
  —John Dryden, “Absalom and Achitophel”
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ## PROLOGUE:
  
  
  
  
  
  ## FALL LIKE RAIN
  
  
  
  
  
  ### The Los Angeles Institute, December 2007
  
  
  
  
  
  On the day Emma Carstairs’s parents were killed, the weather was perfect.
  
  
  
  
  
  On the other hand the weather was usually perfect in Los Angeles. Emma’s
  mother and father dropped her off on a clear winter morning at the Institute
  in the hills behind the Pacific Coast Highway, overlooking the blue ocean. The
  sky was a cloud