What if the most loving way to honor someone you’ve lost isn’t to remain in your grief, but to choose healing?

When Rachel Tenpenny McGonigle lost her infant twin daughters, Aubrey and Ellie, her world was shattered. In the depths of unimaginable heartbreak, she encountered a message that terrified her: Once a griever, always a griever. You will never be okay again.

But Rachel refused to accept that her daughters’ legacy would be a lifetime of suffering.

In this deeply moving episode of Lioness Women: Rooted in Christ, I’m joined by Rachel, author, grief coach, and founder of The Grief Gal, whose remarkable story is featured in my book, Lioness: Stories to Awaken Your Roar Within, in the chapter The Woman Who Chose to Heal the Impossible.

Together, we explore what it means to choose healing when everything within you feels broken, and why moving forward doesn’t mean leaving behind the people you love.

Rachel challenges some of our most deeply held beliefs about grief, identity, and loss. She shares how she began reclaiming her life, not by denying her pain, but by discovering that her heart, her future, and her capacity for joy were not beyond restoration.

In our conversation, we explore:

• Why healing is not betrayal — and how we can honor our loved ones more through our healing than through our hurting.
• The danger of making grief our identity — and what becomes possible when we stop allowing our most painful experiences to define us.
• Why the body matters in healing — including simple, restorative practices that help us begin again.
• The power of small, intentional choices — and why healing begins with self-awareness, grace, and the courage to ask for help.
• Moving from enduring life to embracing it — discovering that there is still purpose, beauty, love, and joy to be found in the life we have today.

Perhaps most powerfully, Rachel reminds us that while we cannot always choose what happens to us, we can participate in deciding who we become through it.

This conversation is for anyone who has experienced devastating loss, is carrying grief that feels impossible to overcome, or loves someone who is struggling to find their way forward.

It’s an invitation to consider that your story is not over. That you can carry love without carrying endless suffering. And that the God who created you has not exhausted the possibilities for your life.

Because healing doesn’t mean forgetting. It means learning to live fully while carrying love forward.

Connect and learn more:

Rachel Tenpenny McGonigle — The Grief Gal www.thegriefgal.com

Rachel’s book: The Truth About Healing After Loss

Read Rachel’s story in Lioness: Stories to Awaken Your Roar Within: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0H3G2TKVM

Explore coaching and the Lioness community: https://jenportercoach.com

The lioness in me sees the lioness in you.