Meet Shannon, a forty-year-old Christian woman, wife, mother, freelance writer, motivational speaker and founder of From the Ruins, a ministry that longs to help hurting and grieving people to find hope in their brokenness. Shannon helps people who are dealing with loss and grief in many practical ways. Shannon and her family became acquainted with grief first hand in 2013 when she and her husband lost their oldest son in a car accident. At first, Shannon thought losing her 18-year-old son tragically would be the hardest thing she would ever go through. It turns out that actually having to live each day without him has proven much harder. Writing has played a vital role in Shannon’s healing. After her son passed, she went to Rhode Island College and received her B.A. in English. Shannon writes with complete transparency and believes that being real is the only way to be. You will see this all throughout her writing. The Lord is near to the broken-hearted. It is Him alone who holds the power to restore, therefore faking it is a waste of time and only hinders the healing process. We’ve all experienced loss of some kind, therefore we’ve all known grief. You will find healing within Shannon's writing, as she writes from a place of hope. Hope can always be found – even from the ruins.