Walking Through the Holidays With a Grieving Heart
Welcome to the final week of our series surrounding grief. I hope you feel proud. Like you’ve taken a few steps forward and a big deep breath. Navigating grief isn’t easy, and it’s even more difficult around the holiday season.
If you’ve missed weeks 1-3, don’t worry, you can access them all here.
We have been unpacking truths about grief to help navigate through healing as we move closer to the holidays.
Grief Truths:
Grief will be painful.
We must be patient in it.
Grief is a personal journey.
Choose to be present in it.
How do we choose to be present in something that is connected to so much pain?
I think it looks like getting up each and every morning no matter how hard it is. There is still something good every day, even if it seems hard to find it. Keep getting up and doing the hard things.
Celebrate the hard things that you accomplish. Celebrate the anniversaries. Celebrate the holidays. Celebrate the special days that matter to the ones you miss so much. Celebrate walking through hard times and celebrate giving yourself the grace to take one step at a time.
I think it also looks like much kindness for and to yourself. Love yourself and don’t be hard on yourself for feeling what you are feeling. For you can only walk through one moment at a time, no matter what you have on your plate to accomplish.
In her book, My Jesus: From Heartache to Hope, Anne Wilson shares vulnerably about a season of great tragedy for her and her family. She invites readers to journey into her story around the loss of her older brother. She invites readers into her pain but also shares an invitation of much Hope. That Hope comes in and through Jesus.
To be present in our grief leads to healing. Wilson shares this powerful statement in her book. Here’s the link to her book. (It is one of the best books I have read in a while, so genuine and hope-filled.)
If you don’t accept there is something to grieve, you cannot fully move through it.
Anne Wilson
This doesn’t mean we won’t encounter days in which we struggle to cope. It doesn’t mean that we won’t shed a tear when we flip through precious photos or come across a voicemail from the one we miss so much. It doesn’t mean that we won’t feel a sick feeling in our stomach on Christmas Day when the chair is empty. It doesn’t mean that we will understand just why all of this has to be a part of our story anyway.
I’m a firm believer that with each small step, we can make great progress. I believe if you look closely enough, you’ll realize that you are not alone. That you are loved beyond measure by the True God in Heaven. He is closer than you could ever imagine and it's only by His strength, comfort, and presence that we can enter a place of acknowledging that there is something to grieve and take that step in faith to move through it.
Your ache and pain will not be wasted. I pray that over the next several days as Christmas edges closer that you will sense the True Hope of Heaven. May you feel the presence of the One who started out as a babe in a manger, thousands of years ago. Your story is not over.
Yes, the grief may be painful.
Yes, we must be patient in the grief.
This is your personal journey through grief.
Choose to be present in the grieving.
The story ends with Heaven.
Romans 15:13 - NKJV
Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.
Anne Wilson - Just Because It’s Christmas (Official Audio) - YouTube
