Yet another anniversary rolls around of the tragic passing of my brother. Today makes 15 years. Although it’s been many years, the suddenness of it still remains.
This week, our family lost the matriarch of our family, my maternal grandmother. While not as sudden, it’s still extremely sad, even with being able to see all the blessings around it.
I delivered the sad news to my mom myself. As she cried, I simply held her, not offering any words and knowing that whatever I said would be meaningless at that point.
The following morning I woke up to a devotion from Proverbs31.org that was a rare repeat ‘Please Don’t Give Me a Packaged Christian Answer’ by Lysa Terkeurst. In this devotion, she shares of losing her baby sister and those who were attempting to offer condolences and the words that were offered were more hurtful than silence.
A few days later we were talking to a close family friend who stopped by to offer his condolences. He had lost his own father and he came to sit with us and to grieve with us. As we talked about knowing the right words to say, he shared his own story of well meaning words offered to him that seemed to cut even deeper.
There are times that we think we need to say something.. anything.. but when someone is grieving, sometimes your support is all they need. And, if you have beliefs that the rest of the world does not have, when someone is grieving their own losses, that is not the time to share – no matter how biblical it is. Kindness goes a far way during these times.
Dear Heavenly Father, thank you that you are the great comforter. I know so many who are grieving losses and I pray that you provide only the comfort that you can, and that you bring peace to our broken hearts.
Thank you for your prayers from last week’s post. My grandmother is now at rest.
