Peace family, as we enter Thanksgiving and the rest of the holiday season, memories and togetherness are such a large part of the holidays, that they often sharpen our grief. If you’ve lost anyone, Chaplain Gary Roe with Hospice Brazos Valley has some good words for you. This is the first of several chats throughout the coming weeks in which Gary will be joining Peace 107 to speak into your places of pain.
It’s OK to Hurt During the Holidays
Gary says that if you’re missing a loved one, there’s no doubt that Thanksgiving is going to be most likely tough, maybe even overwhelming. Holidays, especially Thanksgiving, surface our losses like nothing else. We bump into a memory with every step, and almost anything can remind us of our loved ones.
The most important thing is to know that it really is ok to hurt. God created us for relationship. He places people in our lives and we grow to love them, and love them deeply. We don’t deal with separation well, and even if our gone loved ones knew Christ and we know they are in Heaven, we still miss them, and it still hurts.
Again, the first thing is, know that it’s ok to hurt on Thanksgiving. Please, take your heart seriously on Thanksgiving, and then think about if there is any way that you can include your loved one in the Thanksgiving holiday. Some people set up an empty chair at the table. For some people, that’s too emotional, but for others, it is really, really helpful. If you are gathering together as a family at Thanksgiving, another thing you can do is to just take some time, right at the start, because the elephant is already in the room- everyone is thinking about the loved one who is not with you- so just take some time, and begin to share what you miss about them. Ask others to do the same. That kind of surfaces the elephant in the room, and it allows you to deal with it a little bit better.
Most of all, even if you are hurting on Thanksgiving because you are missing someone, if you are a believer in Jesus Christ, you know that Jesus Christ lives in you and is with you in this. He will always meet you in your pain, and he grieves with us.
Breathe deeply, be kind to yourself, remember your loved one in some practical way, and just rest in the arms of Jesus this Thanksgiving.
Click below to listen to Gary Roe chat with Peace 107’s Brian and Kat.
You can find more resources, free and to purchase, by going to Gary’s website, HERE, or copying and pasting this link into your browser: http://www.garyroe.com/
You must be logged in to post a comment.