I thought I would take a break this week, but a Facebook post—the image below, prompted many comments, so I wanted to share that here.  I also received word of three deaths within the past two months and know my friends are grieving.  While Christmas is a time for celebration, singing,

parties, and gift exchanges, many with loss do not feel very festive.

A few years ago, I wrote this piece for Penned from the Heart. Surrounded by sparkling lights, decorations and parties, we may forget that…

•      While someone is laughing, someone is grieving.
•      While someone is busy planning, someone feels numb and lonely.
•       While someone sets a table for many, someone sets a table minus one.
•       While someone celebrates, someone is hurting.
•      While someone decorates with tinsel and lights, someone else’s sparkle has been diminished.
•       While someone opens gifts, someone knows one of their most precious gifts is gone.
•      While someone writes a card or letter, someone has signed it with one less signature.

Consider filling in that person’s name in the apostle Paul’s prayer and pray for them today. “I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge – that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.” (Ephesians 3:16-19 NIV)

During this season, perhaps you could you be an instrument to offer strength and comfort to a grieving person by letting them know you remember. A call, visit, text, card, or time over a cup of coffee together can be a comfort, so can saying the person’s name and recalling a memory.

Does anyone come to mind?