The holiday season is a especially difficult time for those who experienced the loss of a child of any age.

For many of us who experienced the loss of a child the holidays can be a troubling time.  Our minds go back to the day when our child was alive doing Easter traditions such as the Easter egg hunt, dressing up for Church, or going out to buffet brunch while grandparents, aunts, and uncles dote on them. When a loss occurs they no longer have any new memories of their child like those whose children are still living. When the holidays arrive many are hit with emotional triggers wishing their own child was still with them. Life is lonely and the home will seem eerily silent as surviving children learn how to do life without their sibling. Life for them will seem unfair as they rewind the tapes wondering if they had done something different might their child still be alive.

The greatest gift you can give to a family mourning a loss is the gift of memories. Dig into the inner vault of your mind those memories of a special time you had with their deceased child.  Families cherished those memories more than you might know.

In many ways, God's precious word was written by many who were divinely inspired by God to preserve the message of God's love for them.  God wanted you to know that He loved you so much that He sacrifice his son, Jesus Christ, on the cross so that you may experience everlasting forgiveness and eternal life.  Through the death and resurrection of His son, he taught you that we are to grieve with hope with the full assurance that you will see your loved ones again.

Jesus isn't in the grave where he cannot help us. Jesus has risen!

You were fearfully and wonderfully made for a purpose

I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well.

In Context | Full Chapter | Other Translations

Shortly after graduating from college I made a commitment to a 2-year discipleship group called Navigators 2:7 where I had a chance to be encouraged in my faith as I memorized scripture and held myself accountable to 6 other men and to God. One session we studied the topic of spiritual gifts.


Everyone completed a spiritual gifts inventory- out of all the guys in the group I was the only one who's gift was the gift of mercy. Others had more prestigious gifts like administration. When I shared my gift of mercy I could feel the patronizing comments from the others as though some felt sorry I had this gift.


I remember having a conversation with a work colleague and graduate school friend when I said to him that I wished I didn't wear my emotions on my sleeves. His words of encouragement were, "you were given those gifts for a reason and never wish you were anything different." That was life changing for me and made me realize that just as the verse from Psalms says, " I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;"


As I engage people in conversation I'm struck by so many who wished they were not made the way God made them. They look in the mirror and wondered, "Is this the best you can do God?" The reality is that when God made you, he made a unique set of genetic footprints and gave you unique DNA unlike anyone else. Just as there are no two snowflakes the same, there is not another person like you-you are uniquely and wonderfully made!


No matter what pain you have encountered in life, God has a plan for you. No matter what trauma you've experienced in life, God wants to use you to help others just now going through their own trauma.


This Easter season, we celebrate the risen Christ- He is not dead, but very much alive and living in those who invite Christ into their heart. I encourage you to watch the above clip because I believe you will be astonished by the evidence that Jesus Christ exists.


He is alive!

These Virginia basket ball players gain far more than a simple win over Texas Tech

He was despised and rejected by mankind, a man of suffering, and familiar with pain. Like one from whom people hide their faces he was despised, and we held him in low esteem. Isaiah 53:3

As I was watching Virginia coach, Tony Bennet, I couldn't help but notice how peaceful he was on the sideline as he coached his players to the win over Texas Tech.  

I have to admit that the game between these two teams was perhaps the most exciting game I've ever watched. The next morning I heard my favorite Christian radio station say something about Coach Bennett- that he played Tauren Wells song, Hills and Valleys before the game as a reminder that life is often filled with disappointments.


As I listened to the lyrics I was reflecting the teachable moment coach Bennett had with his team- to remind each of them that life is filled with grief and loss, and as the words reflect that we can always turn to God for solace and comfort.


Such timely words of wisdom in a week filled with downed passenger jets, a fame Minnesota millionaire found shot to death along with his wife in the bedroom of their home, and the collateral damage that this tragedy has on those who knew them. So often we forget that God is truly in control of our lives simply by taking His rightful seat leaving God on the sidelines of life.


I've learned the way we recover from the losses of life is by looking to the cross of Jesus Christ, the son of God who suffered and died for each one of us and who knows suffer ing and can relate to those who suffer.


The Virginia University players gained far more than just the victory that night- they discovered that when a loss occurs the greatest source of healing comes from turning their pain over to their savior Jesus and placing one foot in front of the other, trusting Him that He knows what to do with their pain. Those words will remain embedded in their mind long after their playing days are completed.