Grief and gratitude are closer than you may think. 

It is not surprising that I’d be talking about gratitude on my podcast this week since Thanksgiving is upon us. But grief is enveloping my family going into Thanksgiving, and I am guessing some of you have grief mixed in with your gratitude too.

We had a death in my cousin’s family- a suicide and it’s a terrible tragedy for my loved ones to hold. But the one good thing I’ve noticed about loss is that it causes us to hold what we have and appreciate it in a new way.
Grief pushes us to express the gratitude we feel but often suppress.
And Thanksgiving is our opportunity to express it.

Grief may feel inappropriate in a holiday formed around gratitude. But so many of us have grief going into it, that we have to find a way to hold them both. Whether it is loss of family, or dreams, or things we imagined we’d have that aren’t what we thought they’d be, life holds many losses. But along with those losses, there are many things in front of us that we often miss.

The verse in my podcast is from a story in scripture that describes how Jesus expressed grief. (John 11:35).  When his friends were hurting, Jesus entered their pain.
Even when he knew joy was around the bend.

Loss was not the end of this story.  And after Jesus grieved, he revealed in this passage that he can be counted on to bring hope after loss.
We may grieve and cry and watch things end. But hope eventually comes.

And in the meantime, off we go to our imperfect families this Thanksgiving, shouldering our losses and finding our gratitude and knowing that God is with us.
He weeps with us. He celebrates with us.
And this week He invites us to take a moment to appreciate what is around us.
Listen to this week’s podcast and discover how: http://bit.ly/2Q6DFiI

Happy Thanksgiving