How to Help a Grieving Friend

December 11, 2022 — Gary and Laura House

Christmas is drawing near and everywhere you look, there are signs. Stores are brightly decorated, holiday music is in the air, and your neighbors likely have put up a tree and decorated their homes. Perhaps you have too. 

For believers, the real meaning of Christmas is what we celebrate; Jesus’ birth as the beginning of God’s plan for the redemption of man. We are grateful, and we gather with our families to remember this greatest Gift. As we gather, we make memories with those we hold dear as the season brings loved ones together for special events and meals.

But for grieving parents, there is a missing seat at the table. While enjoying family and celebrating Jesus’ birth, we are also constantly remembering the child that we can no longer hold in our arms, but cling to tightly in our hearts. Every event and every memory are accompanied by the realization of the intensity of our longing to see them again. One day we will, but until that day, we need others to befriend, encourage, and sometimes, weep with us. 

How can you help a grieving friend? We’ve put together a small booklet of ideas that we, and others, have found comforting and helpful. We hope you’ll find some ideas to bless someone you know who is missing a dear one this season.

“A friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for a time of adversity. - Proverbs 17:17