Grief and loss

What’s So Wonderful About Christmas?

Featured Leave a comment

It’s a cold and frosty morning here on the Western Slope of Colorado and right outside of my dining room window, I can see the twinkling lights we set up last night on our bushes. I know- it’s a little late, but there are just some things that I wanted to be sure we still accomplished this season. Setting up Christmas lights outside of the house always brings a smile to my face. It brings light and joy to my neighborhood that is usually pretty dark at night. I love to see strands of lights all over the houses. At Christmastime, seeing those small glimmers of light in the neighborhood helps us to keep going down the street to discover more, and it also helps us keep going on our journey as we keep trusting that there is more light ahead.

The holidays can often feel dark and dreary for some. And when I say some, I include myself in that lot. Maybe the loss is still a little too fresh to your heart. Maybe the last interaction you had with an estranged loved one didn’t go the way you planned. You might even feel disconnected from the season because it holds more difficult memories and burdens from years past. Whether it’s an absence due to the loss of a loved one or the empty seat because a loved one hasn’t come home for many years – it can make us question what is so wonderful about Christmas. On this cold morning, I wanted to bring some hope to our hearts. This season is still wonderful – Not because of what we currently feel, what’s under the tree, or even what we have checked off from a holiday list. No, Christmas is wonderful because of Who is with us through it all. 

If this holiday season feels dark because of the shadow of grief or maybe even because of what life has thrown your way, I encourage you to look for the little bits of light around you today. Let’s look for the trail of hope that God Himself has set out before us in big and small ways – the hope for the hurting heart is real and available for us today. Like the string of lights beneath my windowpane, God has placed light and hope right in front of us at the exact right moments to lift our spirit. We don’t have to walk through grief alone this holiday season. We can reach out to friends for encouragement and prayer but even more importantly, we can call out to The Lord.  I’m so thankful to God for the invitation He gives us to bring our burdens to Him.  

This Christmas, we get to celebrate the birth of Jesus because He came down and lived, shared in our sufferings and understands our sorrows, and He experienced death so that we could have salvation from sin and have a new life in Him. God’s greatest gift to us was and still is Jesus – Emmanuel, God With Us.

He is with us right in the middle of the ache and in the middle of the tears that still fall.

He is with us in the middle of the celebrations that come with both joy and sadness because of who is around us and who is no longer here.

He is with us when the season doesn’t feel all that wonderful and even when it does.

He is the One that is Wonderful this Christmas season.

He is the One Who walks with us in the middle of the beautiful and the broken.

He is the One who sees the condition of our heart and comes to apply compassionate love and restores our joy. 

He is with us friend.

He is the Light in our darkness the hope of the world. 

He is still Wonderful this Christmas.

He is all that we were promised He would be:

“For a child will be born for us,

a son will be given to us,

and the government will be on his shoulders.

He will be named

Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,

Eternal Father, Prince of Peace.

The dominion will be vast,

and its prosperity will never end.

He will reign on the throne of David

and over his kingdom,

to establish and sustain it

with justice and righteousness from now on and forever.

The zeal of the Lord of Armies will accomplish this.” (Isaiah 9:6-7 CSB)

So when the season doesn’t feel so wonderful, let’s remember that He is still wonderful. Not only is He wonderful, He’s able to make our spirits bright with His love and light. 

peace-liz

Let’s Pray: Heavenly Father, we come before you today in the name of Your Son Jesus, and we bring you all of our hearts. All of the ache and all of the heaviness we place in your loving and compassionate hands. We want to cast our cares upon You because we know that You care for us. Lord, we ask You to shine Your Light on our hearts when the darkness and heaviness sets in. Thank You for the promise that You are a shelter for the weak and a strong tower that we can run to when we need security and peace of mind. God, remind us today that You are still wonderful and powerful and able to bring peace to our souls in the midst of the season. You are so kind to walk with us through all that we experience in this life, and Lord, we thank You for your presence right here with us. Thank You Lord. Amen.


Go The Extra Mile: Friends, I had to share this song with you today. It has been a comfort to me this season, so please take time today to listen to this song from one of my favorite bands, CAIN, and I pray your heart would be reminded of how wonderful God is.

Celebrating Love In The Midst Of Grief

Featured 6 Comments

A love story is still worth celebrating, even when the ending isn’t what we thought it would be.

For more than 44 years, my parents shared a love story that was real, honest, good, and hard.
Not the kind you see on a movie screen with the right music in the background, or the characters played by leading men & women. No, my parents shared in a love story that shouldn’t have made sense, but it did.


A California kid & a Colorado girl who, by all intents and purposes, shouldn’t have made it, created a love story all their own. Full of risks and full of joy. Full of heartaches and full of hope.


They met. Got married. Grew together. Stayed together. Raised a family together. Grew their family together. Worked together. Made ends meet together. Trusted God together. Prayed together. Laughed together. Cried together. Adventured together. Fought together. Fought for each other together. Believed together. Lived out vows together.


Last year, we watched as our Mom kissed our Dad goodbye. She thanked him.


We stood there in the apartment- myself, my sister and my husband, and watching and crying as she thanked him for the years they spent together and for the beautiful family he gave her. And as our kind and gracious funeral director left the apartment, Mom grabbed onto my sister and I, holding us firmly by our arms. I’ll never forget what she told us with tears in her eyes and with a trembling in her voice…she encourgaed us to love our families.

These are the words we have seen our mom live out everyday for years, especially in the last years of our father’s life.


In that moment, she never stopped loving him. She didn’t forget all the good from their life together. She remembered the good, and so did we. She thanked him and also encouraged us to love. If you know our Mom, you know she lives from a place of love, so here response to us was fitting – because that’s what she does. She loves.


Mom & Dad’s love story was worth celebrating then, and today, on what would’ve been their anniversary, it’s still worth celebrating. That kind of a love story – the kind you choose, the kind you work for, the kind you sacrifice for, the kind you ache for is still worth celebrating.

Maybe you’re family is walking on this similar path of grief, and these anniversaries and holidays feel really, really tough. We get it; we truly understand. But no matter how long our love has lasted, no matter how brief it was, that love is still worth celebrating.


Today, I’m choosing to celebrate the love that our parents shared. Today, we as a family will give thanks to God for the love He allowed our parents to share for so many years. It’s still worth celebrating – even through the tears and the ache. Today, I’ll love my people a little harder in honor of my parents’ love story. I’ll also pause in the midst of the grief to try and encourage others to love their people too. After all, Mom still continues to love every single person she comes in contact with. May we know that love is still worth celebrating in the midst of the grief and heartache, and may we make it a point to love and appreciate each moment we have with our loved ones. Let’s love well my friends.

peace- liz

Go The Extra Mile: In honor of our Dad, I wanted to share one of his favorite songs. I can imagine he’s cruisin’ the streets of heaven blasting this song. He loved taking drives and listening to good music, and this one always makes me think of him. Thank You Rare Earth for reminding us to celebrate. Take a listen and take a drive and remember to celebrate love today friends.