Is this the first holiday season that you'll face without your wife, husband, child, parent, or other loved one? Billy Graham provides some beautiful advice
Evangelist Billy Graham responded to a widower approaching the 2007 holiday season (specifically Thanksgiving) for the first time without his wife. It was something Billy Graham could relate with.
In his open response, Graham, who recently lost his wife of almost 64 years, acknowledged the grief: "I had always heard that holidays were especially hard for people who had lost a loved one, and it's true. No doubt this holiday will bring a flood of memories to you, and it would be natural for you to feel a special sense of sadness and loss."
You can read Graham's response here.
Speaking for myself, this will be the third holiday season (Thanksgiving through New Year's) without my mother. I still miss her. In fact, this will be the fifteenth season without my father, and I still miss him too. As Graham writes: "Death is a stark reality, and with it come times of sorrow and loneliness."
But, thankfully, we serve a God who is the giver of life and the conqueror of death. Christians can take comfort in the words of the apostle Paul: "O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?" (I Corinthians 15:55)
