joy in the face of grief

Earlier this week, I went over to my granddaddy's house with my mom and aunt to decorate for Christmas. My grandmother Shirley died last May, and we knew that granddaddy Don wouldn't decorate his house by himself. In some ways I could see how you might think that decorating would just make things worse. That seeing those decorations that had been put out by my grandmother's hands for countless years would only make it hurt more. But I think it was really the opposite. We needed those decorations. Not just because I know my grandmother would have wanted to know that her house looked good for Christmas (though she certainly would), but because they remind us that no matter how much it hurts, the pain never outweighs the joy. 

If we had left my grandparents' house undecorated, we would have missed out on the memories that we were reminded of as we pulled each ornament out of the box, settled the nutcrackers on the mantelpiece, and hung up the mistletoe where it has hung every year of my memory. For me, they were simply memories of me being at my grandparents' house at Christmas time, but for my mother and my aunt they were memories of their childhood, and for my granddaddy they were memories of the past fifty eight years spent celebrating the birth of Christ with my grandmother and their daughters. 

These memories are important because they remind us of the incredible blessing that my grandmother was for all of us - but that's just the beginning. We all loved my grandmother and are sad that she's gone, but we have a hope that is greater than our grief. These memories remind us that Christmas is a time to celebrate Christ's birth.

Grief and celebration don't generally go well together, but in this case I think they do. We celebrate Christ humbling himself and coming down into the world as a helpless baby because he gave his life for our sins by conquering death. We don't deserve to have a relationship with God, but because of Christ's sacrifice he destroyed death. We are no longer slaves to it, but are free to worship the holy God of the universe (Heb.2:14-15). Because of Christ, death has no sting (1 Cor. 15:55).

We all miss my grandmother, but missing her in this Christmas season should point us to the fact that because of Christ's birth, death, and resurrection, death cannot hold her any more than it could Christ. So we dare to have joy in the face of our grief because we know that someday soon we will join her in worshiping our holy, just, merciful, and gracious God face-to-face.

this was taken a year ago at our wedding, the last photo of the whole family.
my grandmother is on the far left.