Fun traditions, Christmas parties, cookies and good food.

But what if it’s also filled with pain? What if this month holds reminders of loss and hard times?

Twenty-one years ago, I was home for winter break my freshman year of college when my dad passed away from a sudden heart attack. It was 7 days before Christmas.

I can vividly remember seeing my mom on the phone planning his funeral with the Christmas tree in the background.How do you still celebrate what Christmas means when you are also grieving?

For me, I clung to the hope I had in Jesus. I knew that even in those hardest days, He was with my mom and I. We felt that. We felt Him with us and we felt Him through the love others showed us.

“Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me.” Psalm 23:4a

A decade later, December once again marked a hard moment when my mom suffered a stroke. However, having hope in the hard times means I know God is there walking through it with us. He’s not going to take away all hard times, but He will guide, lead and comfort, and that makes all the difference.If you find yourself navigating the loss of a loved one this Christmas, it’s ok to sit with both grief and joy. Find people you can lean on, reflect on what is still good around you, and lean into God. He has conquered death and because of that, we can have hope.

“‘Where, O death, is your victory?
Where, O death, is your sting?’
The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God!
He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.”
1 Corinthians 15:55-56

By: Russ Mensik

Russ Mensik

Russ has been attending Hillside for a decade now after moving to California from Texas. In his free time, he enjoys camping with family, being outdoors, and perusing and reviewing new eating establishments on his Instagram account, @russ_eats.