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Grief AND thankfulness: Wow, I just found grief in my favorite passage on thankfulness

Lynne Baab • Thursday November 21 2019

I have long collected biblical passages that call us to thankfulness. Now that I’m on a journey of holding thankfulness in one hand and grief in the other, I’m exploring the ways grieving is built into some of the passages. I had never seen this before.

Consider Colossians 3:12-17, a passage my husband and I chose for our wedding ceremony, and a passage I have preached on at several weddings I have performed.

“As God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience. Bear with one another and, if anyone has a complaint against another, forgive each other;...

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Grief AND thankfulness: Feeling responsible

Lynne Baab • Friday November 15 2019

When something bad happens, and I have a big learning moment from it, I try to be thankful in the midst of frustration, sadness and pain. This combination of pain and learning is an unexpected pattern that fits with the grief AND thankfulness call I’ve been feeling.

Here’s my latest example. On Saturday night I was pouring boiling hot broth out of a crockpot into a bowl. The crockpot slipped a little bit – not that much! – but it bumped the bowl, which tipped onto my left arm. I have a big and very nasty burn on my left arm.

The next...

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Grief AND thankfulness: The weaned child

Lynne Baab • Saturday November 9 2019

I have two sons, and I breast-fed both of them. When my older son was 9 months old, the irritations of nursing were growing, so I weaned him. Afterward, I missed nursing so much. I decided with my second son that I would let him nurse much longer. He got bored with it when he was slightly over two and stopped on his own.

In that second year of nursing, my son was able to toddle over to me, climb on my lap, and ask to nurse. After he stopped nursing, he continued to climb into my lap. I felt a difference...

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First post in a new series: Grief AND thankfulness

Lynne Baab • Wednesday October 30 2019

The past eight months have been unusually challenging: my husband Dave’s sister died unexpectedly, both Dave and I have had some frustrating medical things, and I’ve experienced several other losses. This feels like a time of grief for me. I’m closer to tears – or in tears – much more often, and I simply feel sad a lot.

At the same time, the past few months have been full of joys. We visited Yosemite this past summer, my first time, and a joyful return for Dave. The weather was clear and, oh, what an amazing place it is. The fall leaves have...

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