[Note: this grief letter was sent to the siblings of a child who died suddenly.]
You do not know me, but I am praying that God will be with you when you get sad and miss your brother. (Those feelings of sadness and loss are called grief.) I wanted to send you some things so that you and your family could write, draw, and remember your brother by making a memory book.
When someone you love dies, you often think of them. I am sure you miss playing with your brother and hearing his voice. My two children were 6 and 8 years old when their daddy, who was my husband, died. One of their favorite parts of the Bible, that helped them feel better, was John 14:1-4:
“Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me. In my Father’s house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. You know the way to the place where I am going.”
Those were Jesus’ words to His disciples, or helpers, before He died. Jesus died, but He did not stay dead. He rose, or came alive again, and went to heaven to be with God, His Father. That is the same place—heaven or eternal life—that we will go to if we believe in Jesus, like the Bible tells us in John 3:16:
“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”
When someone dies, we do not see them anymore. But if they know Jesus, we can be sure that they are in heaven. My kids liked to think that their daddy was working with Jesus, building the house in heaven, and getting it ready for when we go to heaven later. Maybe that is a picture you can have in your mind to help you. What would your brother like to do in a big house with Jesus?
Another way to think of heaven is when birds fly south for the winter. We stay here and freeze in the winter, but the birds are alive and enjoying the warm weather somewhere where we cannot see them. That might be another idea of how you can think of your brother: alive with Jesus and having fun, even though you cannot see him.
May God comfort you and help you to understand more about Jesus, even though your family misses your brother so much.
[Note: If you have experienced the death of a loved one, check out GriefShare to sign up for daily emails of comfort and encouragement or to find a local GriefShare group.]
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