I routinely get asked what to give someone who’s walking through grief. Christmas is especially difficult after experiencing loss. I’ve collected a meaningful list of the best grief gifts for someone grieving at Christmas.
The first and second Christmases after Dan died were brutal. Friends and family who showed up for us in that season of sorrow with thoughtful help and their presence brought comfort in painful days.
I’ve curated a Christmas grief gift guide with my top favorites as well as a guide with gifts that money can’t buy. I’m also sharing what I put into a grief gift basket.
20 Best Grief Gifts for Someone Grieving at Christmas
1. The Giving Throw: Let those grieving know they’re wrapped in God’s love. The Giving Collection is designed for softness and comfort and this throw feels like a cozy hug. It includes a note with words of encouragement to remind your gift recipient they are “thought of, cheered for, and loved…”
2. The Giving Heart: This cozy weighted heart can be snuggled and held close for comfort. It’s part of The Giving Collection line of meaningful gifts and comes in multiple colors.
3. The Lord is Close to the Brokenhearted Sign: Posting scripture in our home is powerful. Psalm 34:18 is a promise in the midst of loss that God not only sees our pain but will bring about our healing.
4. Be Still Tumbler: This was on my daughter’s Christmas list last year, though she got it in this blush pink version. Psalm 46:10 states: “Be still and know that I am God.” What a reminder to surrender and trust that God’s got us.
5. Heart Mug: Cozy up winter nights or start the morning with this ceramic heart mug remembering all the ways God loves us.
6. Customized Memorial Candle: This refillable candle can be lit on special days and customized with the name of your loved one. Laurelbox, who makes this candle, has a wonderful line of thoughtful memorial gifts.
7. Cross Bracelet: This silver cuff is engraved with Isaiah 43:2: “When you go through deep waters, I will be with you.” Because while the waves of grief may crash over us, God will keep us from being pulled under.
8. Crafted Leather-like Journal: I’m a journaling girl (you know if you’ve been here for a while!) and I use these daily. Journaling through our emotions, recording what God teaches, and keeping a gratitude list help us work through our grief.
9. Life Can Be Good Again: Your World Back Together After it all Falls Apart: Practical help and Biblical hope to process your grief, find your footing, and begin moving forward after loss. Tuck this book into a gift bag or send a copy across the miles to share with someone who’s grieving.
10. Coffee + Jesus Spoon: I love adding a stamped spoon to a gift basket. And if you’re keeping with a cozy tea theme, opt for this Jesus + Tea spoon.
11. Skylight Digital Picture Frame: Hands-down one of the best gifts I’ve ever received or given. I’ve given one to my hard-to-buy-for parents. It also makes a great gift when family lives states apart. It’s easy-peasy to load with pictures to display in your home, and to send pictures and videos to each Skylight.
12. Elly and Grace Embroidery Kit: This kit, for beginners or seasoned hands, has everything you need to create the Be Still canvas. Other kits available include It is Well, Cast Your Cares, Choose Joy, and more.
13. Grief Scripture Card Set: These scripture cards by The Daily Grace Co. are wonderful in a grief basket, in a stocking, or on their own. Use code LISA10 for an additional 10% off your total order.
14. Kintsugi Heart Ornament: Kintsugi is a Japanese art made from broken pottery mended with gold. When unboxing the family Christmas ornaments is painful, this ornament on the tree is a reminder that God will make everything beautiful in its time.
15. Grace Farms Organic Tea Blend: I hear from so many in grief that getting good sleep is difficult. This chamomile vanilla tea is an organic, caffeine-free mix of herbs designed to foster calm, relaxing sleep.
16. Dead Sea Salt: Nothing says soothing relaxation like a soaking bath. Add this organic salt harvested from the Dead Sea for a restful and rejuvenating bath.
17. Storyworth: Tell the story of your life or your loved one’s life. Storyworth sends a prompt each week via email over the course of a year. At the year’s end, Storyworth compiles the submitted stories and responses along with any photos and publishes them in a beautiful keepsake book. Once compiled, you can order as many copies as needed!
18. Fleece Reading Pillow: After a long day, sink back into this plush pillow that molds to your body, nestling your neck and back with precise support. The pillow is covered in ribbed fleece and comes in multiple colors.
19. Mrs. Field’s cookies: Hello, comfort food. You can never go wrong with a dozen of Mrs. Field’s legendary and mouth-watering chocolate chip cookies.
20. Custom Wind Chimes and Ornament Box: The sound of wind chimes is soothing and often nostalgic. Choose from a variety of customizable wind chimes along with a custom-engraved feather-shaped ornament made from shell. Or select items from this line of memorial gifts and build a grief box to send to someone grieving.
Christmas Sympathy Gifts (that money can’t buy)
We can comfort a friend or family member who’s grieving not only with something we purchase, but also something we do. This list of gifts for the grieving heart that money can’t buy reflects several ways the body of Christ can show up with practical and hopeful help for grievers.
1. Take them a meal. Bringing a meal to someone who’s grieving is heart-warming comfort. After Dan died, friends who brought dinner along with hugs and encouragement were a balm to my heart. There’s so much to do in the months after loss just when grief depletes your energy for even the simplest tasks. Takeout or pizza delivery work just fine as well.
2. Stock the freezer. Bring a frozen casserole that can be defrosted and cooked when needed. I also love to give a large stack of Christmas paper plates, napkins, and cups for easy clean up.
3. Show up with Christmas carols. Christmas caroling brings cheer to the front door. I still smile at memories of the night in our deep grief when friends of all ages showed up on our lawn with Christmas carols and a tableful of hot chocolate and treats.
4. Invite them. Friendships often change after loss. The crazy thing is, your grieving friend both wants the invitation and the freedom to decline if she’s not up to it. Invite her anyway. Extend invitations for a simple dinner, a fun movie night, or the annual Christmas party.
5. Help them decorate. When your heart is broken, decking the halls for Christmas seems impossible. Much as we want the festivity of Christmas traditions, going through sentimental decorations is painful. Offering to decorate inside or outside the home can bring light in the darkness of grief.
6. Just sit with them. The best thing you can offer someone in grief isn’t a present. It’s your presence. Sit with her. Over coffee or on her front porch, listen to her heart and make space for the raw emotions. You don’t have to fix the heartache or find something perfect to say. Listening shows you care and that you are with her in the pain.
7. Pray for them. Only heaven will reveal all God does in us and for us through the persistent prayers of others. Ask for specific prayer requests and then commit to covering them in prayer. In my grief, I could palpably feel others’ prayers. I’m certain they helped me sleep, find words for my children in conversations about death and loss, and have enough strength to continue homeschooling that year after Dan died.
8. Say their name. One of the simplest gifts we can give someone grieving is to say their loved one’s name. People avoid it, thinking it will be a reminder of loss. As if we could forget a child or husband or parent or sibling we fully expected would still be in our life. Saying their name means they matter and the loss matters.
9. Share memories, pictures, and stories. Instead of tip-toeing around the elephant in the room at the holidays, create space for grief by sharing memories and stories. You may have a story about the loved one from childhood or work that would be an absolute treasure for the one grieving. Or you may have a funny memory that brings needed laughter in sorrow.
10. Text encouragement. This is an easy way to comfort someone who’s grieving. I’ve texted scriptures, prayers, and encouraging messages. You could also send ecards and gif messages. Need suggestions? These Bible verses to grieve with hope and these 40 promises are needed truths in sorrow.
What to Put in a Christmas Grief Gift Basket
I want to share one more way to bless someone who’s grieving during the holidays and that’s with a grief gift basket. I like to make a grief care package with Christmas-themed paper plates and napkins, a winter-scented candle, a journal and nice pen, a mug and tea, a memorial ornament, Christmas candies or cookies, and my book Life Can Be Good Again: Putting Your World Back Together After it all Falls Apart.
These gift guides for grievers are curated for comfort and will help you love others well in loss. Your meaningful gift and practical help are like the hands of Christ reminding those grieving that they aren’t alone as they move forward after loss.
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