10 Practical Ways to Help People Who Are Hurting
BY LE ANN TREES | When you don’t know what to say or do to help someone who is hurting from a terrible loss, try these 10 practical tips.
Sometimes it’s hard to find the right words when someone you care about is suffering. Still, there are plenty of ways you can be supportive in painful circumstances. After my son died in a skiing accident over nineteen years ago at the age of sixteen, people cared for our family in a multitude of ways that enabled us to survive—and eventually thrive. When you don’t know what to say or do to help people who are hurting from a terrible loss, try the following:
1. Pray for them.
The power of prayer is real. I still run into people who tell me that they have continued to pray for my family since my son’s death. I consider myself a walking miracle, and I’m extremely thankful to God for every one of those petitions people made on my family’s behalf.
2. Hug them.
Hugs are a wonderful way to show you care. Another plus with giving someone a hug is that you don’t have to worry about saying the wrong thing. When people hugged me, I felt like it was okay to not say anything when I didn’t feel like talking. The hug said it all…