This is Week 33 in the Grace in Everyday Relationships Series. The empty chair at the table has a way of speaking, even when no one says a word. It might be the absence of a loved one who died this year, a grandparent who used to pray over the meal, a child lost to miscarriage, a sibling estranged after deep hurt, or a spouse whose illness keeps them in a bed instead of at the gathering. Laughter feels thinner. Silence feels heavier. Everyone wonders how to act—and some secretly wonder where God is in all of this. Every family will face grief, loss, and suffering in some form. The…


