Seasons of Sorrow: The Pain of Loss and the Comfort of God

On November 3, 2020, Tim and Aileen Challies received the shocking news that their son Nick had died. A 20-year-old student at the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky, he had been participating in a school activity with his fiancee, sister, and friends, when he fell unconscious and collapsed to the ground. Neither students, nor a passing doctor, nor paramedics were able to revive him. His parents received the news at their home in Toronto and immediately departed for Louisville to be together as a family. While on the plane, Tim, an author and blogger, began to process his loss through writing.

Nick's death resonated through the evangelical world. His memorial service in the United States and funeral in Canada were watched by thousands. Tim's blog posts were read by hundreds of thousands as he gave voice to his sorrow and anguish, but also to his faith and hope. Seasons of Sorrow includes a selection of those early reflections, but also many pieces Tim has written since and not shared with the public. Separated into four seasons, from Fall to Summer, and written mostly in the present tense, Seasons of Sorrow shares real-time reflections from the first year of his grief.

Seasons of Sorrow begins in the Challies living room with the phone call every parent dreads--We did everything we could. It ends exactly one year later as Tim ponders the final first. In a year of many firsts--a first Thanksgiving with an empty chair, a first Christmas with an empty stocking, a first birthday with no gifts, the anniversary of Nick's death is the final first and, thus, a fitting conclusion. Along the way, Tim shares the poignancy of his early grief, the doubts and fears that plagued him, the faith that sustained him, and the hope that has given him joy even through such sorrow.