California Here I Come!

March 17! Register today! https://ccav.churchcenter.com/registrations/events/1578904

Have you ever been disappointed?

Join me March 17th and you will not be disappointed! Learn how 2 widows dealt with life's disappointments, and come away with a vision for how God can help you deal with yours. 

Need a speaker for your widows event? Email me at WCplace@gmail.com, you won't be disappointed. 💗

Widows Journey Retreat, March 3-5, 2023

Are you registered yet? Let's meet! 

Sandy Cove Ministries is located on the northern shores of 
the Chesapeake Bay, in North East, MD. Beautiful sunsets are a treat
just about every evening. The speakers, groups, and fellowship
 all point to God and will help you feel whole again.  

If you sign up, please let me know. I like to get together with everyone at dinner on Friday night. That way we can all meet and hang out with each other for the weekend. Email me at wcplace@gmail.com or send me a message on Facebook.

I'll facilitate a group again this year and although you can't select your group leader, maybe it'll just happen that you'll be with me. If not, I'd love to chat during meals or breaks so be sure to look for me!

Click here for the website with everything you need to know about this wonderful weekend!

May the Lord fill your New Year with fresh helpings of his hope and comfort. 💗 Ferree

  

Sandy Cove Ministries
60 Sandy Cove Road
North East, MD 21901

Toll Free: 800.234.COVE (2683)
Local Phone: 410.287.5433

Last Chance for Lowest Book Price

PRICES GO UP ON JANUARY 1ST

😊 But right now my book is on sale for $11.99 instead of $14.99, and the shipping is at last year's rates in spite of recent postal increases! 

paperback, 248 pgs.
This book will honor
your past, affirm your
present, and help you
 move forward to life.  

• 1 book shipping = $3.99
• 2 books shipping = $4.99
• 3 books shipping = $5.99 and so forth.  

Come January 1, the books will revert to full retail price of $14.99 each. Shipping will be increased to reflect something closer to actual cost, probably $1.50 more per book. 

All that to say that if you decide you want to stockpile some more at the current prices, please do so before Dec. 31. Click the "Bookstore" tab near the top of this blog, or here if you're on your cell phone or email. Buy now to save $3.00/ book and $1.50/book on the shipping. I love a good sale! 

😕

But, I hate how inflation and short supplies and help are costing more for all of us. I've held off with raising my book price---in fact, it's been at a 20% off sale for years now. But with the production and shipping costs going up I can't absorb it all. My goal has always been to simply break even. Thanks for understanding my heart -- I want you to know that this year is my last chance to offer this wonderful resource at the lowest price possible. I will have an annual 20% off sale in February, but the 2023 shipping will be higher.

💗ferree

Catching Up: Too Many Funerals

 A dear reader emailed me the other day wondering if I was alright since I've not blogged much as I'd like, nor as regularly. My ideal would be to post once a week---but that hasn't happened. Instead, I'm kind of feeling like I joined the "Funeral of The Month Club"---I'm NOT recruiting new members!

A year ago my husband took a job opportunity here in his hometown of Ticonderoga, NY. One of the best things about it was that we could be near his parents, Don and Elaine. Don turned 88 in May, so these were treasured days. We've seen God's gracious providence in this because on Sept. 21, Don woke up in Heaven. He'd had some recent trips to the ER, but the doctors couldn't tell us much, and he always rallied and was back to normal really quick, so it was somewhat of a shock. The funeral was on that Saturday, the 24th. We scrambled as best we could. Our church is without a pastor, but God provided the best chaplain for it, a dear friend who "just happened" to be in the area that week. There were too many such details and provisions to list here but I shared them with some texts to family. 

Do you journal or jot notes down on a calendar, notebook or save your cell phone texts? I encourage you to write stuff down! You will love seeing God's fingerprints on your calendar or journal!

I'm  sure you all have many evidences of God's grace touching on your day-to-day lives, but especially when crises arrive the mercies arrive. The briefest of note might help you recall His great mercy and faithfulness. Write it down today!

Well, between my father-in-law's funeral and now having a widow very close to me, life has been busy enough. So many good things though---like having a house full of people and cooking and serving! (You might think I'm crazy but I love a house full of people I can feed). 

But, this past Friday was my first husband's mother's funeral---my "first" mother-in-law passed away only two weeks after my current father-in-law did. I was able to attend her funeral in Michigan and re-connect with that side of the family, and also one of my daughters who was able to come, and I got to stay with my sister who "just happens" to live in the area. 

Two funerals too many! But the conversations they created all had a main theme---let's work hard to get together BEFORE the funerals! Funerals are inevitable, and family will heroically juggle their lives to attend. But we could get together with a lot less stress, effort and money to weave our lives together and build memories and relationships that last even better. 

Family relationships can get very complicated during widowhood! But work hard to be the one who takes the first step---(and that's a step you might have to take over and over)---and the benefits are beyond what we can ask or imagine.

Although I only arrived home yesterday, today I'm travelling again! Previous commitment, and it's a happy event. But I will not be able to reply to emails, so I don't want you to be disappointed if you don't hear back from me. I will, however, be able to post your comments. (If you're seeing this on your phone, first go to the blog by clicking on the title). Just look below here and you'll see a place to comment.

💗 Ferree   

Widowed---Again

One round of widowhood is bad enough, but some widows remarry. Many of them go through it again. (I will probably have another turn at it--not looking forward to that!). What's it like the second time? 

My Facebook friend Peggy Tillman just sent me a link for her blogs about it. Her hubby passed just last week, and the funeral was yesterday, so she's writing in real time. 

This is a VALUABLE and PRECIOUS gift to those who chose to receive it. Her writing is superb, and her thoughts are anchored in God's truth. She learned a lot from her first bout as a widow, and she's applying it now. I am amazed and so proud of her! 

Please be praying for her---every widow needs prayer no matter how "well" they seem to be doing. Her goal right now is to just breathe and drink tea. 

Let her words and her life minister to you with her honesty, grateful heart and Southern ways (which I personally found so helpful during mourning---Southern culture "gets it" more often than the rest of the country). 

Here's a link and a line from her blog to get you started....   💗 ferree

What now, Peggy Tillman?

"It's a little different this time. (How many women can say "this time" about the death of a spouse?" What a stupid club I belong to now. No one wants to come to THAT meeting.) By different I mean..."

Mindy's Story - A Friend In Deed

 From left to right, starting in the back row are
Mindy, Wanda, Sissy, Andrea.
Priscilla, me and Marilyn are in front. Pam
took the picture so she didn't have to be in it! 

I found this photo way back from 2017 and it's so special to me. These beautiful ladies were from the first widows group I had in South Carolina. It's a walk down memory lane! All of them but Mindy went through my book "Postcards from the Widows Path," at Florence Baptist Temple.

Back then, Mindy was a Facebook friend of mine, we'd never met in person. But she drove about 2 hours, all the way down from North Carolina! She made a special trip just to join our Christmas party. We were so glad she did!

"I didn't realize how much I needed to talk to other widows until I went to that Christmas dinner. Even though we were at different point in our grief, we connected. The timing was perfect. It was just what I needed, when I needed it," she reminisced last fall when we visited once again. 

This time we were at my new home on the other side of South Carolina where I'd moved in 2020. My husband Tom was away, working up in New York. Mindy happened to also be on the other side of South Carolina, so we got together! Have you gotten together with your widowed or single girlfriends for a weekend? Plan to do it soon! 

Mindy's hubby died on the day of her 57th birthday, July 25, in 2014. A totally unexpected massive heart attack. 

"We were going out for my birthday, but first he went to get some tires from the back of our property to drop off. I went out to let him know when I'd be ready. Instead, I found him unconscious."

She started CPR, but he was gone before she'd even gotten there. The 7 - 10 minutes it took for the EMT's to arrive seemed like forever. She didn't even get to say good-bye. 

I titled this "A Friend In Deed," because this verse reminded me of her faithful, steady character:

 

     "...those who hope in me will not be disappointed.” Isaiah 49:23b (NIV)

She's been through a lot since John died--too much to tell here, but I sense you can understand. In a mysterious way, the widows I've met seem to get that about each other--we know we each carry a vast and precious history. And even through her many troubles, her faith never ceases. If you are her friend on Facebook, you'll notice that. Lately she's been posting Bible verses that capture hope and God's wonderful comfort and compassion.

Here's an amazing "coincidence:" today (Oct. 4) was John's birthday. (I honestly did not know that when God "nudged' me to get this going!) Mindy hosted a birthday party in the park to commemorate the day that first year. Her kids and grandkids each received some wonderful gifts she put together:

• a small engraved jewelry box that held a key to the box John's ashes were in. (She obtained the extra keys from the funeral home). 
• She also gave them one of John's golf balls in a clear display box and individual photos of each of them with their Grandpa. 
• Then, since there were enough, they all donned one of the ball caps from Grandpa's wall display, and took a group photo.  

Mindy told me that doing this was so therapeutic because everyone loved their gifts and John had gotten to meet them all. Since then two great-grandchildren have been added to the family. She tried very hard to "be strong" and not show her grief to the family at the time. But since then, she's learned it can be a positive learning experience. She said, "They need to see it. It's good for them, and it was good for me....No other way will they learn that depth of compassion." 

She's not only a "friend in deed," she's a mom and grandma in the deed of role modeling authenticity and honest grief in a way that will help her family grow to become mature, compassionate, and full of faith. 

Thank you, Mindy, for not giving up. Those who hope in God like you do will NOT be disappointed.

💗 ferree