Widows Group!

Standing on the "north coast" of the
United States, the Ohio shore of
Lake Erie. 72 degrees and
breezy that day and I loved it!

Would you like to know what I was doing last week instead of blogging?
☺
That's a loaded question isn't it! Take it as fair warning that I'm sharing a bit about myself, but also the cool things God is doing with widows. Plus, I try not to get too much of my personal life wrapped up in this blog, but I imagine every now and then readers would like to know the woman behind the words, so please bear with me. Or skip this post entirely and I won't mind at all...

In case you don't know, moving to South Carolina two years ago really knocked me on my backside. The moving van pulled in here on June 11 and I tried really hard to buck up and make the best of it, which I have, but I must have cried every day that summer. The hardest part was, and still is, that I'm an extra 500 miles away from nearest family. In saying that, maybe you'll understand part of why my visit to Ohio (and 1500 miles on the rental car) last week was so special.

I spent three glorious days with
my daughter and her husband
 in northeast Ohio

 

...and then I trekked down
to southwest corner of the state
 to have lunch with my stepson,
Aaron
 

After I visited with Aaron I drove over to my friend Ginny's, where I would spend the night. She's such a beautiful lady! I met her shortly after her husband died, when the Lord led her to my very first GriefShare group. After I moved away she continued as a helper and then leader with the GriefShare group at Springboro Baptist.

That evening Ginny and I visited a widows group that just started using my book Postcards From The Widows' Path! It was sheer joy to meet them all and see and hear what the Lord is doing in their group! They treated me like the queen, but I felt like I was the one among royalty---God's own! What a spendid evening of wonderful food and deep conversation out on the patio of the leader's lovely home.

Here's the lady responsible for getting me there---Lori is in
one of my Lifeboat groups. She'd found both Lifeboat and
my book to be soooo helpful that she couldn't help
talking it up---and the next thing I know I'm  meeting her
in person and the amazing group of other widows that
the Lord pulled together around her!



By the time I thought to take a picture half of the group had
already gone home, but I think you can see the energy,
joy and hope the Lord stirred up for us all! (Ginny is
the first lady on the left).

Speaking of picture taking, I'm still kicking myself that I forgot to take one of Chris S., another sweet widow. She met me along I-77 (once I got there after the 45 minute traffic jam!) and we spent about two hours at Bob Evans Restaurant getting acquainted. I loved hearing her story and hope to get that picture sometime again!

So that's what I got to do last week---what a joy! Unfortunately there are a lot of friends I couldn't meet with, so I'll have to catch them next time around. I was able to visit with Lori's group because I happened to be going there anyway, but it'd be lovely to begin to visit other groups too---maybe even your's! Please contact me sometime and we'll see what the Lord works out, OK? And remember that I can send you a free discussion guide for my book anytime. It's great not only for church groups but also for simple neighborhood book clubs.

Thanks for visiting the WCP today, and wouldn't it be wonderful to meet in person sometime? In November I'll be a speaker at aNew Season/aWidows Might ministry Widows Conference in Myrtle Beach. Click here to sign up and find out more. It'd be awesome to meet YOU and maybe even your whole group there too!
♥ ferree