Restless No More -- A Widow's Story -- Joan Wyrtzen Bagg

Do you attend or lead a widows group? Here are life-lifting verses from a Bible study that my friend Joan Wyrtzen Bagg recently shared with a group. Feel free to use them with your group too! Joan was first widowed at age 47.

When my first husband, Loren Steiner, passed away from cancer I wasn't sure what to do. I didn't understand why the Lord took him home at age 50. One night all alone I asked the Lord why this had happened and what did He want me to do now?

Joan was first widowed at age 47. She was then remarried for 10 years and widowed again. Then, after about 12 years the Lord once again had remarriage for her. This time she and her husband Doug Bagg have been instrumental in founding Grief Care Fellowship to train church members how to help widows and others who journey through grief.

(Click the Grief Care logo here on my blog for more info).  

Read more of her account by clicking here. If you are feeling a sense of restlessness in your life, be sure to read part 2 of her story right here. Maybe the Lord is changing the course of your life too.

You may copy these verses for personal or group use. Please note that they are from the New International Version (NIV), except for the words in italics which Joan used for her group.

God is My Husband 

 (Isaiah 54:5)  “For your Maker is your Husband-the Lord Almighty is His name.”

 He gives me Everlasting Love

 (Jeremiah 31:3)  “I have loved you with an everlasting love.”

I have His Word for comfort

(2 Corinthians 1:3-4)  “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in our troubles (sorrow), so that we can comfort those in any trouble (sorrow) with the comfort we ourselves have received from God. “

His is my security

(Isaiah 41:13) “For I am the Lord your God, who takes hold of your right hand and says to you; Do not fear; I will help you.”

I do not need to worry

(Matthew 7:25-34) “Therefore, I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; about your body, what you will wear….your Heavenly Father knows that you need them.” 
(Phil 4:19)  “My God will meet all your needs according to His glorious riches in Christ Jesus.”

When I am lonely He gives me… A song in the night
(Ps 77:6) “I remembered my songs in the night.”
(Jeremiah 31:13) “Turning my mourning into Joy. “

When I am sad I remember…..
(Psalm 118:24) “This is the day the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.” 
(Philippians 4: 4) “Rejoice in the Lord always and again I say “Rejoice!”

God’s will for me   
(Thessalonians 5:16, 17, 18)“Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.”

Widow's Story: Joan Wyrtzen Bagg, part 2

I believe that when God wants to move you He makes it clear by a restlessness in your life. I didn't know what it was, but I had grown very lonely even with my daughter's family very close by. They all had lives of their own now and didn't really need a Grandma to care of them anymore. In the spring of that year I visited some friends at Word of Life in Hudson, Florida. While there I enjoyed fellowship with some old friends which lead to me buying a Park Model at Word of Life RV Park to be near them again. Returning to Oklahoma I wondered if my actions were right or not. I thought I might have been too impulsive.

The following fall I returned to Florida to spend the winter and to see if the Lord did have a plan for me there or if I was just caught up in the moment when I bought the Park Model.

I prayed and tried to get involved with the activities at the Bible Institute and the RV Park, but nothing felt right. Then at the end of February an old friend, Doug Bagg, came to Word of Life in Florida. He had just lost his wife to cancer and came to the park to be near friends. One day he asked me if I could take some time to tell him about grief as he was really having a hard time coping with his grief. We went to coffee and a friendship began to develop between us. Then came the choices again, stay with the familiar, return to my home in Oklahoma or risk a new life again.
 

After much prayer and Bible study the Lord made it clear that my choice was to be the later, risk a new life again. God's plan was for me to marry Doug Bagg and together start a new ministry teaching people in the church what grief is all about.

That was five years ago and now "Journey in Grief Care" is being used in churches. We have yet to see all God will do with this ministry. We are keeping our focus to the future and asking God to bring Glory to Himself through this ministry.

I feel like Naomi and Ruth now...I am at home doing what God wants of me.

If Naomi had not had the faith to put one foot in front of the other in her journey back to Bethlehem she would have never known the blessing God had in store for her. And the same with Ruth, if she had not been willing to step out and risk starting a new life somewhere else she too would have missed God's blessing for her. I wonder what kind of a blessing, if any, Orpah had with her choice to remain with the familiar. The Bible never tells us what happened to her.

Many times all we can base our choices on are God's promises to us as widows and our faith to follow Him in obedience. It is so true that obedience to the Lord brings blessing, even at the cost of leaving the familiar and struggling forward to an unknown future. It's worth the cost to make the change. I know because I have been on that journey of choices---remain with the familiar, return to my roots, or risk an entirely new future--- five times over the past 30 years.

Copyright 2015 Joan Wyrtzen Bagg. Used by permission.

Widow's Story: Joan Wyrtzen Bagg, part 1

My email inbox should be called a surprise box; I never know what it holds for me. I hear from widows all over the world and from all sorts of situations. Just yesterday I heard from a lady who had recently moved from South Africa to Germany! Moving state to state is hard enough for me. How does one move to a different continent, with young children in tow? That's astounding, isn't it? 

 

But there's one thing that doesn't surprise me anymore because I see God work it over and over again ---The Bible guides each of our paths! Psalm 119:105 "Thy word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path."

 

Recently I was surprised to hear from Joan Wyrtzen Bagg, a lady I've admired from afar over the years; how cool that she'd write to me! And even better---once again I saw how God guided in her life with His Word, and that the Book of Ruth revealed God's guidance to her many times and in many ways. She'll be sharing her story directly with you too, today and tomorrow. Her account is laced with wisdom and God's grace that will bring surprising hope to your heart too.

♥ ferree

 

I have been re-reading Ferree's "Postcards from the Widows Path." It's a great book about a widow's journey and three widows from the book of Ruth. Chapter 7 entitled, "Three Choices" caused me to look back over the choices I have made as a widow. I could relate to the choices that the three widows in the book of Ruth made:

• Orpah chose to remain with the familiar.
• Ruth chose to risk an entirely new life.
• Naomi chose to return to her roots.

When my first husband, Loren Steiner, passed away from cancer I wasn't sure what to do. I didn't understand why the Lord took him home at age 50. One night all alone I asked the Lord why this had happened and what did He want me to do now? The Lord brought to my mind Proverbs 3:5,6

"Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not unto your own understanding; in all your ways knowledge him and he shall direct your paths."

The Lord told me that I didn't need to understand why; He wanted me just to trust him and let Him direct the rest of my life. That night I surrendered my life to the Lord.

Shortly after that I was a faced with two choices, like Orpah, remain with the familiar or like Ruth, risk an entirely new life with someone else in a new place. I chose to take a risk on a new life somewhere else. It turned out to be the choice that the Lord, wanted me to make. For the next ten years my life was wonderfully blessed being the wife of my Boaz, Jack Wyrtzen, evangelist and founder of Word of Life Fellowship.

Then abruptly it came to an end when Jack passed on to his heavenly home. And there were those choices in front of me again, stay with the familiar, risk something new, return to my roots. I remember sitting in Sunday School class when the Lord told me to "stay with the familiar" and I did.

Two years later I felt a restlessness in my soul. I was visiting Don, my son, in Lakeland, FL, and helping him in his office. He was starting a new ministry and as I sat there I remember the Lord saying, "I want you here." Then came the choices again, stay with the familiar or take a risk with a new life. This time I chose to take a risk with a new life.  

I moved to Lakeland, FL. I became a part of the new ministry, Wings of Eagles International. It was a very fulfilling time as I worked in the offices and enjoyed my son's family.

After 5 years the ministry was established and I felt restless again. The Lord was saying, "I have something new for you." This time the choices were return to your roots, like Naomi, or stay with the familiar, like Orpah. Returning to my roots had a lot of unknowns as I wouldn't be returning to a familiar place but to a familiar person---close to where my daughter, Kathy, lived. Although 300 miles south of my hometown, I'd be much closer to my hometown roots too.
 

I made the choice by moving to Oklahoma and there I started to put down some roots. It was nice being within a few hours driving time of more family members, as well as being very close to Kathy's family. I lived there for 7 years when I got that restless feeling I had come to know only too well--- the Lord had new plans for me....

I hate to leave you with this cliff hanger, but return tomorrow for the next surprising chapter of Joan's life! ♥