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“He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak.”
Isaiah 40:29

“It’s a bird–it’s a plane–no, it’s Super Widow!” Maybe that is a little over the top. But it’s what I feel I have to live up to at times.

Well-meaning friends say things like “You’re so strong,” “I don’t know how you do it all,” and “I really admire you!” One even went so far as to say I was her hero. What in the world is she thinking?

I’m not a hero. Don’t they all see the days when I can barely hold it together? What about those times when I forget something important, simply because I can’t squeeze one more thing into this overloaded brain? Or those nights as I sit in my quiet home after all the kids go to bed, crying out for God to rescue me– it’s too much and I feel like I’m drowning?

The Oxford Dictionary defines hero as “a person, typically a man, who is admired or idealized for courage, outstanding achievements or noble qualities”.

Well, maybe there is a little something to this hero thing after all.

I would say, at best, I am a reluctant hero.

I certainly didn’t ask to be a widow at the age of 40. Never imagining I would be a single mom to three school age children, many days I feel like an alien from the planet Widowhood attempting to live in a world of “complete” families.

But you know what? Batman didn’t asked to be orphaned as a child. Spiderman never asked to be bit by a radioactive spider. Superman was an alien refugee from the planet Krypton. Heroes don’t ask to be heroes, it just happens.

C.S. Lewis is quoted as saying “Hardship often prepares an ordinary person for an extraordinary destiny”.

I didn’t ask for this journey, but it is the one God gave me. So, if I have to walk this road, I want to make sure something good comes from it. I want God to take my story and use it for something extraordinary.

I want to touch lives, to change lives while walking this path. Trust me, I will make mistakes. There will be days when it all feels too hard. There will be days I fail. It’s those days I must remember– real heroes aren’t perfect.

So, if friends, family, and even strangers want to admire me? That’s okay. For you see, in my world, I am doing some extraordinary things.

I am doing the work of two parents all by myself.

I take care of my home, lead a mom’s ministry at my church, and run a business.

I am moving forward courageously when I really wish I could just go back to my old life.

I am facing my fear of an unknown future and not backing down.

I am stronger than I was before my husband died.

I am a hero.

Unlike the heroes in movies and comic books, I thankfully don’t have to depend on my own strength or super powers to do these things. I have the power of Christ working in me.

Whenever others look at me and see courage, strength, or some other quality they admire, it’s not me they see, it’s Jesus Christ. Philippians 4:13 states, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me”.

There is no way I could travel this journey without the Spirit bubbling up inside of me. If in living out this so-called heroic life I am able to point others to Jesus, bringing out the hero in them, then I say bring it on!

Dear sisters, I encourage you to embrace your inner hero. Recognize that you are doing something heroic in living through the death of your husband.

See the strong person you are becoming as you travel this journey. Don’t try and do it in your own strength. Draw on the power of the Holy Spirit. Walk closely with Jesus and let Him be what strengthens you.

Don’t be afraid of your weaknesses and don’t get discouraged when it all feels like too much.

Remember Paul? In 2 Corinthians 12:9 he shares how he pleaded with the Lord to take away the thorn in his flesh but the response was “My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is made perfect in weakness”. Paul then says he will “boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me”.

When you are weak, my friends, through the power of Christ you are strong!

Father, thank you for the power we have in Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit. I pray that each of us will embrace this power, that we will recognize the strength we have because of you. Remind us that it is ok to be weak because that is when your power is made perfect. When others look at us and what we are doing, let it be Jesus they see. Let our willingness to be a hero for you, bring out the hero in those around us.Amen