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Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”
Matthew 28:19-20 (ESV)

Our world can get very small

Monday morning, July 8, 2024, I woke up at 6:00 am in the middle of Hurricane Beryl. Within minutes I was left without power, without cell service, and completely cut off from the outside world. And I remained so for three days. Oh, it would have been nice to have my husband here. The hours would have gone by so much quicker with his company. Instead, I was completely alone. I entertained myself by reading but as it got warmer and warmer inside the house I drifted off to sleep just so the time would pass. My world felt incredibly small.

The hurricane reminded me of the early days of grief and how isolated and alone I felt. My world felt incredibly small then too. It was a struggle to get up each day to perform the basic functions of life. I couldn’t see beyond the moment and the pain. But deep down inside I knew, God had more in store.

It’s not the end, it’s the beginning

A real turning point for me was the day God gave me a different perspective on the story of the widow’s mite. If you are unfamiliar with it you can read it here. My entire life I had heard the story of a widow’s mite and I always focused on the lesson that “we are supposed to give everything to God”. On that day, I saw it with fresh eyes. Not only could I relate as a widow, I could truly understand the desire to give everything to God. But what I had never focused on until that moment was that God was using a widow to teach the disciples. Wow, that truth really ministered to my heart and for the first time in my widow journey I could see how widows can be of immeasurable value in building God’s kingdom. That He can use us to teach others what a surrendered life looks like. My life no longer felt “over”. I could move forward with purpose and with a better understanding of how He uses us to bring value in His Kingdom.

And so we move forward…

And as I move forward my world gets larger and larger. No longer am I struggling to just function each day but God has expanded my territory over the years. At the time of my husband’s death I was discipling women in my church in Plano, Texas. Within a year, God had expanded my territory through this ministry by sharing my stories in a written format. And not long after I joined the team, He expanded our ministry to provide conferences to minister to widows across the United States and now next week, He is expanding us once again by giving us an opportunity to minister globally to widows in Ghana, Africa.

We are never alone.

As we move forward we need to realize we are never alone. God is always with us. And we are always in the Body of Christ. So as I travel the miles to Ghana next week, please understand you are going with me. Some of you will be praying with me. Others will be donating to provide the meals for the widows who will be attending. Our hope is to minister to 100 widows in Atekiu, Ghana and also to many others in their communities. And so I ask you to pray for those widows God would have us minister to near and far just as Paul prayed:

And so, from the day we heard, we have not ceased to pray for you, asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him: bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God; being strengthened with all power, according to his glorious might, for all endurance and patience with joy; giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in light.
Colossians 1:9-12 (ESV)