Good morning Ladies ~ Here it is April already and Easter is just a couple of weeks away. Easter is the season of rebirth and restoration.
God in His great glory and wisdom has saved us through Jesus’ death and resurrection, so that we will be FREE. Jesus came so that we might have life, and have it more abundantly.
Our lives did not end when we lost our dear husbands, they just took a turn, a turn closer to Jesus as we depend on Him and grow to love Him more as He works in our lives.
We are starting a new series on this blog. ‘Widows Witnessing’. These will be stories of how God has worked and is working in your lives.
We want to publish your stories right here in this blog. Your stories will touch lives. Whenever we read about what God does in a real person’s life, we rejoice and our faith is strengthened.
No story is too small to tell. Sometimes the smallest stories can be some of the greatest. May God bless you as you share with us what God has done in your life.
So, let us hear your story.
We are going to start with our founder Dotti. Her story is the beginning of how we are here today. May you be blessed and encouraged as you read her story.
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Several years ago while living in New Jersey, Pastor Bruce Sofia of Gloucester County Community Church, called and asked me to speak at their Wednesday evening meeting. Pastor Sofia was giving a series of meetings titled, “Till Death Due Us Part”. Pastor asked me to speak on “How did I cope when my late husband died”. At first, I held my breath and then I remembered Pastor’s words, when he said, “I thought of you first when I was organizing this topic for the class”. Well, if Pastor thought of me first, God must have spoken to him; therefore, I must do this and depend on the Holy Spirit of God to help me.
Of course, Satan was right there telling me so many lies. You can’t do this, what if I stutter, forget my subject, and many other lies. But inside of me, I knew I had to do this.
The next day, I called my girlfriend Rita and told her about Pastor Bruce’s request. I needed her advice on how she remembers and prepares for the many times she was asked to speak at different churches. Her excellent advice was to remember to give God the Glory in everything He has done.
I prayed and asked God to guide me and my thoughts as to what He wanted me to say. God brought back so many memories that I thought I had forgotten. When I was finished writing the speech, He spoke to me again and showed me the many times that He provided and protected me, telling me of His love and that He had never forsaken me.
The Psalmist wrote, “write down for the coming generation what the Lord has done, so that people not yet born will praise him” (Ps. 102:18 TEV)
You owe it to your loved ones to pass on to them how God helped you overcome your problems and fulfill His purposes through your life. Think, what you write will be a witness that continues to speak long after you are in heaven!
What an honor that was to be asked to give testimony of how God helped me. To be able to speak of His miracles to over 300 people was very exciting.
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The date now is April, 2014 and we are doing articles by our FNF groups, titled “Widows Witnessing”. These widows will be writing their feelings of widowhood. As the last line of the above Bible verse reads “Think, what you write will be a witness that continues to speak long after we are in heaven!”
What a wonderful God we serve, God’s Blessing!
Dotti Ackerman
Founder & Director of Friends Needing Friends
Est: 1988
