Widow’s Witnessing

Good morning Ladies ~ This is a new day, let us rejoice in this gift from God and be a light and witness of His blessings to others.

Today we have four more testimonies from ladies of our NJ sisterhood.

EK-NJ

Grief tip: Believe that God will never leave you or forsake you. He is with you at all times.

One of my favorite songs that comforted me during my grieving time was "How Great Thou Art"

God sent me the love of my family and friends. Also my church family and their friendship.  Faithfulness in Him to see me through the sad and lonely times.

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JB-NJ

Grief Tip: Seek out female friends to help you stay active. Be willing to visit Senior Citizen centers and accept invitations to lunch, a movie, or other activities outside your home. Use any resource available to you. Stay active!

There are several songs that have helped to comfort me during this time. They are "Do Not Pass Me By" and What a Friend We have In Jesus".

A special blessing that happened to me, a friend introduced me to another widow who took me to FNF meetings and encouraged me to not grieve alone. I found strength to take one day at a time. I also found time for Bible study and got closer to my church, and volunteering for more church work.

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LR-NJ

Grief Tip: Exercise even if you only walk.  It really helps relieve the stress.

Blessings from God by meeting new friends from my support group. My new home living with my son. My daughter gave me my new grandson and being able to retire.

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Barb Driscoll BD-NJ

Grief Tip: Keep busy and keep in touch with friends, even if you don't feel like it. Look for joy each day and enjoy loved ones and let them know you do.

A special song to me is Great is Thy Faithfulness and God Is Always So Good.

God's blessings during this time is new friends. Another widow, especially a neighbor, whose husband died six months ago after mine, are now close friends.

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These testimonies touch and bless my heart. We are in this sisterhood together. We know just how each other feels. By sharing out testimonies we encourage and build each other up.

I will close this post with the following scripture verses from the KJV Bible.

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Wherefore comfort yourselves together, and edify (teach) one another, even as also ye do. 1Th_5:11

Exhort (strongly encourage) one another daily Heb_3:13 

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God’s blessings on each one of you.

You are all precious to Him.

A new series ‘Widows Witnessing’

 

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

FNF St. Patty meeting in south Florida

 

Hello Ladies ~ What a ‘fun’ meeting we had yesterday!

We had leprechauns, green shamrock necklaces, hats with shamrocks, Irish music, and LOTS of smiles as we all posed with one of the leprechauns for pictures.

We had a fantastic guest speaker, Reid P. Scott, Assistant State Attorney, Chief of Special Victims Unit. He shared ways for we widow ladies to protect ourselves from human predators. We learned valuable information and are thankful for Reid’s time and expertise in this area.

Reid and others are working to protect the elderly and it is good to know that they care and are doing what they can for us.

God has from long, long ago been the defender and protector of the widow and it is said many times in the Bible that orphans and widows need to be taken care of and any who abuse them will be punished. Those in the world who do what they can to protect and help orphans and widows are doing God’s will.

Reid will be back for future meetings to give us more information on how to be more aware of what’s going on around us and ways in which to help protect ourselves.

Thank you Reid.

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It was a joy to meet once again in the smaller room.  We were able to hear what was being said by any of the speakers, and we did not disturb the regular members of the golf club.

Before the meeting was a hoot. There was laughter and talking as we got to know each other better. One of our leprechauns did not want to co-operate all that well, but the other one did a great job of posing with us all for photos.

This is one of our sweet waitresses.

At our next meeting, the Easter/Spring Bunny will be visiting us. So, wear some happy colors, bring your smiling faces, and in the meantime let’s all thank God for His many blessings.

Let us also remember that God is our ultimate source of protection but, He also sends others into our lives to give us a helping hand just when we need it.

Love, hugs & prayers

and God willing we will be together again in April.

Rainey

Good morning Ladies

Our Friends Needing Friends sister group in New Jersey have their meetings the 4th Monday of every month.  This past Monday they had a great time celebrating  St. Patrick’s day and singing old Irish songs.

From the photos below, it looks like they had a fun time. It is so good to see these lovely ladies. It is so wonderful that we have our two sister groups growing in love and faith in our widowhood., where friendships are formed and nourished.

Now, let’s introduce a couple of the ladies from this group.

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This is Donna, she is the director of the deaf department. She is teaching the ladies about the St. Patrick's day celebration. Thank you Donna.

Here we have Mary Lou, the director for our northern branch of Friends Needing Friends. God bless you Mary Lou for the work you do for your ladies in New Jersey.

Let’s continue to pray for each other and to thank God for His many blessings in our lives.

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Thank you Dotti for starting Friends Needing Friends over 25 years ago and for all of the hard work that you do for our ladies.  We love you

Love, hugs and prayers ~ Rainey

Happy 2nd Anniversary ~ Friends Needing Friends

 

This month celebrates the 2nd anniversary of our Friends Needing Friends group here in south Florida. Our next meeting will be a celebration of that anniversary and we hope you will come to celebrate with us and bring a friend.

Our sister Shari, from our up north group, who has worked with our founder Dotti for 25 years wrote a lovely piece for this celebration.

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Happy 2nd Anniversary

Friends Needing Friends of Florida

 

How pleased I am to be able to join with others in wishing you a most 'happy 2nd anniversary'.

If I may be honest with you, I just admit that I never thought this day would come to pass. Why? You ask.  Well, when Dotti Ackerman, the founder of Friends Needing Friends and your director, first moved to Florida I was concerned whether she would actually stay after living her whole life in New Jersey. "Can she really make this move stick?" I wondered.  Then I questioned whether she would be able to "sell" this ministry to another church leader, find women interested in such a ministry, and have the strength and fortitude to establish a chapter in Florida with all new gals.

Well, here we are two years later and you are a vibrant, gorgeous, courageous group of women who meet monthly in a lovely country club setting and are a testament to the grace of God and the leadership capabilities of Dotti. 

God and Dotti make quite a team!  I have known and worked with Dotti for 25 years, and her stamina and creativity, coupled with her resoluteness, make her a formidable leader.  I pray God's continued blessings on each of you as you come together each month to support one another and Dotti. She speaks so highly of each of you and what you mean to her.

In John 15:12 (among others) we are admonished to love one another.  You demonstrate Godly love by your words and actions, going beyond your group to help meet the needs of others including babies and single mothers in need.

Carry on and may God grant you His strength and comfort in the coming year.  I close with these words from 1 Thessalonians 3:12 " May the Lord make your love increase and overflow for each other and everyone else, just as ours does for you."

Shari Hervold

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See you next Monday.

Please come a little early so that we can get started on time.

I am looking forward to seeing all of you again

and having a wonderful, fun and uplifting meeting.

Love & hugs,

Rainey

 

Our Christmas meetings

 

Good morning Ladies,

What a lovely meeting/luncheon we had this past Monday.  Everyone looked wonderful decked in lots of color, hearts were filled with Christmas cheer.  We came loaded with gifts for newborns for the First Care center. We played games, sang songs, Kathy Caprio gave us an uplifting talk and our luncheon was delicious!

I am combining photos from the ladies in New Jersey from their Christmas meeting with some of ours.  They had snow we had lovely, warm, balmy temperatures.

Click on photos for larger views.

 

 

Wedgwood Country Club 

Washington Township ~ New Jersey

Brrrr, cold but beautiful snow.

Palm Beach National Golf & Country Club

Lake Worth, Florida

Beautiful palms and colorful blooms

I love this entry.  Don’t these ladies look cold?

The reason we wear jackets and sweaters down here to our meeting is because it is so cold indoors.

Look at this beautiful fireplace with roaring fire and that lovely tree.

Here is our lovely Florida tree, but no fire, the air-conditioner is running.

Some of our New Jersey Ladies

Some of our Florida Ladies

Dotti ~ our gracious and lovely founder.

Kathy ~ our wonderful and lovely speaker

This sweet lady is Doris.  She had a birthday earlier this month.  She is young at heart, very spry, always willing to help set up for our meetings, and she is 97. She is a real delight to know, a real sweetheart.

“Birthday Girl”

Here are our gifts for the newborns of First Care in our area. We all had so much fun getting and giving these gifts.

Dotti and Peggy who do so much for our group with the gifts.

This lovely young lady is Donna Irizarry from ‘First Choice’ who told us a little about this ministry, for young unwed mothers. May God richly bless this ministry as it reaches out to touch and save lives with God’s healing love.

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Now, here is our group photo. What a lovely, happy group of ladies.  I am so glad and thankful for this group in my life. This isn’t all of our ladies, as some couldn’t be here for the meeting that day.

Thank you Donna for taking this shot.

Click on photo to see the bigger picture.

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Now that Christmas is almost here, let us remember why we celebrate this day.  It is because God came down in the flesh as baby Jesus, who would grow and live and give His life so that we might be saved and dwell with Him forever. If you have not asked Jesus to be part of your life, please do so today. It is real easy. Just tell Him you are a sinner and wish to be saved by His grace. Invite Him into your life and you will be greatly blessed now and forever.

We, dear ladies, are in the process of being restored. God is our Strength when we are weak, and He is our Joy. As we grow in His Grace and Tender Mercies, let us be thankful for all that He has done and for what He will do in the future.  We don’t know what the future will bring, but we do know who holds our future. God Almighty. He works all things out and it is all good, and for His Glory.

Love and hugs to all of you. 

May you feel the Love, Peace,

Strength and Joy of God flowing

through and surrounding you

each and every day.

Merry Christmas and Have a wonderful 2014.