We’ve had over 10,000 visits!!!

 

Good morning dear Ladies ~ Today we have yet again another reason to celebrate. This morning we are thankful to Jesus for the over 10,000 visits we’ve had to this blog.  It is all because of Him that this blog is even here. We have the information that our dear Dotti has to share with widows, and the words of others who are led to share what God lays on their hearts for the widows too. Plus we have the witness of our dear sister widows and how God has not forsaken them but has helped them grow as they walk this journey. We also have  God’s words to us throughout this blog, and music for us to sing to and to make our hearts sing as well.

 

Here are some thoughts from Dotti this morning.

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Our God is an awesome God!

Before I left New Jersey (2011), to go to Florida, I asked God, "What am I going to do with 23 years of information helping the widow from the Friends Needing Friends ministry?" God never answered me, so I just packed as much as I could and moved.

A year ago (2013) I met another widow, Rainey, who came to our meetings and she introduced me to blogging. The excitement welled up inside of me, and I knew it was God answering my prayer.  I was told that once you put information on the blog, it is permanent.  A permanent file from God, with the material to be used that was kept from over the years that many people could see and be helped by.  We started putting this material and changing the information on the blog every 3 to 4 days. I just had so much information to share.

Today the Friends Needing Friends blog has reached a total of over  10,000 visits. This material will stay not only in New Jersey or Florida, but will go to  many other widows in the United States and other countries. Considering the subject of this ministry, only God could do the multiplying and restoration of these widows.

Truly, our God is an awesome God!

Dotti Ackerman

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10,000 Reasons by Matt Redman

 

 

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Congratulations to everyone that has participated in this Blog Spot of Friends Needing Friends.. Thank you and may God bless each and everyone.

 

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.

Choosing to celebrate Christmas

 

The Christmas holidays are often the most difficult for a widow. Her sense of loss is keenly felt and she is more aware of her loss than at other times.

The 8th chapter of the book of Nehemiah tells the story of the children of Israel rebuilding the wall around the city of Jerusalem that had been destroyed by their enemies. It was hard, arduous work, made harder by the taunting of the enemy which discouraged the people.  Ezra, the priest, read the Word of God to them and they began to weep. As widows you, too, have been brought to sorrow and tears over loss in your life. But, though weeping and sorrowing is necessary, it isn't the last message that God has for you. God had Nehemiah speak to the people saying, "Go and enjoy choice food and sweet drinks and send some to those who have nothing prepared. This day is sacred to the Lord. Do not grieve, for the joy of the Lord is your strength. Then all the people went away to eat and drink…with great joy." Their sorrow was turned to joy as a result of their obedience to celebrate with joy.

Did you notice in the above verse that Nehemiah urges the people to send portions of food to those who didn't have? Invariably, that is the result of those who find their lives beginning to heal. They begin to reach out to others. In fact, I believe that reaching out to others is a catalyst to one's own healing,  something that Dotti Ackerman, founder of Friends Needing Friends, has always emphasized.

In Nehemiah, the 13th chapter, we see that, after an absence, Nehemiah returned and found the people had slipped back into some of their worldly ways and he set out to restore them.  I see his return as a sign of God's grace and restoration, no less true for the widow.  You, too, went through a period of great sorrow after the death of your spouse. Then you began to heal, and you found that you could find some joy in life again.  But now as you approach the Christmas season, you do so with apprehension, grief, and a flood of memories about the "old days" and your time-honored family traditions.  Jesus wants to restore you to wholeness and give you a reason to celebrate again just as He did the Israelites. But, just as they, you must choose to focus on, not just the birth of our Lord, but to what his life, death, and resurrection have won for you and that is eternal life. Can you do this without Christ's strength? No! But here is the paradox: The joy of the Lord is your strength. Choose to rejoice, to look at what you have instead of your losses, and to look ahead to eternal life with Christ and your loved one. There are important ways in which celebration will not, and cannot, ever be the same again. So, it is okay to plan for them to be different. Be realistic about what you can handle, both physically and emotionally.  But do celebrate, for this is God's will for you and you will marvel at the strength He will provide as His joy floods your heart.

Shari Hervold