Newsletter #1 originally published 6/25

After emailing 3 months of newsletters, I discovered that many intended recipients never received the email, whether through junk or spam or ai. These are intended for widows who have attended my book-signings and any others who perchance stumble upon this. Life lesson for me.

New Starts

Almost everyone who has had exposure to the Old Testament has heard the story of Abram and Sarai, about their years of infertility, Sarah’s laugh at the LORD over the hard-to-believe promise of pregnancy in her old age. We probably all can identify with feeling too old for something, even if it starts small, as all babies do. Perhaps you never thought that widowhood would bring a new beginning. The desire is that this newsletter may be the small start of new way to help widows both here and in less fortunate nations.

As a widow since the weekend before 9/11, I have been through many of the pitfalls we face daily. I truly believe that God will provide for each of us. In the new space of widowhood, where does one turn to for help with the things our spouse would have done? Where can we find honest help when the furnace or air conditioning shuts off in the middle of the night, or the car needs fixing on a weekend, or the computer breaks? If you’ve moved into a new city or state, these problems are compounded. These are things we can help one another with here in north Mississippi.

Hopefully, through this ministry and newsletter, there can be encouragement as we connect with one another. We can find and create opportunities for prayer, helpful accountability, journaling partners, and studying the Word together. The desire is to support widows through the many stages of grief not only with words on a page but with opportunities. No one knows the challenges of widowhood like a widow. Perhaps we widows can help “the church” know how to minister to 21st century widows.

Mary Bruce

Bible meditation. Different versions of the Bible can present things in different ways.

1 Peter 5:10 AmplifiedBibleVersion “After you have suffered for a little while, the God of all grace [who imparts His blessing and favor], who called you to His own eternal glory in Christ, will Himself complete, confirm, strengthen, and establish you [making you what you ought to be].” AMP Another version reads: “And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen and establish you.” EnglishStandardVersion

Did you notice the kindness represented by the phrase “little while”? Although the death of a spouse causes pain and change that may seem forever, the compassion of God is that his grace can help you through. Sometimes that grace comes during moments of aloneness directly from God, sometimes it comes through a friend or family member, or sometimes it even comes through a memory or a song. God’s loving kindness is that we realize it is meant to last only for a “little while”.

Did you also notice that it is God Himself who will do the work to restore you and complete you,(make you feel whole again). He will confirm His plan for you and give you strength to carry on. He will show you Himself as the good foundation for what He has in mind. He will do all the action here, when you feel as if you have no energy for anything, in your brokenness, God Himself will do the work of helping you through.

Thank you Father in heaven, for giving your blessing and favor to us through Jesus Christ. Thank you for taking the initiative to help us when we feel different, uncertain, isolated, or alone. Thank you that you have a plan for each of us. Help each of us to find the center of Your will. Amen

Cooking Corner. How to deal with “cooking for one” OR how NOT to cook for one. This corner is reserved for ways to eat well despite a change in the household. Tips, recipes, food saving and money saving ideas in this corner. How do you prepare and preserve those favorite dishes you often made for the entire family?

Automotive tip: Knowing nothing about the inside of an engine, I thought that the oil ran around the engine in the same way our blood runs around our body – always there. Imagine my surprise when the mechanic showed me a ¼ cup of black sludge, which was all he could drain from the car. That’s when I realize all that smoke out the back of a car that’s “burning oil” meant that that oil gets burned up!

Here's how to check the oil in your car:

Be sure the car is on level ground before checking the oil. Start the car and let it reach operating temperature, then turn off the car and wait a few minutes for the oil to return to the oil pan. Pull the dipstick out, wipe it clean, then re-insert it fully. Pull the dipstick out again and check the level. It should be between Full and Low. If below L, add oil. Do not overfill. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qOYXklWjuXA checking all auto fluids

Service Opportunities: 1.Healing Hearts Child Advocacy Center, 5627 Getwell Rd. B3, Southaven MS (they are in need of summer outfits for girls ages 0 infant to 4 for their clothes closet.) (662)349-1555. 2.Heartland Hands Food Pantry, 1621 Goodman Rd, Horn Lake, MS (662)280-5365 is run by volunteers. 3. Submit a book report to this newsletter for others to enjoy.

International Opportunities: Missionlink International has a widow’s ministry in Uganda. Mirabu Kaako is a 46 year old mother of 5 in the village of Itukulu, Uganda. All children in Uganda must pay $75 per term (3 month period) for school. Adopting a Missionlink widow helps provide schooling for the children. In Itukulu there is plenty of corn and maize, but items such as rice, sugar, beans, salt etc. must be purchased.

Many widows do not have electricity. Solar panels cost about $100 and can produce enough power for some lighting at night and cell phone charging.

3,596 shillings = $1 One 20-pound bag of rice is about $40. Twenty-two pounds of sugar = $12 https://www.missionlink.org/widows/mirabu-kaako

This Month’s Quote: “He wants us to work with Him, honey. Not for Him.” Granny speaking in Wonderland Creek, by Lynn Austin, Bethany House Publishers, 2011.

A young woman, the daughter of a city pastor, heads into the Appalachian Mountains to help a small-town librarian during the Great Depression. While staying with a one-hundred-year-old Granny, she learns more about life and religion than library books can teach.

This newsletter is a production of Widowhoodbook Ministry www.widowhoodbook.org. For further information, contact M.Bruce, P.O.Box 4, Hernando, MS 38632 or email maryrbruce@hotmail.com