Widow to Widow Ministries
Widow for a Season
August 2006 volume 1, issue 2
AUGUST FOCUS IS FINANCES
Welcome to our August edition of the Widow for a Season Newsletter. This newsletter can also be accessed at www.widowtowidow.net and printed for your personal or group use — spread the word! Be sure to browse the site if you haven’t been on lately. All of the Bible studies are now complete and you will find excerpts from the book, Widow for a Season: Finding Your Identity in Christ, under the Chapter Summaries Tab. We are still working on the Interactive Segment but hope to have it in place sometime in August. BMH Books says they will have the book in print sometime in September, 2006. Be sure to tell your pastors about the site. There are articles and resources there for them as well. If your church has a website, www.widowtowidow.net would be a great direct link to add. I hope this newsletter will be an encouragement to you as you read through its pages. Rejoice today in knowing that God desires YOU!
DEVOTIONAL MOMENT 2 Corinthians 9:7-8 tells us that giving is to be done as one purposes in his heart, not grudgingly or even because it is required of us. God is attracted to the broken and contrite heart and only one whose heart is right toward God can receive the divine influence of grace on the will. This was the heart of the widow who put the mite into the temple treasury (Mark 12:43). It was not what she gave, for that was only the evidence of a far more precious treasure. To Christ, her gift was not the mite but her life for she had fixed her hope on God (1 Timothy 5:5). That is true wealth.
Other Sites to Visit
FINANCIAL SITES ⇒ www.daveramsey.com ⇒ www.betterbudgeting.com ⇒ www.crown.org ⇒ www.betterbudgeting.com /budgetformsfree.htm
Chris’s Story
When Denny, my best friend since high school, went to be with the Lord on November 5th, 2005 it was unexpected and sudden heart attack. We have 9 adopted children still at home. Their ages are from 4 to 18 years old. I am so
"Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, ‘Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.’” Hebrews 13:5 thankful to the Lord that many things were in place before Denny died. Two years before he died, we moved to the "perfect" house, started attending the "perfect" church, with the "perfect" church family, two of our married sons moved close. The week before he died, Denny fixed the garage door, spent a fun week with our married sons, bought some special gifts for our younger children and spent some special time with them. The day before he died, he had the laundry done
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Widow for a Season
Widow to Widow Ministries Because no one can help a widow like another widow 337 Schrock Road Worthington, OH 43085 E-mail: almanaheart@ widowtowidow.net BOOK REVIEW The Total Money Makeover By Dave Ramsey “I can’t balance a checkbook let alone create a budget!” Many a widow has exclaimed similar frustration because of feeling illequipped to sort through her financial responsibilities alone. Dave Ramsey can help. The Total Money Makeover, companion workbook, and website are invaluable resources because Ramsey’s approach is rooted in Biblical truth, simple to understand, and uncomplicated in its action plan. Ramsey is refreshingly honest in helping us understand why we ourselves are the problem and why following what he calls “God’s and grandma’s simple way of handling money” is difficult — as saying “no” to ourselves usually is. The rewards of wise living are always great, however, and Ramsey’s book is full of testimonials of common people just like us whom he has helped to see through the myths of “The American Dream,” to pay off debt, and to begin building savings for a life of enhanced usefulness in God’s kingdom.
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PASTOR’S CORNER By Pastor Mike Gauch I admit it – I’m intimidated by ministering to widows. It is probably because their struggle is so unique to my experience. I think every Pastor has duties that, because of skill set, passion, gifting or life experience, he feels inadequate to fulfill. I know one of mine is ministering effectively to widows. Nonetheless, the Lord has shown me a few things I would like to share with you. The key to ministering to a widow is that the Minister is not the key. I’m not running from my responsibility by this statement. I do believe the Pastor plays a significant role but not the main one. The model is found in 2 Corinthians 1:3-4. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction so that we will be able to comfort those who are in any affliction with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God 2 Corinthians 1:3-4 NASB The most effective “minister” is one who has been in a similar affliction and found that the God of all comfort is faithful. A widow who has gone “through the valley of the shadow of death” yet has found that Christ, the good shepherd, was there to comfort her is the one who can truly help another widow. Our job as Pastors is to identify widows in our congregation who have clung to God through the death of their spouse. These widows need to be given the vision of the powerful ministry they can have. As their Pastor, we need to then direct them to resources like Widow2Widow Ministries so they feel equipped for the good work that God has created for them. Last, we need to set them free to do the work of the ministry. No one knows what to say (or not say) or to do (or not to do) like a widow who has been there. This does not negate our responsibility to care for the widow. It does put the ministry in the hands of the best and the blessed minister, another widow. This is why I’m grateful to Kristine Pappas who has taught me more about widow ministry than anything I ever learned in seminary. She has shown our church the incredible value God places on widows and their children as reflected in the verse below: Pure and undefiled religion in the sight of our God and Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their distress . . . James 1:27 NASB Mike is the Sr. Pastor of Christian Fellowship Church — Columbus, Ohio Get The Total Money Makeover and workbook by Dave Ramsey for only $14.99 each on his website at www.daveramsey.com! Him every moment of the day and depend on His love and comfort to make me emotionally strong, give me wisdom, and keep me safe. I know that what He has to offer me is so much better than even Denny could offer when he was living. It was 8 months yesterday and the tears still fall, of course, but I have a very supportive family to cry with me. All in all, if God can take a seemingly perfect husband away, He must have something more wonderful planned for me. That makes me so excited to see what the future holds. I am so thankful that I have Christ in — Chris Brown my life.
Chris’ Story Continued
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(the chore he chose to do for me once a week). The day of his death, we went on our weekly "date" together to a nice restaurant and he bought new cell phones for us. Although our medical insurance was not in place yet, the Lord took him quickly leaving no medical bills at all. In the midst of it all - God is there! I would not crawl in a corner and be emotionally unusable, but would trust God and have faith to believe He would see me through this difficult situation. We do need support from each other, but I have realized that no one can really help my overwhelming sadness, loneliness, and my uncertain feelings, but Christ. I cling to