Community and Healing
The unimaginable happened; I became a widow at the age of 42 on June 25, 2011. Kirk left early that morning to get some work caught up at the shop he owned. That day, he died in a workplace accident. Before the day finished, he was gone.
He didn’t answer Emily’s (my daughter) or my call for dinner that evening. Not answering his phone was unusual, so we went to his workplace shop, but we were too late to save him. My husband of 18 years, her dad of nine years, was called Home, to Heaven.
After the funeral services, the events to celebrate life, the well-wishes, people go home. When people start to go back to their own life, that’s when you have to find your new normal. I knew I would need help. I knew my daughter would need help after losing her dad. We both attended counseling through our church. I participated in a grief support group and searched for more resources to help me walk through this profound grief.
Something I utilized as a resource was a Christian Widow’s conference. At the conference, I met some amazing women who joined me on this path, blessing me immensely! Many more amazing people came alongside me to support and encourage; they walked this journey through widowhood with me. God provided these people at a time community was essential. He is so Good, and through community and other resources, He taught me He is with me through every fire, every tear!
During my counseling, we discussed a part of my healing would be to help other widows who had just started their journeys. In the fall of 2016, God gave me an idea to offer “widow bags” to new widows and their children/teenagers. The idea was there, it was a strong desire that I needed to obey, but I had no idea how to make that dream a reality.
Through some research, I was pointed to Ann Madison (Executive Director) at Peace Restored. Ann and I met in March of 2017, and we clicked. She loved the idea of the “widow bags.” From that meeting, we planned and met with organizations within the community. Several community organizations loved the idea and helped us make the bag idea into reality.
With the “widow bags,” we were able to reach out to new widows and families!From God laying the “widow bags,” on my heart, to orchestrating Ann and I meeting, to providing help from the community organizations, God did something else! God reminded me of the community He had provided and how vital that was to my healing journey.
Ann and I discussed and prayerfully considered what to do with that. Soon after, Peace Restored started a Young Widows Club to provide a built-in community for young widows, a vital part of the healing journey. God grew our group from one person during the late fall of 2017 to over twenty women served through Peace Restored!
God has blessed the Young Widows Club in many ways; we still offer those “widows bags” to new widows, we have started annual widows treat, and we can provide continued support for young widows.Even though this is not a group that we wanted to join, it’s a blessing to find others that share your heartache and loss. Being able to walk beside these wonderful women has blessed me so much. I always say that they bless me more than I could ever bless them. God has richly blessed me, and I give Him all of the glory.Every day, I pray Gods’ blessings will continue to shine on our women and Peace Restored.
God has truly blessed me.To Him be all the praise and glory!
Written by Angela Key
