About the Book

Book: widowhood

Author: Mary Bruce

Genre: Personal Growth

Release Date: May 12, 2020

A woman may have many names and many titles, but “widow” is not necessarily one she plans for. And when the unexpected happens, she is thrust into the role of being the captain of her ship, the decision-maker, and the one solely responsible for the direction of her and her family’s future. The emotions a widow experiences as she faces her life from this new position of aloneness are as varied and unique as each widow is. But what all widows share is a calling to be a leader in the midst of the chaos of the death of their husbands.

In Widowhood: A Calling to Leadership, Mary Bruce encourages widows to embrace their new role with hope and to unashamedly rely on the resources God provides to sustain them through his Spirit and through his body, the church. She illuminates for church leaders how to direct and mentor widows in their church families and how to provide these women with opportunities to express their new God-given calling of leadership.

This book will give you a fresh perspective on widowhood. It will help widows to see the energy they possess as fuel for godly leadership, and it will help church leaders to see their widows as esteemed gifts instead of burdens.

Click here to get your copy!

MY REVIEW

This book must have been hard and also healing for the author. I can’t imagine what it would feel like to lose your spouse. It is not something anyone can prepare for. I appreciate how candid the author is as she shares her struggles and triumphs. I found this statement to be very powerful, “Widowhood is certainly not something to be envied, nor is it something to be frowned upon or looked down on. It is a calling from the Lord and an invitation to greater intimacy with God,” During this new season you will want to spend more time with God and find a deeper relationship with Him. People mean well when they try to comfort us, but sometimes we just need to be alone with God.

I liked the scriptures and stories from the Bible the author used to illustrate her points about widows. I have always thought that every church needs a widow ministry. They have their own needs, grief process and healing to do. When you gather a group that is or has gone through the same thing, it becomes easier to relate to each other. I like how the author gives suggestions of how this group of people can become more involved in church.

I think this book would be a great Bible study to use and also great for pastors to have on hand to pass out to those in need. Being a widow will be challenging, difficult, heartbreaking and unexpected. “He is love, he knows everything, and He cares for you individually.”

I received a copy of this book from Celebrate Lit. The review is my own opinion.

About the Author

Mary Bruce is a registered nurse, a former homeschooling mother, and a widow since the weekend before 9/11. Born and raised in Waterbury, Connecticut, she still resides there and works as an associate pastor. In the early 1990s, she initiated a grassroots movement to pray in Connecticut on the National Day of Prayer. Since then she has served as a state coordinator for the National Day of Prayer Task Force and is currently its National Area Leader for the nine northeast states.

More from Mary

Have you ever wanted to wake up one morning with a new start, a brand new start?

I can say that, during the 2001/2002 school year, for 360 of 365 days that is exactly what I learned to do, wake up with a new start. Mine was the school of hard knocks. After 9/11, there were many of us who found ourselves on a daily automatic wake-up call before sunrise. No alarm clock was involved. Perhaps it was the stress of a new start for so many. It’s not like we went to bed super early so we could wake up early. Sleeping just wasn’t the same.

For me, by the time daylight started , I was already sitting on the steps of our back porch, waiting to greet the day, watching the eastern skies over the 5 acre mowed field behind our house. Each morning I would grab a cup of coffee, my journal, a pen and my Bible, wrap myself in winter coat and blankets and sit there waiting: waiting on the sunrise, acknowledging the earth’s stillness, waiting for some revelation from God or insight into my own life situation. It was not a worrisome time, that came later in the day. It was just a sitting and waiting time. Even my reading would have to wait until the dawn’s early light grew sufficient to see the print. There was nothing to interrupt, to distract from that alone time of solitude and meditation.

Then, like a shot in the dark, the 7am bell would ring out from high school across the street, a roar of automobile sounds would drift over the house, and the magic quiet spell would be broken.

In those early moments, I saw things I had been too busy to notice before. In spring, I watched fog roll over the field, literally roll on the grass from east to west, from the field to the road. In summer, I noticed nearly a whole year of early mornings without pouring rain. Pouring rain was my only hindrance to sitting outside. In autumn, I saw a female doe pulling apples off the low branches and her 3 young charges dancing on hind legs trying to reach the apples. In winter, I realized that I could sit out in freezing weather, when I did not even like to walk from the house to the car in the cold. I learned to take the outward opening storm door off before the snow fell, so that I could just open the inside door and step out. I said, “Good morning” to the Maker of the universe as my first spoken words of the day.

I don’t think I was alone. 2001 was a hard year for many widows. I was fortunate to spend each start of the day with the Maker, appreciating his faithfulness, which is new every morning – a new start. “Great is his faithfulness; his mercies begin afresh each morning.” NLT Lam. 3:23