Navigating Widowhood…

Navigating Widowhood…

One of Webster’s definitions of navigation is to “make one’s way over or through.” In my personal experience, widowhood is one of the most difficult journeys to navigate through. It is a bumpy ride through an uncharted course. It takes an ability to go through many different terrains, obstacles and unknowns. There is no set map to follow and it can be very dark and hard to see where you are going.

There are days that are harder than others to navigate. Those days where the course seems particularly difficult and it seems like you will be stuck in the same place with no way out. Those days are often particular days in your journey like anniversaries, birthdays, celebrations, death days and many others. On these days, you may feel like you are lost and have nowhere to go. You may feel overwhelmed by walking this course. You may feel like the darkness is too hard to bear and you may feel very alone, but with the hope of our great God, on those particularly difficult days, you have to work to remember you are never alone!

You see, we do not navigate this course on our own. We navigate through these days with the greatest navigator ever, our amazing Savior. He will guide you. He will direct you. He will shine His light through the darkest of courses and remind you that you are never, ever alone.

I often have people ask what it is like to be a widow and how I survive and have survived this journey. There is no appropriate answer to that question that will sum up what it is like, except the grace of God. I spoke with a widow yesterday and we were talking about grace and how God has bestowed so much grace and provision in our lives. How He has shown up on those particular dark days and when we look back at our journey, we too can say we do not know how we have made it, except by God’s amazing grace and provision.

This week has been some of those darker days in my journey. Father’s Day for one is always a particularly difficult day. It is a constant reminder that Darren is gone. I also have the darker day of my wedding anniversary this week. It is another reminder that Darren is gone and that this day that was once full of celebration, is now a day of sorrow.

So, how do I choose to navigate those days? By God’s grace and peace and loads of prayers for direction, peace and strength to continue navigating this journey. Remembering He is my guide and He will provide the grace I need for each and every leg of that journey. I will close with a Bible verse that is God’s gentle reminder, that He is our ultimate guide to navigate through whatever we face, “Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying, “This is the way; walk in it.” Isaiah 30:21