Widow…it’s not just a label, it’s a way of life. For most of my life I thought a widow was just an older woman who outlived her husband. Most people think that they are the elder women of the church who have time for prayer and daily meetings. Their Bibles are worn and marked up showing their reliance on their Heavenly Father. What I now know is a widow can be any woman who has outlived her husband. She can be older and retired, she can be a middle aged woman who is working at the peak of her career and has older children and may or may not be an empty nester. She can also be a younger woman who might be at home with young children or works and is raising young children. Basically, a woman can be a widow at any age because death is no respecter of age or stage of life.

In my short time of being a widow I have learned the following:

• Regardless of age, widows need community.
• Regardless of age, widows need resources.

The driving force behind this site are these two factors. I have heard people talk about the widows and orphans, then skip right over the first to use those scriptures as a place to challenge the church to get involved with foster care and adoption. Now, is there a need for solid families in the foster care and adoption arena? Absolutely! My point is that we should not ignore the widow just because it might be more complicated to connect and serve. Their stories might be messy, painful, and hard to listen to. You might feel like you can’t help, or maybe you feel like you wouldn’t be a good resource because you have never lost a spouse. I’m here to tell you it’s not true. 

Widows aren’t just older women, they are young moms, they are 30 something moms or women, they are 40 and 50 something women and moms too! We all are struggling with grief, but a widow is facing the loss of their person. It’s a loss of a friend, confidant, partner, and lover. It’s a loss of who they are with that person, and often widows feel a deep loss of identity. It’s the loss of dreams, plans, and the future the couple was hoping would come to pass. 

James 1:27 (AMP) says, “Pure and unblemished religion [as it is expressed in outward acts] in the sight of our God and Father is this: to visit and look after the fatherless and the widows in their distress, and to keep oneself uncontaminated by the [secular] world.”

It’s not either orphans or widows…it’s both. Both groups are called out to be cared for, both need resources and community. One group is often talked about, resources are available, and infrastructure is built into communities and government. The other group is often overlooked and left to find groups or communities for support and care. They are left to find their own resources and most do not have communities or groups to help them with even the most basic care needs. This often leaves those in need asking the question, “What about the widow?”