I didn’t expect to lose friendships when I lost my husband, but I did. Some just weren’t close enough to go through a hardship with me and some were close enough but had no desire to grieve with me. It made me lonelier and more bitter than I already was from losing my husband.
Somewhere along the way I realized God is the One who removed them from my life. That made it easier to let go of that bitterness. But He also brought new people into my life. People who knew more about what I was going through and could support me better because of it.
I’ll tell you about one of them. Her name is Gayle.
Gayle started going to my church right after the death of my husband. She sat behind me for a couple of weeks. I could tell she wanted to be friends, but I wasn’t in the right state of mind. I spoke when she did but didn’t invite her to take it further.
Then one morning she put her hand on my shoulder, leaned in closer, and said, “I’m sorry. I just heard about your husband. I lost mine seventeen years ago.” I grabbed onto her like a lifeline that day and haven’t let go since. She was the first person I’d met since becoming a widow that had lost a husband and was willing to talk about it.
Job 1:21 says- the Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away. Blessed be the name of the Lord. This verse came to life for me during this time. If you have suffered loss, God won’t leave you lonely. He will bring joy back into your life, if you let him.
I wrote a study guide on the book of Ruth. You can find the link here-https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0FN6B7YP1 This blog series will follow along with each section of the book. I plan to post every Monday. If you’d like a reminder, please sign up to receive notification.
Next post- https://andreaboyd11.com/2025/09/29/who-decides-when-its-time-to-go-ruth-110-13/
Andrea Boyd 