By Susan E. Richardson
“What am I to be now that I’m a widow?” No longer part of a couple, feeling outside the world you once lived in “now that there’s only one plate at the table, one glass, one knife, fork, and spoon, one napkin.” New questions, new thoughts, and overwhelming feelings come with the widowhood journey you didn’t choose. Author Gayle Roper understands, offering companionship and encouragement in A Widow’s Journey,
She writes lovely, lyrical prose, with each short reading addressing an aspect of the grief process. Then she adds a perfect Scriptural counterpoint, allowing pain and hope to join together, neither negating the other but existing together within a stage. Throughout, Roper addresses both the commonality and the individual nature of grief. Other widows may not grieve the same way, but they share similar grief.
A Widow’s Journey isn’t a quick fix book where quoting a few verses should take care of everything. Rather it verbalizes difficult feelings and thoughts, speaking questions or concerns you may have felt but couldn’t put into words. You quickly learn that you are not alone
If you are a widow or if you know a recent widow, you couldn’t make a better choice than to get a copy of A Widow’s Journey. Nothing takes away the pain of loss or the challenge of adjustment, but this little book offers hope that in the end, different can be good, too, as God works in and through deep hurt.
