Yes, my widows. As their pastor, I am blessed to have them as members of my flock (1 Peter 5:1-2). And yes, I am unashamed to call them “widows”. These women wear the label like a badge of honor, and Biblically speaking, they ought to (1 Timothy 5:3). Without further ado, ladies and gentlemen, my top ten:
10. My widows are exemplars of 1 Timothy 5:9-10. They are women of good reputation, willing to wash the feet of the saints, having raised children, and caring for the afflicted in the nursing homes.
9. They still take seriously Paul’s exhortation in 1 Thessalonians 5:26–“Greet all the brothers with a holy kiss.”
8. My widows love children. My kids are growing up in a church with dozens of “grandmas” vying for their hearts. I love it!
7. They serve the church. After our Easter egg hunt on Saturday, three of our older single women stayed behind to clean the kitchen, scrub the toilets, vaccuum, dust, and clean the church. Praise God for faithful widows!
6. They teach our children. My widows make up much of our staff in children’s Sunday School and children’s church. They have a deep desire to bring up our next generation in the fear and admonition of the Lord.
5. Our widows are resilient. Ten minutes spent listening to their life history will put you back in your place. When you hear about how they were left by a dead-beat husband to raise their family alone, or how they struggled to work and put their children through college, you cannot help but praise God for these tough cookies.
4. They trust and believe God’s Word. ‘Nuf said.
3. My widows work too hard for the church. On Saturday, as we tried to spread the Easter eggs on our lawn, I was helped by several of our 70+ year old single ladies. These women who ought to be cared for by church members were trying their best to work for the Kingdom–and I am grateful that we didn’t need an ambulance (Even my 26 year old back was sore afterwards!).
2. They respect and honor their pastor even though he is young enough to be their grandson (or their great grandson in some cases!).
1. I love my widows because they love me. I know that this sounds like self-serving love, but I believe the snowball effect takes place in church as much as anywhere else, and they got the ball rolling. These women have been in my corner fighting for me from the get go. I can honestly say that they have loved me with the love of the Lord. In this is love, not that I loved them, but that they loved me first (1 John 4:9).
