October 2025 Vlog
Finding Joy and Support:
Desta’s Journey with The Widows Project
Our special guest today is Desta Graham, who is one of our newer widows at The Widows Project. I (Mary Beth) was privileged to know her late husband, Bill, who went into heaven in May. Here Desta tells us about Bill’s passing and her involvement with The Widows Project.
“Bill and I were married for almost 38 years, and it was a very loving, kind, compassionate marriage where we loved each other and we loved the Lord. We talked about things like death and what we would want to happen because we knew that [death] was just a part of life and that it would be better for us to talk about it than to be totally shocked and totally dismayed when it did happen to one of us.
It’s very rare that you're both going to die in your sleep. Bill found out that he was going to graduate and be with Jesus three weeks before he died, and I decided to give him the best death ever because we had a little time. Not everybody does. So I went on Facebook, and I posted on there that if anybody knew Bill and was willing to share a testimony of him, to send it in right away.
I got to spend three hours in his hospital room reading him all of the different posts. And before he passed away, not right before, but before, he said he'd never felt so loved. So I succeeded in giving him the best death ever.
I also want to honor him by living my life in the best way I can now, even though I'm without him. The way I see it, and this is my opinion, is that he is kind of hanging out in the very edge of heaven, watching me and celebrating my life going forward, and cheering me on. And so that's just what he would do.
Bill was a drummer for 40 years in different churches, and now when I go to worship, it's like I'm in the Holy of Holies. I can almost hear him playing the drums with the heavenly band. And he is totally deboobified. He's got all ten toes and he is totally whole. He sloughed off this body and put on his heavenly body.
As soon as he entered heaven Jesus said, "Well done, my good and faithful child." What I say to people is he's having a rip-roaring good time. And he wants me to be full of joy because it's the joy of the Lord that is my strength. When I didn't have any strength, The Widows Project became a part of my life, and I was able to go and be loved on by other widows, and it was very, very meaningful for me.
The one thing I want to share is that we all need support. We all need other people. [Grief] isn't something to go through alone. And I just want to encourage anybody watching this, if they know of a loved one who has lost either a husband or a wife, that there is help for widows and widowers with The Widows Project. And they are going pretty much all over the world.
In order to do that, The Widows Project needs to have the blessing of others and finances. I fully support The Widows Project and all that they're doing. You know, they're in Africa. They're in other parts of the world, and there are widows all over the world who need to know they are not alone. He promises never to leave us or forsake us, and He brings us Christian men and women who've gone through similar experiences so that we can know that we aren't alone. We can go through this with more grace and with more wisdom, knowing that God has brought them into our lives.
I just want to say I'm very thankful, and I'm very honored now to be a part of The Widows Project. I am somebody who's gone through the [Heartwork] retreat and received the teaching and homework. Yes, there’s homework, but it’s good work. He who has begun a good thing in us will complete it until its end. And we are not at our end until we cross over and we graduate. As long as we have breath, God has something for us to do.”
Mary Beth: Thank you, Desta! Preach it!
Linda: Desta has been very intentional in her grieving process, and that's what we like to help the widowed do.
In The Widows Project classes, we help people face the inevitable and get through the excruciating pain of being left behind. We hope that you will support us financially. Our website is thewidowsproject.org. You can go there, and there's a donate button on every page–almost every page.
Mary Beth: We do need your support to continue doing what we're doing as this is pretty much a full-time job for Linda and me.
We do have some support staff, and it takes money to do this. So if God puts it on your heart to become a regular supporter of The Widows Project, we would really appreciate it. There are options on our website for a one-time gift or a monthly gift to be a regular supporter. If God puts that on your heart, you know it'll be put to good use.
Linda: Oh, yes. God bless you. That's right.
Thank you so much!
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