Joyful Mourning? How Can It Be?

How can you be joyful if you are mourning a loss?
That’s what this site is about … You see it is a true story,
A TRUE LOVE STORY …

Perhaps you have lost someone close to you as our family, especially my daughter, Rebecca did.

Our purpose is to bring you hope and help you through to Joyful Mourning.

Temporarily On Sale for $0.99! Joyful Mourning eBook in all device formats!

It can happen! Read the ACTUAL STORY BY Elizabeth, who was just entering the youth group when Tedd and Rebecca came to Shiloh!

This is the sad, but joyful, true love story of my youngest daughter and her first husband, Tedd Woodworth.

It is presented to give hope to YOU who have lost someone and it seems like you can NEVER be happy again.

You need hope!

Can life ever be normal after losing your husband of less than 4 years?

My daughter, Rebecca’s true story shows you that you CAN.

You may be mourning a loved one now gone, but inside you CAN have a joy when outside your world looks dark.

It is right to mourn. Rebecca loved Tedd! You cannot just forget and go on pretending that all is the same. That leads to psychological problems.

But even while mourning you can have a deep sense of joy.

It happened to my daughter, Rebecca.

It happened like this …..

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The story begins ……

My daughter, Rebecca, was married in 1994 to a young man by the name of Tedd Woodworth, whom she had met in Bible College.

Unfortunately, only 4 months later, the doctors determined that he had advanced stage Hodgkins disease, a  form of cancer. Tedd underwent chemotherapy and recovered quickly, but by the end of 1995, it had come back.The only hope after standard treatment had failed was a bone marrow transplant.

It was a long, hard, and dangerous procedure, but in the spring of 1996, Tedd received the transplant and survived! He did so well that he tied the record for the earliest discharge ever from the University of Michigan Medical Center at Ann Arbour, Michigan. [About 1 hour west of Detroit] Once again it looked as though the treatment had succeeded.

 

 

He grew stronger and stronger throughout the rest of that year, as he recovered from the bone marrow procedure, but in the summer of 1996, Tedd had already found  some small lumps in his body again.

Since he was still gaining strength and was symptom-free, they were confident that the lumps were just scar tissue under the skin.He applied for an associate pastor’s job in rural  Cumberland Virginia. (The nearest McDonald’s was about 1/2 an hour away. Now that is rural!)

 

 

Despite his medical history, and uncertain future, he was hired. Tedd and his young wife built

up the youth group from 5 or 6 teens to over 30 in less

than six months..The mild Virginia weather and some natural food supplements had helped to keep Pastor Tedd healthy – so healthy that he did not need to see a doctor for all of 1997!

But in the spring of 1998, again the cancer returned. There was nothing left to do for him but pray. Hundreds if not thousands of people in many churches prayed, but Pastor Tedd died peacefully on July 20,  1998. And there was Rebecca, ……. a widow at 26 years old!    

 

 

 

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My daughter, Rebecca could not leave the youth, who had just lost their youth pastor, her husband, so she decided to stay in Virginia until others could take over the ministry there.

 

 

In the pile of sympathy cards that she received was an envelope from another young pastor from Arcade, New York, about 500 miles north. Realizing that she needed time to grieve the loss of her husband she did not write back.

Though it was Rebecca’s desire to marry, by the spring of 1999, she still had not heard a word from the

Lord that she would be married again. She was committed to not demand a husband, even if it meant being alone the rest of her life.

One sunny afternoon, she felt God calling her to take a drive, and thought she heard Him telling her that he had a surprise for her., if only she would obey.

 

She got in her car and drove the winding Virginia roads until she ended up on the steps of a pretty, white church. As she rested there, gazing across the field, she heard the Lord say,

“He’s there waiting. Her eyes filled with tears, as she realized what this meant. God indeed had someone for her! She even thought she saw a glimpse of her future husband! She saw a young man, sitting on the steps of a big house, playing the guitar. She felt that he would be older than her, and ready to take care of all of her needs. She felt he would be in the ministry also, and that she would be able to come alongside of him and help him. And she felt he would have a love and gift for music, as she did.

In the summer of 1999, she visited her sister, Ann and husband Jon. When Jon discovered that Scott Laird had written her a letter, he strongly encouraged her to write back to him. Anticipation grew in her heart as she discovered that this friend of the family matched the description of the man she felt the Lord had promised her!

 

 

So in August of 1999, Rebecca went back home to Virginia determined to write back to Scott and she did.

 

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The rest of the story …..

At about the same time Pastor Scott, who was now 34, had set apart three days to fast and pray. Three days later, he received the letter from Rebecca. This timing felt significant, especially since he had asked the Lord about his single status earlier in the year and had been surprised to clearly hear the answer, “I am doing a quick work. You will be amazed.” With these words, Scott had felt God impress on his heart that He did have someone for him and that he would meet her in the fall of that year..

Scott remembered that he had met Rebecca at her sister, Ann’s wedding ten years before, but he could not remember what she looked like. But as they began a correspondence by mail, it quickly became clear that they were meant for each other. I think the U.S. postal service had to put on extra trucks to carry the volume of letters that started to flow north and south between Arcade NY and Cartersville, Virginia. Eventually the phone lines started to heat up as minutes, then hours were spent on the phone getting to know each other.

In October of 1999, Rebecca was coming home to spend Canadian Thanksgiving with us and Scott wrote immediately asking if he could see her since she was coming north. Her mother, asked her, “What if you don’t like the way he looks?” She said, “I already love him!” God had placed this love in her heart all those months before.

Pastor Scott picked her up at the airport and brought her to our home in beautiful Fonthill. Within 2 days, they felt like they had known each other for years.

The plan proceeded, engagement and then wedding plans were made and in August 2000, just one year after her first letter was sent, Rebecca Woodworth married Pastor Scott Charles Laird. They are happily married and living about 1.5 h south of here in ski country, near Arcade New York.

Their first-born son Ian James was born on my 58th birthday – November 18th. To top it all off, this day in 2001 was also Great Grandmother Noake’s 80th birthday, and Ian came just in time so that we could meet him and still drive back to Canada for her party!  

You have just read the true story of God putting a couple together who were both seeking his will for their lives. God can and will do the same for you if you sincerely commit your life to Him. 

Oh and by the way, Pastor Scott does indeed play the guitar and writes music as well. He produced my daughter’s first cd, Broken Clay.

CD, Broken Clay, by Rebecca Woodworth Laird

Produced by Laird Studios, Arcade New York

Rebecca Woodworth Laird

BROKEN CLAY
Her Testimony in Song

~ Now available on CD from Laird Studios ~

$10.00 U.S. plus shipping and handling

$15.00 Canadian includes shipping and handling

Please click here to order a copy.
Copyright 2002 by Laird Studios