You’re never too old to be used by God...

Octogenarian Peter Cummings, who lost his wife a few years ago, explains how the Lord led him to find a new love in his life

Just after 9am on 17 March 2021, my phone rang. “Mr Cummings,” said a voice on the other end of the telephone, “I’m afraid I have to tell you that your wife has just passed away.”

In an instant, it felt as though my world had exploded. Only the day before, my wife Shirley had been admitted to hospital with a chest infection. We’d been reassured by the doctor she was not seriously ill but now the hospital explained she’d suddenly gone into cardiac arrest and died.

In shock, I remember saying to my daughter Paula, “If your mum isn’t here, I don’t want to be here either.”

At the time I was co-leading an Elim church in Widnes with another elder, Jim. Shirley had been a big part of church life and also cared for me as I’d suffered complications following four heart attacks. I also have Parkinson’s Disease.

Although our loss felt overwhelming, we felt God’s grace and love at every step. Over time, having now arranged for me to get some help at home from a care agency, the Lord started to give me opportunities to share about Jesus with many of the carers who came to my door. To date, I have been able to share with carers from at least ten different nations. Despite it all, I felt that God still had work for me to do.

Some time later, I learned that my old friend Graeme from Bible college had died. His wife Betty had been Shirley’s Maid of Honour many years before and the friendship between our families stretched back over 50 years.

I reconnected with Betty and, over the months, we often reminisced about the old college and ministry days and swapped many emails. I have to be honest; I began to wonder if it was possible for us to be more than friends. It seemed very unlikely, so I kept those thoughts to myself.

One night, though, I had a dream. I dreamed I was talking to my late wife Shirley, and she said to me, “You must marry Betty.”

“I can’t,” I replied, “I’m married to you! The only way that could happen is if… you weren’t here.” And then suddenly in my dream, Shirley smiled and then disappeared.

I woke up and sensed that this was from the Lord. But I also knew I had to keep it to myself for now. Some months later, I learned that my daughter had also had a very similar dream. She’d decided to keep it to herself, too, while she prayed about it, but when she finally told me, I was amazed.

One night my daughter dreamed that she was stood outside a taxi which was about to go on a journey and inside the cab she could see three people on the back seat – myself and Betty, with Shirley in the middle. All of a sudden in the dream, Shirley put her arms around Betty and myself and then she disappeared. Suddenly Betty and I were sitting next to each other as though we were a couple.

The significance of us being in a taxi, about to go on a journey together was especially interesting! Of course, we knew that Shirley wasn’t really appearing to us in our dreams – she was safely with the Lord – but it felt that if a relationship was to take place between myself and Betty, the Lord was giving it his seal of approval.by the Lord!

In time, I finally felt able to share all this with Betty and it seemed she had been feeling the same! Last August, at the ages of 77 and 80 years old, Betty and I were married at Christian Life Centre in Widnes. After the ceremony, I was able to push Betty on my mobility wheels up the aisle to Roy Orbison’s song ‘Riding along on my automobile’. That certainly raised some smiles.by the Lord!

A year on and we are both so thankful the Lord has brought love into our lives again. Our families are delighted, and Betty and I are exploring what God wants us to do next. Since our wedding we have got involved in starting an afternoon prayer meeting at church.by the Lord!

I thank God for bringing Betty into my life and that we can serve him together. It seems you’re never too old to be used by the Lord!

This article first appeared in Direction Magazine. For further details, please click here.

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