About Us

Here’s a brief peek into the lives of the A Widow’s Might writing team. You will get to know each of us in depth as we share our hearts and our stories in the months ahead. Let’s call these the teasers!

LeAnn Rice
Widowed 14 years
Mother to Nick (currently age 18)
Executive Director, Proverbs 31 Ministries
Personal Blog: www.SheCooks.org

As a single mother of a teenage boy and the world’s most high-maintenance cat, life is unpredictable. Actually…Nick is much easier to care for than the cat, Angel, whom we have lovingly nicknamed “Evil Warrior Kitty.” Seriously…I will have to share some stories about E.W.K. sometime. You really would not believe it. Perhaps I should document with photos! Anyway — we love her and can’t imagine life without our little schizophrenic, O.C.D. with permanent P.M.S. bundle of fur.

I was widowed (really don’t like that word) 14 years ago when God freed my husband, Ron, of the suffering due to cancer and took him home. Because I had a three-year-old to take care of, I spent the first year or two just going through the motions of everyday life as best I could. Then I went through a year or two of depression (although only when no one was looking). Then I felt guilty for being sad. I knew Ron was in Heaven so I certainly should have been happy for him and embraced the hope I have in Jesus. But, there is a life-changing difference the moment you take the step from “believing” to a true relationship with Jesus Christ. Once I finally gave in to Jesus’ passionate pursuit of my heart, my journey truly began. As He uses me to minister to women who are on the same journey, He is healing my heart and filling my empty spaces.

A Widow’s Might was born along this journey. It is a place where you can be heard, understood, and encouraged during this season of your life. It is a place where you can scream and where you can find hope. It is a safe place where you are not alone. You are a part of a sisterhood.

While A Widow’s Might began as a solo project, it was never my intention for it to stay that way. God put a handful of women on my heart and, when I reached out to them about being a part of this sisterhood, they each said, “yes!” I am beyond thrilled to introduce you to three amazing, God-filled, courageous women who will be sharing their hearts with you in the days ahead.

Danita Hiles
Widowed 7 Years
Kids Kelsey (16, Audrey (9)
Occupation: Freelance Writer, Personality Trainer, Student (working on Masters)
Personal Blog: www.faithfulflipflops.com

Hi there. My name is Danita Hiles and I am a widow. Ugh. Even now, 7 years after the fact I still dislike that word. But the facts remain, and on tax returns and school forms and summer camp applications, that is the box I check. Seven years ago, I was cheerfully checking the ‘box’ marked ‘married’. Then, an early morning phone call left me sitting in an emergency room hearing the impossible words — “we’re sorry, Mrs. Hiles, we did everything we could, but your husband is gone.” My funny, handsome, Navy husband was gone. And with those words, my dreams for our daughters’ future and my hopes for our marriage disappeared. Augggghhhhh!

Where do you turn when your world is destroyed and you just want to scream? The only one I could turn to was Jesus. And He met me. Through the tears and questions and screams and silence, He has held me tight. Now, six years later, I still don’t have an answer to a lot of life’s why’s, but I do know He has been faithful. I live in Tampa, Florida with my two gorgeous girls and look for opportunities to share the amazing way He has brought us through the valley of the shadow. Sometimes the sharing involves a women’s group or Bible study. More often, it is a chance encounter at the grocery store or a conversation during car loop. Usually, both laughter and tears are involved! We all have a story. And I believe part of our story is in using what we have been through to help encourage someone else. After Dave’s death, I wanted so badly to talk to someone who ‘got it’, someone who had walked the lonely path that loomed endlessly before me. I pray this site will be a place to connect, a place where we can laugh and cry together, a safe place to ask questions and get answers.

Psalm 16:5-7 ‘This is my portion and my cup, He will make the boundaries fall for me in pleasant places. I will choose to put the Lord before me, because He is at my right hand, I will not be shaken.’

Kitti Hinkle
Widowed 4 Years
Kids: Christian (9), Carter (11), Brian (13), and Joe (15)
Occupation: Management Consultant turned Homeschool Mom and Writer
Personal Blog: www.fourlittletomsandamom.blogspot.com

Does anyone else have a chocolate lab that eats little boy underwear? Living with four growing boys keeps me busy! Between keeping the mud out of the house and keeping up with their music, sports, computer geek stuff, and adolescence, I never find a dull moment. I have a stubborn desire to keep up with growing boys. It puts me in crazy situations like learning first hand what Over the Bar means to a mountain biker!

I use breaks in the schedule to unwind. Sometimes that means time in prayer, coffee with a friend, and (not often enough) exercise. I especially love to write. Lord knows I’ve got enough experiences to write about — engineering school, the corporate world, divorce and remarriage, step-parenting, homeschooling, widowhood, and single-parenting. Between all the joyful and difficult events, I’ve lived many of the difficult choices women have to make. Writing is a great way to unearth unique truths that make experiences worth living and to share with others who are walking in some of the places I have already been.

Julie Reed

Widowed 2 years
Mother to Joshua (15) and Jessica (5)
Preschool Director and teacher at Children’s Enrichment Center
Contributing Writer to Uncommon Life in A Common World www.uclicow.com

I never imagined that when my hubby kissed me goodbye at 4:15 am one Saturday morning for a fishing tournament that it would be our last kiss, our last goodbye, or last conversation. When the police arrived at our home a few hours later to inform me that both he and my father-in-law had died at the lake, I collapsed on the floor with my son screaming in my ear. I remember asking him to open his eyes and look at me. He did and I told him, “I don’t know why this has happened, honey, but we’ll be okay. I promise.” I wasn’t so sure though.

I had a choice that day. I could sit in my shattered cup of life and allow the pieces to make me “bleed” from the sadness, loneliness and fear or I could pick them up, piece them together and make a new, better, stronger cup of life with God as my glue. I had to sacrifice a few pieces during the process, but my cup is deeper, wider and fuller than I ever could have imagined when I finally surrendered it all to Him. Jesus met me in that deep, dark valley with his faithfulness, love, joy, and provision. He has turned my sadness to joy, my fears to peace and my loneliness to contentment in Him and Him alone. I’m honored to share my journey and experiences with you and hope to offer some encouragement and hope for those on a similar path. I’m livin’ proof that we can make it when we keep Him in the center of our lives.

Psalm 23:1 — The Lord IS my Shepherd. I have everything I need.
1Peter 5:10 — And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast.

Leah Gillen

Widowed 9 months
Mother to Anna (almost 15)
Serves at 106.9 the Light FM radio station, a ministry of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association
Speaker and blog writer
Personal Blog: www.leahgillen.org

I admit it. I was one of those. You know the type? I was one of those people that pictured a widow as being grey-haired, elderly – basically my grandmother. Never in my wildest dreams (or rather nightmares) did I think of myself – at the age of 39 – as a widow. And yet…that’s where I landed on May 4, 2011.

Chris was absolutely the love of my life! He wasn’t perfect, but he was perfect for me! His crystal blue eyes were always so tender and joy-filled, and his laughter…that precious laughter…always made me giggle!

So, what in the world cause him to take his own life on May 4th? Yes. You read that right. My husband committed the “S” word. Suicide. I’m now what they officially dub, a “Survivor of Suicide”.

I’ll never fully know the answer to that question this side of Heaven. And…believe me…I’ve tried to find out. But, I do know that he loved me and he even reminded me of that in one of his last notes to me, “Never, ever doubt my love for you.”

Chris was a believer. He loved the Lord deeply. I know we will one day be reunited again. Until that time, I have to finish out the days the Lord has given me on this earth. And now…my highest calling is as a single mom to my beautiful teenage daughter, Anna! What a privilege and bountiful blessing to be her mother!

God continues to reach out to me…He continues to rescue me…and He continues to restore me! My prayer is that I simply steward well the story He’s given me.

Psalm 18:16 (NLT) ~ He reached down from Heaven and rescued me; he drew me out of deep waters.