FARMINGTON — God is real to Dorothy Meldrum every day, but perhaps even more so during times of grieving.

“The Lord has been closest to me then,” she said about feeling His presence during the loss of loved ones in her life.

Deborah Joy, a daughter Meldrum had with her first husband, died when she was only 4 days old.  

Then, her husband — who served as a pastor in western Maine and New Hampshire — died at age 32, leaving her with five children to raise on her own.

Dorothy later married Earnest Meldrum of Farmington, and they were together many years before he died.

“In Isaiah, the Lord promises to take our burdens,” she said. “The grief goes to Jesus, through Him and then to me.

“Looking back, I can see the Lord was there to help me,” she said about the grief process. “I felt his presence.”

Meldrum believes strongly in heaven.

“I’ll see my loved ones again,” she said. “Meanwhile, I know Deborah Joy is not alone. She is with her daddy.”

“Sometimes it is easier to be faithful when hard times come our way rather than while we are following consistent, Christian, everyday life,” she said.

Meldrum grew up in New Portland and came to know the Lord when she was quite young, she said. Since marrying Earnest, she has been a faithful member of Henderson Memorial Baptist Church in Farmington.

She is now married to Vernon Meldrum, Earnest’s brother, who also lost his wife. 

abryant@sunmediagroup.net

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