Our church went to visit a very special member tonight. Loretta will be 98 next month. We were a little early with her birthday cake, but she didn’t mind. She was quick to tell us the age on the cake was wrong. She was proud to claim that extra year even if it is a few weeks until her birthday.
Loretta is an amazing woman. If her picture were in a church annual with Biblical descriptions, beside her picture would be all the good fruits of the spirit, faithfulness, kindness, love, joy, peace, patience and goodness. And on top of all that, she remembers everything about the old days and about the new days too.
She’s had some rough spots in her nearly 98 years. One of the roughest was losing her husband a few years ago after 76 years of marriage. But she soldiered on then and continues on today. Still living in her own house. Still cooking and cleaning for herself. Still sewing. She just made new cushion covers for her kitchen chairs and a new valance for her window. This is after having carpal tunnel surgery in December. At the danger of repeating myself, there is only one word for Loretta – amazing.
But maybe the very best way to describe Loretta is to say that she is a prayer warrior who walks daily with the Lord. She reads her Bible through every year and prays for her family and for her church family too. She’s one of those people you’d best not ask to pray for something unless you’re sure you really want it to happen.
A few years back, her youngest son found out he had a brain tumor. The doctors were not optimistic, but he was because he knew he had his mama lifting him up to the Lord. When the doctors were giving him only a short time to live, he told them, “You don’t know my mother.” And they didn’t, but the Lord sure does. It’s been several years since Joe’s diagnosis and his journey hasn’t been easy, but he’s still on it. He’s gotten to see his son graduate from high school. He’s gotten to hold his grandchild and he gets to keep hugging his mama’s neck. What a treasure she is to her children, grandchildren, great grandchildren and even a few great great grandchildren. And what a treasure she is to her church family and to me!
We love you, Loretta! You have blessed us with your prayers and your love, and we thank God for your example of faithfulness.
Thanks for reading!