Loretta, A Super Prayer Warrior

Prayer becomes more meaningful as we counsel with the Lord in all of our doings, as we express heartfelt gratitude, and as we pray for others. (David A. Bednar)


Do you have a special prayer warrior in your church? One of those people you better not ask to pray for something you want unless you're really sure you want the prayer answered because it will be. We have a prayer warrior like that in our little country church. Loretta is an example of faithfulness and love. 

We went to her house tonight to help her celebrate her 99th birthday that is coming up next week. At her age, you can celebrate every day for a month if you want to. Loretta told us she has been a member of our church for seventy-five years. She gave her life to Christ as a young teen before she married at age sixteen. She and her husband, who died several years ago at age 96, moved their membership to our church when they bought a farm in the neighborhood. She said they used to go all around the area and gather up children to bring to Bible School. Recently, she had been going through some of her things and found the worker certificates she received for working in Bible School in 1957 and 1960. She'd kept them all these years and had them to show us tonight.  

Another thing she has kept all these years is her devotion to the Lord. Every day she reads His word. Every day she prays for her family and friends and for her church. Every day she thanks the Lord for His blessings. Even on the hard days. 

This week is a good time to visit Loretta. To rejoice with her in a life well lived. She is the mother of five, the grandmother of many and yet she makes time to pray for the others in her church family. A true prayer warrior. 

As you read or listen to God's Word and spend time talking to Him in prayer, your spirit will eventually become stronger than your flesh. (Joyce Meyer)

That's where Loretta is now. Strong of spirit and not as strong of body anymore. But she's still remembering that the "knee" is an important part of the church family when it's bent in prayer. Proverbs 31 could be written about Loretta. Give her of the fruit of her hands, and let her own works praise her in the gates. (Proverbs 31:31)

I have been so blessed by Loretta's prayers for me. Do you know someone like Loretta? 

Almost 98 Years Young

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!
 

Birthdays and Other Blessings at NQC

Meet the Southern Gospel group, the Patriot Quartet. My husband, Darrell sings bass with them. That's not him up on the big screen. That's the lead singer, Joe White. Darrell's the one on the far right. The shot I took of him up on the screen was fuzzy, fuzzy. I never claimed to be a professional photographer. If I had been I'd have taken a lot more shots and then maybe had more good ones. The other guys are tenor, Eugene Hoffman and baritone, David Combs.

The guys are at the National Quartet Convention in Louisville this week. They sang in a showcase on Monday, but don't get to sing on the "big stage" as all the singers call it. They do have a booth in the exhibition hall where they meet and greet fans and try to schedule concerts at new churches or singing venues. They love to sing, but they also feel called to share the gospel in song. And they do a great job.

The guys let me set up my books on their product table and so I get to have a little book signing and talk books with people from all over the country. Texas won out on Monday. All those people were trying to get away from the heat and dry weather. Most of them said they'd been seeing smoke from the wild fires. Later in the week, the tour buses start pulling in from all over. I've been having my books at the Patriots' booth ever since The Scent of Lilacs came out in 2005. And so I've made some reading friends over the years. On Monday I got to share my new books with several of them. Readers like Fonda who hunts me up every year. I'm going to use her name in a book one of these days.

Darrell and I have been going to the Quartet Convention for years. I talked to a man from Texas (of course) on Monday who said he'd been to the first Quartet Convention held in Memphis 53 years ago and had been to almost all of them since except for a few years when their children were very small. So I tried to think how many years straight Darrell and I have been going. We started going when they held the Convention in Nashville. We didn't get to go for the whole week, but would go for Thursday, Friday and Saturday. They moved the Convention to Louisville 17 years ago and I know we've been every year they've had it there. So I'm guessing 21 or 22 years, maybe more, maybe less.

One thing I do remember is that I've had a terrible cold on at least half of those years. Probably more. NQC, tissues and cough drops - they go together. But at least I've never wanted to sing at the NQC.  Good thing because most years I've barely been able to talk. This year I'm okay. I can talk and shake hands with people without thinking I might be "Typhoid Mary." Thank goodness!

Another thing about the Quartet Convention is that it swallows up my birthday. Every year I spend my birthday at the NQC. No parties. No cakes. No presents. Well, last year I did go shopping and bought my own present - a gorgeous Gospel Singer outfit to wear to the fancy ACFW dinner I attended the week or so after the NQC. I said I was going to wear it one night this year, but if I do, everybody will think I'm one of the singers. And what if they ask me to prove it? I'd be in trouble then. Of course I did teach my little granddaughter the song "The Bear Went Over the Mountain" today, so I could sing that. She was very cute singing the song. Only she said the bear didn't see the other side of the mountain. She sang the bear saw "me." (A grandmother has to sneak in a grandkid story every once in a while.)

I do enjoy the NQC and I'm old enough now that the day I celebrate doesn't matter all that much. Sometimes I celebrate a new year for a couple of weeks. And why not? A new year is worth celebrating. I'm looking forward to the year ahead. I'll have another couple of books out there for readers. I'll be sure to get to talk books with a bunch of new reading friends and some old reading friends too. I'll get to tell some more grandma stories and share some of those special grandkid moments as they celebrate birthdays and other special events in their lives. I'll get to count blessings until I run out of numbers.

Each of you reading this is a blessing to me. Thank you so much for giving me a few moments of your time. And don't forget to enter my birthday giveaway if you haven't already. Details are on my News and Events page on my website, but you can throw your name in the hat by leaving a comment here. As long as you leave a way for me to get in touch with you in case you win. I'll be drawing for winners the last of September. One of the winners will get that beautiful grandmother's Bible and others will get books and more. 

I put this quote in my birthday newsletter, but I love it. So seeing as how it's almost my birthday, I'm going to use it again. Don't birthday people get to some extra privileges? And for sure I wouldn't be the age my birth certificate assures me I am.

How old would you be if you didn't know how old you were? (Leroy Satchel Paige)