Heroes

Today I spent two hours with one of my "Real, Live Heroes"!!! I suppose, I should be politically correct and call her my heroine...........but I just never use heroine......and don't even like to write it!!! (Sorry, I just had to throw that small bit of humor in before I go deep!! )

Truly, this woman is an amazing lady. Her name is Kay. It is not her attire that attracts me to her. It is not any accomplishment that she has done that receives my accolades. It is not her physical agility, performance or appearance that makes her my hero, even though she was quite the tennis player into her 7th decade, and has such a beauty that is captivating. It is not her southern drawl (as much as I love it) nor her tri-lingual expertise that has captured my heart and affection for her that compels me to seek her out to spend time with her. And surely, it is not wealth or social status, as she probably gives away more than she has ever owned and her personal belongings are now down to a half of a very small room in a clean, but packed full of elderly people whose average age is about 85, local nursing home. My hero is 92 years old.

So what makes her my hero.............Jesus in her!! She is the modern day personification of what Paul said in the Word "Follow me as I follow Christ"!! Oh, don't get me wrong..........she has never said any such thing to me in the nearly45 years I have known her. And if she were looking over my shoulder right now she would tell me to stop that!! There was about a 40 year span of time that we had no contact with each other. Then a few years ago, God reconnected us into an intimate friendship through a prayer group we attended at 7:00 AM every Tuesday.

To hear her talk to our LORD in her sweet, southern drawl, praying His Word back to Him, is a memory I shall cherish forever. I miss that weekly time with her. Since her health had been failing the past couple of years, she was not able to get out much. So, I would go to her assisted-living apartment every Tuesday afternoon with a few other friends so we could pray together. Then due to some serious health issues, Kay had to be moved into the nursing home for more care.

The past couple of months, I have been so busy that I had not been able to spend time with her until today. When I walked into her room, she looked up at me from her electric scooter, smiled her precious smile, received my hug, and responding to my "How are you?" said her usual........"I can't complain!" After probing her to tell me how she really is, she said, "The LORD is so good to me. I can't complain!" But she did tell me that she is praying about getting a knee replacement!! What a lady!

We love to talk about the difficult things in the Word and come to the conclusion that some of those things are just too hard to understand, but that we believe it, because we KNOW HIM. She is always so quick to praise Him for His grace, His sovereignty, His lovingkindness, His faithfulness, His provision, and His goodness to her all the days of her life. And that comes in the context of living in the jungles of Mexico among illiterate Indians for 30+ years, where she and Ray raised their three sons. They translated the New Testament and certain sections of the Old Testament into their dialect. On more than one occasion when I would go to visit Kay, she would have that translation of the Word open in her lap, praying for those people whom they had served.

And always right next to her chair would be the stacks of prayer letters and prayer lists that she would pray through every day, telling me that there are not enough hours in the days for her to cover all of the prayer needs for these people serving the LORD around the world. And I know that she prays for me. I will miss that when He takes her home.


So, I have no idea what kind of a person you look up to as a hero, but I am quite sure, none can measure up to mine..............Dear, sweet Kay.