a living hero of the faith

dear emily,

hebrews 11 lists many of the heroes who have gone before us.
my family has one walk in our front door three days a week.
miss edna came to us ten years ago, and i do not know what
we ever did without her.

the Lord's Spirit goes before, after her, and all throughout the
house.  His Name is continually lifted up in the kitchen, living
room, hallways, and stairs.  heated arguments dissolve when
they hear, "Jesus" sung from the rafters.

fifteen years ago, miss edna adopted her niece's ten day old
baby.  the mommy was in prison, and the baby had been
shifted from foster parent to foster parent.  now he is a big,
strapping young man who plays in the band.  my dad helped
him learn to read by the strangest coincidence.

since then, miss edna has adopted three of his little brothers
from the same crack addicted mother.  all suffered from
some degree of withdrawal, but the latest baby the most.
it was just heartbreaking to see a week old baby, shivering
and arching his back from his mother's addiction.

sometimes she brings them here to our delight.  loston (ten)
consistently beats me at chess.  the last time the babies came,
my girls were just in stitches to hear little isaiah (two) saying
to his baby brother willis (one), "hush, willis...hush, willis."

whenever i ask miss edna if she's ready to stop working here,
she says, "oh no, i need a quiet place to come and rest!"  :)

she turned 64 today.

i bet paul mccartney never envisioned a sacrifice of love
so great as hers.

love,
lea