Gotta love that attitude!!!

When I think of someone who is “there for me” I think of my sister, Linda. She is “one of a kind”. She has worked hard against great odds to be successful in life and helped many along the way. Linda is 6 years older than me and since the death of our mother 19 years ago has taken on the roll of encourager, confidant, as well as best friend to me. Let me tell you a little about Linda.

Linda married her childhood sweetheart and had 2 sons. Things were good for about 10 years and then the unthinkable happened. Linda’s husband became addicted to prescription drugs. I can’t give you all the details, but Linda had to basically raise the boys alone. Linda is very smart and worked hard and made a good living—however everything was on her shoulders. She was what you could call “the working poor”. She made just enough to keep her from getting any government help. Since her (now ex-) husband ended up going to jail, she received no child support. She supplied health insurance, sent the boys to church camp, later to band camp and band trips, and to college. There seemed to always be “just enough”. We found an old check book from those years and laughed because each month she would have a balance of 1.98 or 2.30 or .85 just before payday. She has raised her two sons to be Godly men with children of their own.

What makes my sister special is her Godly spirit in which she gives. Let me give a couple of examples.

When the boys were 11 and 12 or so, their dad insisted that he wanted to get them bikes for Christmas. She knew that he never followed through so she put some on lay-a-way—just in case. Sure enough, he didn’t have the money to buy bikes, so she got them out of lay-a-way and gave them to him so that he would have the boys a gift. I told her she was crazy, but she said—“I didn’t do it for him, I want the boys to think their dad got them a gift”. She never told them, and they were so proud that their dad got them such a great gift.

Another example is after her boys were older and my 2 sons were pre-teens, she would pay their church camp fees—saying “I remember how hard it was sending kids to camp”. This is just one of many ways she helped and still does to this day. You have to be fast to grab the bill when eating out with Linda, cause she always tries to beat you to the cashier.


Linda is the one that when our Sunday school class is making boxes to send to children for Christmas, she does 12 boxes instead of 1 or 2 like everyone else. She has dressed an entire family in need when her daughter-in-law mentioned the need to her. She is the one when we give a wedding shower, she pays her part and then says “I’ll buy the flowers or punch or whatever is needed extra". She always goes beyond her part. She says the Lord has blessed her and to whom much is given much is required.

She loves to shop so all year long she hunts bargains (something she learned to do in those lean years) so that when she has class meeting in the summer, we have Christmas in July and everybody gets a gift. As we open them, she delights in saying “That was $20.00 with 70% off plus and extra 10% coupon”.

I can't begin to tell you all of the things that Linda does for people, mainly because she does them in secret--not for show but to repay the blessings she has received over the years. I have picked up on a few and know that she supports many organizations for children and also tithes to her Lord's house.

I think I will sum it up with one last example of Linda’s generosity and humor. When her ex-husband passed away several years ago, she chipped in to help pay for his final arrangements. Her good nature was summed up with the statement—“Well, I supported him for years, I guess it is a fitting end for me to pay for his funeral too!!” You gotta love that attitude—I do!!!





becky, AL
Posted: October 16, 2008

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