Edith

Yesterday was my sister Edith’s 90th birthday. My sister Sue and her daughter Debbie and I went to visit her last night. We had a wonderful visit. My nephew Jerry (Edith’s minister son and his wife Linda) were there and we talked and laughed about the past and present. Such a happy time, even though Edith is confined to a bed in a nursing home. There is that SOMETHING about her face that tells you she is a child of God! Her smile, alone, and those shining blue eyes could melt anyones heart. She was the second child born to my mother and father. Nine other children would follow.
Edith came in this world with a love of music and singing, mainly the piano, and she was blessed with one of the best alto voices of the century. Mama often told of the fact that when she needed Edith, she would always find her sitting on the front porch steps or elsewhere, with a hymnbook in her hands. Besides having such a beautiful voice, she could tear a piano up, (as we say in the South). I can remember as a child sneaking to her house and begging her to play for me. I can also remember when I was in my teens and starting to sing in church with my sisters. We would hear a song we liked, jot the words down on paper, go to Edith’s, sing it over to her one time and she could play it . We never learned to read music but God had blessed us all with the gift of singing. There was always two or three of us that could sing all the parts of songs. The four boys would never give in to sing with any of the seven girls but a couple of them did break down and sing a few solos sometimes in church.
Edith played piano in a lot of churches most of her life but never once took money for playing. She always KNEW in her HEART that God had given her all that extraordinary talent to be used for His Glory, and that is exactly what she has done. All this, while raising five boys (who love her with all their hearts). All but one of those boys are in church carrying on her legacy.
There were times that Edith had to work in the cotton mill because life had gotten hard from time to time . I can also remember babysitting those boys when I was a teenager. The thing I remember most about that time is that she would cook a big pot, sometimes, of rice and canned tomatoes that was SO GOOD. I have never tasted rice and tomatoes that taste like that since!!
I could go on and on, telling all the wonderful things about my sister Edith, but the main thing in my heart is the confidence I have in this great lady, and the fact that she has stayed true to her God for ninety years, serving Him joyfully for all these many years; going on when so many times the Devil threw fiery darts at her. She has been such a blessing to all the people she has come in contact with but especially her children and her family. I love her with all my heart!