I'm going to let the following writing speak for itself. This is a moving tribute which exemplifies faith of our youth being touched by faith and wisdom of our elders.

FOND MEMORIES OF AUNT LORRAINE

by Marvin Smith

Prior to attending a graveside service, I pondered the legacy of my aunt, Lorraine Birdsell. She had led a "typical Christian life." She loved the Lord and accepted HIM in her life as a teen. She and her late husband Alfred had raised believing children. She was a good neighbor. In order to make ends meet, she ran a small daycare out of her home. She had always been active in her church. She loved her children and grandchildren. She dealt with the challenges of the life in a Christian manner. An ordinary Christian life.

But things change with time. The small church that we all worshiped God together was gone. Their family had lived in Kansas, Wyoming, and in later years Washington so the community roots were somewhat segmented. The kids were scattered from Maryland to Washington with stops in Colorado and Michigan. She had moved from the wilds of Montesano, WA back to her roots in Beloit, Kansas. For a variety of reasons I expected only an handful of family and friends to pay their last respects to Aunt Lorraine.

When I arrived at the final resting site at the McCleary Cemetery, I saw the expected 4 children and the family friend that accompanied her body to Washington state. A couple of preachers (Carl Hunter & Lee Wright) rolled in. Most of the first guests to arrive were the expected cast of characters. Former roommates, old family friends--all were expected. Then one by one, strangers began to arrive. Young adults, perhaps as many as ten or fifteen. Full of life, yet appropriately somber. I wondered whether they had the right event. But my cousins seemed to recognize them.

It was later that I found out that the unexpected visitors were "Lorraine's kids." Not her children (Joyce, Warren, Betty, Suzette, or Lanny), but her day care kids. They had come to honor a Christian woman who had a significant impact on their lives. A lady that had given them love and affection during the early years of their lives. As I recall, Lorraine's Kids were offspring of local politicians, physicians--but most were ordinary people.

The life lesson that Loraine taught me was our legacy as Christians is that we should do what we are called to do in this life with love, affection, and passionately. It is out of the ordinary that an extraordinary impact can be made. Lorraine's witness to her Lord was powerful. I saw it on the faces of all her kids.

Most of us are not going to write an important book or become famous for an invention or make any memorable impression on the world. But if we conduct our ordinary vocations in a manner that honors God and proclaims Christ--that is our significance. We can make the ordinary, extraordinary. I believe that is one legacy of Lorraine Birdsell.