Missing Ledy

Ledy was one of the first people in Lucinda to open up her heart and home to my family when we first moved there. I remember her inviting Kara and me to eat chicken sandwiches at her house at midnight our first New Years in Lucinda. I remember months before that her sending her three daughters to visit the Faull girls one day. It was an awkward meeting. They didn't want to be visiting us any more than I wanted to be hosting them. I remember sitting on the porch with them in silence a little while and finally coming up with the idea to ask them if they wanted to color. Little did we know that we would soon be very close friends, spending hours, and days, and weeks, and months, and years with them and their family. The memories I have with them are countless. Some are very sad and others are very happy. I remember spending hours and hours with Ledy helping her to do her Bible Study homework. Most of the time she knew the answers, but she just wanted that reassurance that she was answering everything correctly. After years of this, she finally came to a point where she had the confidence to answer the questions by herself. The growth I saw in Ledy's life was tremendous. Through very difficult and heartbreaking trials, I witnessed Ledy coming to a place of brokenness and surrender to the Lord. She truly wanted to serve Him in all she did, and one of her biggest desires was that her family serve Him as well. She was always praying and asking for prayer for her family. One of the things I loved about Ledy was her sense of humor. I remember her teasing me mercilessly and calling me Ramona (who was a crazy woman in town) for a couple weeks after finding me on her porch stretching. I had been calling for someone to answer the door for me several times and no one having answered, I was having a little stretch. She and her daughters joked that they had found me exercising in the yard. She often called me her adopted daughter, and my mom called her daughters her "hijitas". If Ledy would have charged me for all the meals she made me, I would owe her a lot of money. She was an amazing cook and homemaker. Her house was always very clean, and she was constantly rearranging furniture, pictures, and paintings and was constantly changing curtains and couch covers. Ledy was so thoughtful. I remember her bringing me gifts from her trips to La Ceiba. She always tried to bring home gifts from La Ceiba to all her family. She was always thinking of my mom and wanting to do things for her as well. She loved and respected my mom and my mom's counsel so much. She would often talk to my mom about hard situations she was dealing with. Her entire family loves my mom. To this day my mom's opinion and words to them are important. Ledy loved and respected my dad too. I remember her being intimidated by my dad when she first knew him. Whenever she came over she would ask me if he was going to be there or not so that she could schedule her visits when he was not home! Over time though, she started to understand and connect with his sense of humor and started thinking he was hysterical! In fact, his sense of humor wasn't that different from hers! She loved my sisters as well. She had a picture of the five of us girls enlarged and framed and has had it hanging on her family room wall for years. There is so much more I remember: trips to the river, trips to the beach, watching our soccer team together, going to church together, Bible Study, atv and car rides, dinners and parties, trials and tears, and so much more!

It is hard to believe that she has departed from this earth now. She will be missed greatly by the people who knew and loved her. My heart breaks and hurts for her family, but I understand that she has gone home to be with her beloved Lord. I am so thankful for the privilege I had of knowing her and thankful for her life and testimony. I pray that the Lord gives her family the strength they need to continue and follow in her footsteps.

Some thoughts from my mom:

The first time I met Ledis, she brought me a big bucket of flowers to plant in my front flower beds. How did she know how much I love flowers? She didn't yet, but was to learn how much we both appreciated God's beautiful creation of flowers in many sizes, shapes and colors. She taught me about the flowers of Honduras. One of the things that always stood out about Ledis to me was her wonderful smile and the twinkle she would get in her eye when she was very happy. I had the great privilege to study the Bible with Ledis for several years. At first, she did not feel confident in her own ability to understand and find the answers to the questions we were talking about and would always try to study with one of the other members of our group. But I remember one day very clearly, a few years after I knew her very well. I had gone to visit her in her home and she began to share with me how the Lord was at work in her life. She shared how He had shown her that He would speak to her and that He could teach her from His word. She was so proud to let me know that she had begun to do her lessons all by herself and I was immensely proud of her. Another time I went to visit her and she told me how she had been under a spiritual attack and experiencing temptation. She described how she cried out to the Lord and asked for His help. She was so happy and proud to tell me of how the Lord had more than answered her prayers and helped her to become stronger. She was so happy that she was following the Lord and resisting. I was so proud of her that day!! Ledis suffered with many episodes of health issues, but she always gave God the glory, even when she was very discouraged. Ledis' warm, big heart was so humble. I remember when she began have confianza with me. Oh how I treasured the times we shared from the heart and prayed together. Ledis was beautiful, inside and out. I loved her laid back personality, her devotion to her husband and children and her welcoming spirit. I also loved her food! Ledis was an amazing servant and an amazing cook. My years in Honduras were enriched so much for having known a friend like Ledis. I praise God that she will never be in pain again. But oh how we will all miss her! She is such a special lady!! My heart is so sad that I will have to wait awhile now to get to visit her again. But I will always be so thankful to God for how He changed my life, through knowing Ledis. I thank God for this beautiful flower He sent my way.