THE COOLEST 99-YEAR-OLD!

“And there was one Anna, a prophetess, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher: she was of a great age, and had lived with a husband seven years from her virginity;
and she was a widow of about fourscore and four years, which departed not from the temple, but served God with fastings and prayers night and day.
And she coming in that instant gave thanks likewise unto the Lord, and spake of him to all them that looked for redemption in Jerusalem.” (Luke 2:36-38)

Today, September 26, 2010 is my daughter Rachel’s 24th birthday. I met another special “birthday girl” today! Bread of Life Assembly of God where we’ve been attending church up in Westminster has started having coffee and fellowship before the morning service. As I sat in the lobby waiting for the coffee to be ready I overheard an older woman with a cane happily telling someone, “TODAY is my birthday!” I walked over, greeted her, and asked, “So today’s your birthday?!”

To my surprise, she replied, “Yes, and I’m 99 today!”

Ninety-nine! I knew she was old, but I’d have guessed maybe 83 or 84- certainly not 99! She definitely did not look THAT old! It turned out the woman’s name is Thelma and she’s originally from New York City. Thelma came over to a lobby bench, sat down, and told told me quite a bit of interesting things about her over about five minutes. You know how old people can get “on a roll” talking about themselves, and you just want to get away from them? Well, I EXPECTED it to be like that, but it wasn’t like that at all. I was really interested in what she had to say. Thelma moved up to north central Massachusetts about six years ago to live with her daughter. A friend she’s made here brings her to Bread of Life church every few weeks and she loves it. Thelma is mentally quite sharp and has the energy of a 60-year-old. It turns out she’s an accomplished artist, and STILL takes orders for paintings! She’s also very proud of her small Methodist church in New York.

Thelma told me that back in the 1970s, the small Methodist church was slated to close. That did not set well with her. “This church is NOT going to close as long as I’m alive!” she defiantly proclaimed to the church’s leaders. Her plan was to organize massive church bazars to bring in funds. She was criticized for the plan.
“So you plan be be LIKE A GYPSY?!” her detractors accused. Ironically, Thelma put together a large and outstanding bazar which brought in a lot of money. After that, she ran two such events every year. She also donated artwork to be raffled off. (Granted, the Assemblies of God is not into raffles, but it worked to help this Methodist church.) A small Pennsylvania church heard about the success and turnaround of the New York church, and Thelma coached them into having fundraisers which turned that church around. Thelma told me it’s been over thirty-three years since her Methodist church was supposed to be closed, and it’s going strong today.

I informed Thelma that my daughter Rachel, also born on September 26, is also an accomplished artist. Thelma asked me to tell Rachel to donate quite a bit of her artwork to churches and hospitals, and said that if she will do that, God will bless her. Thelma says she never smoked and has watched her diet, but that she believes the major reason for God giving her along life is that she has used her talents for Him.

What a blessing to meet this woman today! She’s the coolest 99-year-old!