a hero of the faith

Meet Eileen Bender.   Eileen is a 90 year old dynamo.  She body surfs, plays squash and enjoys life and everyone in it.  She is one of the purest hearts I have ever met and I wanna be her when I grow up!

I met Eileen about 7 years ago when I was feel very fragile and exhausted.   Life was feeling very shaky and uncertain and I was dangerously close to a break down.  I heard about a ladies bible study that meets weekly here in Lusaka so I decided to attend.   I sat next to Eileen and she was asked to pray to end the study.    She didn't pray with great Pentecostal fire, but there was confidence and peace and authority oozing out of her.  I don't remember what she prayed for, but I do remember that for the first time in a long time I felt safe.  The extreme lack of anxiety and the surety in the fact that God was hearing her every word made me ugly cry all over the couch we were sitting on.   Eileen simply reached over and patted me on the leg and let me boohoo.  She didn't try to fix it for me, she didn't expect anything out of me, she just sat there and loved me and that was all I needed.

My daughters and I were privileged to be a part of her 90th birthday celebration last week, and what a celebration it was.  It wasn't big and flashy at all, that wouldn't be Eileen.  It was a simple, kind,  gentle affair that honored an amazing woman!   I watched Eileen go around to all the guests and offer a kind, personal word and a hug to each one.  I was touched and humbled by this "seemingly" slight woman.  Eileen has learned to see people and God sees them.  Eileen LOVES everyone around her because she KNOWS that she is loved by a God who sees her deepest heart.

One thing I am certain of when it comes to Eileen Bender........
                               Heaven knows her and Hell is scared of her!

She is a hero of the faith!!!!   HAPPY BIRTHDAY EILEEN!