I met Dawn for the first time when Tom brought me to a family Sunday dinner. The loud voices from the house didn’t help my anxiety. When I walked in, someone challenged me to leq wrestling and I kindly declined. Tom introduced me to his mom, a tiny, soft-spoken, silver-haired lady who said she had something for me. Evidently Dawn heard it was my birthday and she had made me a German chocolate cake from scratch. That is the Dawn Edens I have known and loved for about 33 years. She had never met me before and she was already sharing her heart with me.
She had a way of making people feel seen. My brother still has
the pillowcase she made him when he was with us one Christmas. She made sure he
had something made with love from her sewing room. If she wasn’t making you
biscuits, sewing something from her massive fabric stash or playing cards with
you, she was either calling or dropping a card in the mail. She especially
loved the children. From infants, to toddlers, to teens she always asked about
her babies. She taught the toddlers how to twiddle their thumbs, the kids how
to make biscuits and clean up. She listened to young adults and asked questions
about what was going on in their lives. Many times, I’d hear her preface kids’ names
with “my” she claimed ownership. “How is my Jessica, my Nikki, my Patrick, my
Jared doing?” Whether you were blood kin, married in or adopted in—you were
HERS for life!
That heart also reached out to babies not even born yet from
people she didn’t know. She sewed for a local pregnancy resources group in
Titusville. One time, we delivered a bag of baby items she created, including
booties. Later we received a story from the ministry. When we shared it with
her, her face lit up! There was a young lady who walked in with a crisis
pregnancy. Her boyfriend was pressuring her to end the child. She was gifted with
Dawn’s handmade baby items. She held the booties and decided then to
keep the child. Dawn touched even a stranger’s heart with her unconditional love.
She took pride in raising her boys with the Ten Commandments. I
can hear her now, reciting the last five: NO murder, adultery, stealing, lying,
coveting. In the last 10 years I realized she had been quietly teaching the first
five with her LIFE. The ones that describe faith and relationships. She loved the
Lord with all her heart, mind and soul. She didn’t take His name in vain. She
kept the sabbath day and attended church when she could. And when she couldn’t
get there, her church came to her. She also honored her parents. I loved
hearing about her father with the neighborhood kids; she loved her daddy and
respected her mom.
We are all grieving the loss of such a loving woman. Now it’s
our turn. What will you do with the gift of her unconditional love? Don’t hoard
it for yourself, it dries up too quickly. The trick is to give it away as often
as possible. That’s how it GROWS! Her legacy was love and faith. She learned
that love from Jesus, who gave the ultimate price.
He said something in the book of Mark related to those Ten
Commandments she lived by. (Mark 12: 28-31)
One of the teachers of the law came
and heard them debating. Noticing that Jesus had given them a good answer, he
asked him, “Of all the commandments, which is the most important?”
“The most important one,” answered
Jesus, “is this: ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the
Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind
and with all your strength.’ The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as
yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these.”
Have you ever felt compelled to step into a life of faith and
love like Dawn had? This could be your day. Pick up a Bible, start with the three
letters of love by John towards the end of the Bible. Call a trusted Christian
friend. Even Tom and I would welcome any questions you have.
Don’t forget to share the love Dawn showed you. You’re going to
need it. Because as Dawn used to say, “Getting old ain’t for sissies!”
"Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us run with endurance the race that is set before us..."
Hebrews 12:1
