Gò0dNews on Commemoration
Remembering a Legacy
F
by Bill Fortenberry
lorene Johnson was, by every Protestant measure,
brought her a giant inflatable snow globe for her front yard
a saint.
one Christmas, she insisted that we see it, and her eyes lit
We said goodbye to her in July. She was ninety-
up when the Styrofoam “snow” created a blizzard inside the
five. As a member of our church for more than seventy
plastic orb. She kept the Christmas cards we sent her on her
years, she was the picture of grace, the demonstration of
refrigerator—along with tons of others that she received—
encouragement, the portrait of humility and the heart,
and proudly showed them to us when we visited. If you
hands and feet of love.
sang, played the piano or brought an instrument with you,
The last years of her life were difficult. She and her husband, Walter, never had any children, and she had been
you could not leave without singing a hymn or worship song with her.
a widow for the past twenty-five years. She often spoke of her husband, their love, his integrity and how she missed him. When arthritis swelled and bent her joints, she never once complained. When she suffered multiple broken bones from falls, she used every opportunity to tell a nurse, doctor, EMT or caregiver about her Jesus. She survived Covid-19, and she battled cancer for years, but she never talked about the pain or the difficulty. Instead, she would shrug her shoulders and shake her head, in the exact same way I am sure she did when she was a little girl and say, “God must not be through with me yet. I’m just gonna keep on serving Him until He’s ready to take me home.” And serve Him she did. Her service came in the form of encouragement, of living in the moment, of walking
Every visit with her ended with a closing prayer, and
by faith and in sharing that faith in a way that was never
she liked to hold your hand while you talked to Jesus with
offensive, never condescending and never judgmental. If
her. One of the proudest moments in my life was when
anyone ever lived out the Golden Rule, it was Mrs. Florene.
we visited Mrs. Florene in the hospital not long ago. We
She never talked about herself or others, only about the
FaceTimed my son, who lives in Nashville. Knowing how
people directly in front of her. She mastered the art of being
important a closing prayer was to her, he asked if he could
in the moment. If you were in the room with her, no one else
do the praying. This young man, seventy years younger
in the world mattered. Her conversation was always about
than Mrs. Florene, knew the heart of the woman he had
the goodness of God, and she never failed to ask how good
come to love like a grandmother, and influenced by her
He was to you.
legacy of honoring Jesus, he honored her.
a child-like faith in Christ. That same innocent, trusting approach applied to people and life itself. When friends
32 // September 2021
About The Author
She walked with Christian maturity while maintaining Bill Fortenberry worked 17 years as a newspaper reporter, editor and columnist, and has worked in healthcare communications since 2001. Bill serves as the chairman of the board of managers of Haven Health Clinic for Women and is a men’s ministry leader and small group facilitator at his church, HBC Rome. He and his wife, Lisa, have two children, Ethan and Autumn. A storyteller at heart, Bill writes an occasional blog at kudzudad.blogspot.com.
