Some people reach their eighties and decide they have earned the right to slow down. Connie never got that memo! Here she is, in her 80s, only eight months removed from triple-bypass surgery, and what is she doing? Serving others.
Three cardio-vascular bypasses are not enough to keep this Dutch lady from finding her way back to Gateway to Hope again and again.
Connie grew up in Holland, where she learned a few important lessons early in life: “work hard, take care of people, don’t waste anything, and when there is work to be done, don’t wait around for somebody else to do it”!
Most of us might consider triple-bypass surgery a pretty good reason to put our feet up and let somebody else do the serving. Not Connie. There is something wonderfully inspiring and there is perhaps a wee bit of Dutch stubbornness involved.
The Bible tells us in Isaiah 40:31:
“But those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength.”
Sometimes the strongest testimony isn’t something we preach! Gateway to Hope volunteer staff are not all young, strong, or perfectly healthy. Connie reminds us that; “age is not a retirement plan for kindness. A heart that has been through a difficult season can still be a heart that gives.“
That’s our Connie; determined spirit, a generous heart, and just enough Dutch stubbornness to keep the rest of us smiling!
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