On Saturday, Sept. 10, my husband, Kent, and I joined the family and friends of Reta Engelhardt at Abiding Savior Free Lutheran Church in Sioux Falls, S.D., to celebrate Reta’s going home to be with Jesus for eternity.

Reta Lynne Engelhardt July 5, 1950–Sept. 8, 2011

This celebration honored Reta, her love for her Savior, her family, her prayer group, everyone she came in contact with and her purpose in life — which was to tell others about Jesus’ love for them.

Reta’s children spoke about their deep love for their mother and the difference she made in their lives. John, her husband, spoke about Reta, the love of his life, and being the first person she led to the Lord. Reta’s brother spoke of his devotion to his older sister who had wrapped arms of love around him during a tough childhood. And her prayer group spoke about how they came to encourage Reta during her illness and always left being the ones encouraged.

I met Reta in the spring of 2006 when Living Stones News began publishing a separate edition in Sioux Falls. She immediately accepted an offer to write her column, Silver Linings, which she has done faithfully, including for this month’s edition.

Reta came to the monthly board meetings held at Abiding Savior Free Lutheran Church in Sioux Falls, preparing coffee ahead of time for the board members. She prayed for the newspaper, and like fellow columnist Kandy Bauder mentioned to me at her home-going celebration, “At our board meetings, she prayed the words of the Bible back to God. I was so in awe of her knowing Scripture like that to use in her prayers.”

Reta encouraged me through times of change in the newspaper and financial down times. We missed her when she could no longer attend the editorial board meetings because of her health, but we knew she still prayed for us and the newspaper.

Her Silver Linings column never missed a deadline. Her thoughts were clear and organized. There weren’t any typos. She wrote with great humor. She wrote of personal anecdotes with honesty and openness. But, most of all, every column lifted up the name of Jesus, drawing her readers to him. She was an evangelist in every column, writing to bring people to Jesus and helping them understand how to spend eternity with Him in Heaven.

I wish I had known Reta in the many roles of her life — as a wife, a mother, a sister, a sister-in-law, a daughter, a grandmother, a member of the church and a prayer group. But I am blessed to have known her as a member of Living Stones News.  

Many times she told me how much writing for Living Stones News meant to her. John, her husband, told me several times that Reta longed to have her writings published and was thankful for that opportunity with Living Stones News. He also said that having her Silver Linings column to write gave her focus, and he knows that purpose prolonged her life. Reta’s son, Bo, also mentioned Reta’s love for Living Stones News and how thankful he was for all of the columns she wrote because his young children will get to know their grandmother by reading them.

All of Reta’s column are in the archives on www.livingstonesnews.com. Here is the link to one of many that will touch your heart — Click Here

I pray that if I ever get cancer that I can walk the journey akin to Reta’s walk — with the peace and calmness that comes from standing on God’s promises rather than choosing to give in tobr> emotion and pity. She was a mighty warrior for God, touching everyone who came into her life, including doctors, nurses, technicians, chaplains, fellow cancer patients and valet parking attendants.

Thank you, Reta, for letting Jesus love us through you. Our loss is Heaven’s gain. There is a silver lining for all who believe in Jesus.