On January 28, Marvin's grandma, Coronada Soto, went home to be with our Lord at the age of 84.  Coronada became a Christian in her sixties, and was truly one of the most remarkable people I've ever known.  She walked down a mountain from her home every day for decades to sell packages of peanuts on the streets of Tegucigalpa.  She supported her children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren until last August when she entered a hospice program due to weakened lungs.

Coronada blessed everyone around her.  She smiled at everyone until she was too weak to smile; even then, she smiled with her eyes!  A few weeks before she died, I visited her in the hospital.  She was too weak to sit up at the time.  At one point, she closed her eyes and said "It's sad...it's so sad...so sad" over and over again.  I asked, "Grandma, what's so sad?"  She opened her brilliant eyes and said, "It's so sad when people die without knowing the Lord."  Then she looked at the lady who was dying of AIDS in the bed next to her and said, "bring her over here so that we can pray for her."  Even with her last breath, Coronada was thinking of others!

In Spanish, Coronada means "crowned."  What a fitting name for this amazing saint!  We know that she is crowned with glory today as she sits at the feet of her Lord.  Welcome home, Coronada!