Lydia loved to give things away crafts, baked goods, items she picked up at auctions or sales. It seemed her mind was always thinking about who might enjoy a pick-me-up, an act of encouragement, an expression of love.

When she baked, she baked enough to fill several paper plates to take to neighbors, people at work, her daughter's teacher, some shut-ins at church.

When she learned a new craft, everyone knew it, because Lydia would share with them.

Once, at a garage sale, she spent a dollar for a whole box of old animal figurines ü muddy, greasy, ready-for-the-trash figurines. She cleaned each one with an old toothbrush, glued it to a three-by-five card, and wrote a scripture verse on the card.

On the card with a little bird, she wrote, "Look at the birds of the air; they neither sow no…