When you meet Mrs. Katharine Guinn, it doesn’t take long to notice the joy that radiates from her. Sitting comfortably in her chair, she beams as she says, “I’m 84 years old and I just feel blessed to be here in the village. I’m happy. I’m well taken care of. Don’t have to worry about anything. One day at a time is a joy.”
She pauses, “Don’t worry. Yesterday’s gone, tomorrow may never be yours. You have today. Make the best of it. Give the Lord thanks. Be happy.”
— From Heartbreak to Healing Words Katharine’s lifelong love of writing began in the shadow of tragedy. “After my youngest son was killed in an accident, he was just 15, I knew God never makes mistakes. Sam had trusted Christ as his Savior, so I knew where he was.”
In her grief, she found an outlet through words. “God just overpowered me when I was sleeping. So many things to be thankful for. I said, ‘I gotta start writing this down.’ That’s when I started.”
She enrolled in a professional writing class and, for years afterward, her poetry and devotionals were published in magazines, even one connected to Billy Graham’s ministry. “It was awesome to have God give me this and to write it down and praise and thank Him for who He is,” she says. “I mean God just flowed it through me. I didn’t have a choice but to write it.”
— Faith, Family & Resilience
Katharine was born in Alpine, Calif. but became an Oklahoman after meeting her husband at church while he was serving in the Navy. “He asked my friends first if I was a Christian,” she laughs. “When he found out I wasn’t, not personally, he helped me see what it meant to know Christ as my Savior. From then on, I was on the mountaintop.”
The two married and raised four sons. “My husband was a truck driver, so I made sure I taught them about the Lord and made sure they trusted Christ as their Savior.”
Her husband later died in a motorcycle accident – another devastating loss that she faced with faith. “He knew it was time to give up riding, but he wanted one more ride. He said, ‘Hang on, I think we’re going to wreck.’ He was thrown off, but I hung on until it stopped. He knew the Lord. My youngest son knew the Lord. I know where they are. It makes all the difference in the world.”
— A Teacher’s Heart
Before retiring, Mrs. Guinn worked as a teacher’s aide for 15 years at a small country school – a role that fulfilled a lifelong dream. “In the afternoons they let me have the class,” she says with a grin. “I was in hog heaven. That’s always what I wanted to do. I got out there and played ball with them, pushed them in swings, read to them. It fulfilled that desire in my heart.”
Even as a child, she loved to run. “Sometimes I just pretended I was a horse,” she laughs. She also played violin and bells in school and came from a musical family where everyone learned piano first before choosing an instrument. “I loved every bit of it.”
— “No Whining, No Complaining”
These days, her neighbors call her the bright spot of the Village. “Kathy spreads joy everywhere she goes,” one resident shares. “She tells everyone what Ethel taught her: no whining, no complaining. If you’ve got a problem, fix it.”
Mrs. Guinn nods. “Don’t waller in selfpity. God’s got my hand,” she says, making a gentle fist as if holding on. “I just say, ‘God, help me use what I got today.’ Yesterday’s gone, tomorrow isn’t promised. He’s been so good.”
— An “Awesome” Motto If you visit Mrs Katharine, you’ll see it written on her poems, her cards and even on her smile: Awesome.
“God is awesome,” she declares. “At the time my son was killed and later when my husband died, I looked to God and His comfort was so good. I said, ‘God, you gotta give me an outlet. You are too awesome. I cannot contain all this.’” Her friends joke that when she passes, they’ll hang a big sign that reads “Awesome.” Mrs. Guinn chuckles at the thought. “You remember that word when you pray,” she tells me. “Say ‘Awesome God,’ and you’ll understand.”
