Ruth Bell Graham died today

Ruth Bell Graham, wife of Billy Graham, died this afternoon:

Whenever he was asked how he came to be the greatest evangelist in history, Billy Graham always turned his eyes heavenward: "It was God who did this," he would say. But if there was an earthly power who helped both raise him up and keep his feet on the ground, it was his bright-souled, big-hearted wife Ruth Bell Graham, 87, who fell into a coma and died on Thursday.

From Christianity Today:

Anne Graham Lotz, second daughter:

“I would go down to my mother’s room early in the morning. Her light would be on, and I would find her at her big, flat-top desk. She would be reading and studying her Bible, with about 14 different translations spread out around her.

“When I would go down to her room late at night, I would see the light on underneath the door and I’d go in, and she would be on her knees in prayer.

“As I look back on my childhood, I cannot remember any impression whatsoever that my mother was ever lonely. She may have been lonely, but I never saw it.

“I believe that our heavenly Father, our Savior, saved my mother from loneliness because of her daily walk with the Lord Jesus, He was the love of her life. I saw that in her life. It was her love for the Lord Jesus, with whom she walks every day, that made me want to love Him and walk with Him like that.”

Ruth Graham, Soulmate to Billy, Dies | TIME, Christianity Today: Ruth's children remember their mother