Former Warrenton resident Sue Stratman will be the keynote speaker of the Ladies Morning Retreat at St. Johns Lutheran Church in Warrenton on Aug. 2. 

Stratman along with her husband Jay were teachers in Warren County and were living in the community with their son, Daniel. 

Daniel was born with a heart defect and had a difficult first few years of his life, including three separate open heart surgeries before he reached the age of 10. 

While it was difficult, Daniel persevered until one day when he was 11 he ran into complications during a surgery and everything changed. 

“The anesthesiologist made several mistakes, he coded on the table and the result was about 10 to 12 minutes without oxygen to the brain,” said Sue Stratman. “It turned our lives upside down.”

The surgery left Daniel in a vegetative state, and left the Stratmans searching for answers. 

Sue said she struggled with her faith after the tragedy, and wondered how a God who loved the world could allow this to happen to her innocent child. 

Daniel was left on a ventilator for weeks and doctors were uncertain if he would survive his injuries. 

She was nearing her breaking point before she was able to turn to her faith again. 

“After a really, really bad night I thought, I can’t go on, I can’t continue to watch my son suffer like this, and the pain was beyond anything I thought I could bear,” said Sue Stratman. 

That’s when help arrived, as the Warrenton community came out to support their family and help guide Sue back to the light. 

She credits the help of people like Dan Meyer and Larry DeMoss with helping her to regain her faith. Sue compared her journey to that of Peter when he walked on the water. 

“The Lord told Peter to come and walk on the water, and as long as Peter kept his eyes on the Lord, he could walk on water, but as soon as he looked at the storms around him, he began to drown, and he cried out, ‘Lord, save me,’” said Sue Stratman. “That’s how I felt, the Lord reached his hand through Dan, through Larry, and pulled me out of the water.”

She will speak about these experiences and many others at the retreat as well as the book that she and her husband helped compile to share their story: “When Losing is Winning.”

Along with Sue Stratman’s remarks, there will also be hymn singing, lunch and devotions led by Pastors Jeremy Klaustermeier and Morris Meseke. 

Registration for the retreat will close on July 28. All women of the community are invited to register by calling St. Johns Lutheran Church at 636-456-2888. 

Instead of payment from registrants, the church is requesting donations of laundry detergent for Agape.