5:10 has brought up children. The verbs in this verse are in the past tense. Paul’s concern is not with what the widow might still do for the church but with what she has accomplished in her life.

washed the feet of the saints. A conventional expression of hospitality in a culture where people wore sandals and walked dusty roads (cf. John 13:4, 5). Jesus commanded His disciples to wash each others’ feet (John 13:14, 15).