Unshackled Moments ~ September 23 ~ Memories Of Ma

I knew this wonderful woman only as Ma Woody for years before I ever learned her real name, Ida Mae Bell Wells Woodard. Even folks who were not related to her in the small community of Liberty Hill, sandwiched between Dekalb and New Boston, Texas knew her as Ma Woody. But I was related to her. I was one of her many grandchildren and had the notorious distinction of being the only grandchild she ever spanked.

But what I remember most about her is the joy she had. I loved listening to her sing hymns like "Victory In Jesus" and "What A Friend We Have In Jesus" while washing the dishes, while churning  butter (yes she hand churned butter), milking cows and feeding chickens and pretty much every other aspect of the daily life of a farm wife. It wasn't a religious thing. A woman in a fantastic relationship singing romantic love songs would be a more accurate description. Her faith wasn't just a part of who she was, it was an inseparable  of being alive for  her as much as breathing.

I learned later in life that she walked the floor at night in prayer for my father when Dad was called to the ministry. There's no question that who she was, how she loved God and  her prayers made a major impact on the man and pastor that my father became. She wasn't rich by any stretch of the imagination. She wasn't a tyrant or powerful in worldly ways. She just quietly and consistently, without fanfare or splash, loved God, her family and those she came in contact with. She had no desire for personal glory or limelight, yet she touched more lives and made them better than almost any woman I ever knew.

I say all this to encourage us all to remember that we don't have to fight for attention or control to help and influence others. We can make a huge difference just by going about our day, all day, remembering that it is not our skill or strength that matters because our victory is found in Jesus and He is a friend like no other.