Previous Challenge Entry (Level 4 – Masters)
Topic: Poor (08/29/24)
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TITLE: Mississippi Learning | Previous Challenge Entry
By LINDA GERMAIN
09/04/24 -
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Oseola McCarty was born in 1908 in Hattiesburg, Mississippi in what some would call a shanty. She was raised by her mother and grandmother, two spiritually strong women who instilled an honest work ethic that set her on the right path.
There were few opportunities for poor women back then. Females did not even get the vote until 1920. Her situation was compounded by the culture of the times. She had lovely dark skin. By the time she was eight years old, she was working right alongside the two people who kept her grounded and taught her what real work meant. They were “washer-women.”
That kind of labor was drudgery at best. They worked from dawn to dusk six days a week. Her mother planted colorful flowers to give them something pretty to see in the yard during endless days of toil. Sometimes they sang hymns to pass the time. On Sundays, they rested and went to church twice.
I started the day on my knees every day saying the Lord’s prayer and then I would get busy.”
Miss Oseola never married or had children. She walked everywhere. It was one mile from her little house to the grocery store.
In her book, Simple Wisdom for Rich Living, she shared valuable insight and direction into what truly matters on this earth. Her disciplined and frugal ways speak volumes if we would only listen. She never accepted government aid.
“You have to take responsibility for yourself!”
She was characterized as a short, quiet woman with immovable faith. When asked her views about the pitiful state of the world her response was brief.
“I ain’t got no time to be thinking about evil things.”
She kept to a strict routine. After prayers in the early morning, she would eat a good breakfast and then go outside to start a fire under the cast iron washtub. She used a long stick to agitate the clothes until they were clean. Then she would “wrench” them out and hang them on the clothesline while fresh water was heating for the next load.
After each batch was dry it was folded and stacked for ironing. She was not shy about declaring to all who wondered about the backbreaking daily grind.
“Hard work is good for you!”
When pushed to understand a life of what most would consider serious poverty and lack, her reply was always humble, yet profound.
“My secret was contentment.”
That was the result of believing in Scripture with every fiber of her being. She gave everything to the Lord. EVERYTHING! Then she kept doing what she knew best. She washed and ironed other people’s clothes to perfection. Her work goals were dedicated to excellence with every step.
She opened a bank account when she was still a child. From then on, even the tiniest bit of income went for a few things--her church, basic food, simple clothes only when needed, and the rest right into savings.
Over many years, those pennies and dollars grew and compounded. When she retired, the decade’s worth of savings had risen to $280,000!
Her thrifty lifestyle taught a great lesson about how little we need on this earth. One journalist who wanted to videotape her at the grocery was surprised to hear, “No, I went yesterday. I don’t need anything.”
Trying another approach, he told her to just pretend to buy groceries for the pictures. Her answer, “No, that would be lying.”
Finally, he offered to pay for whatever she wanted. Her last comment ended the conversation in no uncertain terms. “I told you, I shopped yesterday. I don’t need anything!”
On retirement, she hired a lawyer to help get her affairs in order and to set up a $150,000 trust for needy students at the University of Southern Mississippi.
She had very little education and began life in extreme poverty, but her heart answered the call to help others get the education she was denied. After all, she insisted, she was more than blessed.
She died in 1999 in her small unpretentious home. It was later moved to Hattiesburg’s Sixth Street Museum District.
This poor woman was spiritually rich and a beacon for the rest of us. She knew a genuinely divine secret. With her moral compass intact, everything else paled in comparison.
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*Oseola McCarty received the Presidential Citizen’s Medal and the Wallenberg Humanitarian Award among many other accolades. She was given an honorary degree from Harvard University and appeared on all the major television networks (which she took in stride with her usual charming, quiet demeanor and grace while giving honor and glory to the Lord).
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Can't wait to meet her one day.
Blessings
What a fine tribute to a lady who is seated at the "Lamb's table" for sure!
Congrats,
God Bless~