Sarah Bush

Now I know Sarah Bush isn't exactly from church history, but she is from history and her story is just inspirational for me. As his closing speech my religion teacher told her story and drew parallels to our future. I just knew I had to share it with you since I'm on a search for inspirational women.

Here's my paraphrase of her story:

Sarah Bush was left a widow when her husband died of cholera. She was left penniless, deeply in debt, and with three children. She worked hard but looked for and prayed for an easier path than trying to do it all by herself. Meanwhile, a man named Thomas, a widower, was also struggling with three children. Thomas had known Sarah when they were younger, and when he heard that she was widowed he got all dressed up, traveled down in a wagon, and proposed to her on the spot. Basically his proposal went something like this: "You's widowed. I'm widowed. We both got children who need a father or mother. I've got a farm, and you won't have to worry about anything. We'll be rich and have servants and the whole shebang. Marry me right now?"

She accepted his proposal, but determined that she wouldn't leave her house till she had paid every penny of debt. Since she was marrying a wealthy man, she sold everything she had to pay the debt and traveled out to his farm. When she got there, she discovered that there was no prosperous farm, no servants, not even a door on the run down cabin on a wimpy farm. Just two under-clad shoeless children. Her first reaction was, "I can't stay here! I won't stay here! I've been tricked!" She was rightly disappointed! She turned to leave the cabin and her eyes caught the eyes of Thomas's nine year old son. She noticed that he had an unusually melancholy look on his face, and something happened to her. Something subdued the disappointment and she said, "I will stay here for the sake of that boy." She slipped off her sweater and matter-of-factly began to clean. She took care of all five children, fixed up the house, and encouraged their learning (especially the little nine year old boy's).

That nine year old boy became the President of the United States. The president who led us through the civil war: Abraham Lincoln. All the rest of his days, Abe referred to her as mother and once said that all that he was or hoped to be he owed to his mother. When Lincoln was elected, he made sure Sarah was taken care of, but the last time he saw her she was in despair. She had received the revelation that if he continued on his path, he would die. He assured her that it was his duty to continue and she said goodbye with this phrase, "Be something, Abe." That was the last thing he heard from her.

There were so many things I learned from this amazing woman. One is the admonishment to be something. (And as my religion teacher said, of everything great we become, let us be great wives, great husbands, great mothers and great fathers.) Another is that we should all engrave her attitude on our heart. "I will stay _____ for _______." I will stay faithful for my husband. I will stay with my family for the children. The list could go on and on. Her determination and selflessness was astonishing.

So there's my first woman from history to emulate. How's that an example of a powerful woman? A woman who did it on her own for a while, and then when she thought she was getting a relief from work, took on two more little children and down graded her home. She knew what was important, and she knew the meaning of hard work.

(Feel free to correct my on my history if I got something wrong.)