According to Wikipedia, DNA is a molecule that carries most of the genetic instructions used in the development and functioning of all known living organisms.  This information determines how living organisms inherit features from their parents and thereby all their ancestors. And, as far as I know, I came by my DNA naturally. When I was born, it wasn’t likely that experimentation resulted in how my DNA got put together. Thank goodness! I reflected on this today because it would have been the 95th birthday of my Grandmother – Ollie Beatrice Welch.

When I think about who I want to be when I grow up, I generally think about my parents and my grand parents. Through DNA, their traits theoretically would have showed up somewhere in me. Which genes I ended up with is anyone’s guess. Being greedy, I’d want all the good stuff. And, being not very impartial, there was a lot of good stuff to pass on. You’d think I’d have a good shot at being pretty amazing.

Joshua 1:6-9 “Be strong and courageous, for you shall give this people possession of the land which I swore to their fathers to give them. “Only be strong and very courageous; be careful to do according to all the law which Moses My servant commanded you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, so that you may have success wherever you go. “This book of the law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it; for then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have success.”

This was Memom. To me, she demonstrated bravery. She faced many challenges in her life and answered them with courage and determination and faith. She never strayed from what the Good Lord asked of her, she stayed steady and strong. I think she had a devotional on every table in the house. I love most the stories of how she became the first female sales rep at the Western Auto in Waco. The accounts of her crazy road trips across the country with her best friend. And the numerous articles written about her leadership in AWBA. And all of this at a time when women were just coming in their own.

She kept a copy of this:

If you work for a man, in heaven’s name work for him. If he pays you wages which supply you bread and butter, work for him; speak well of him; stand by him, and stand by the institution he represents. If put to a pinch, an ounce of loyalty is worth a pound of cleverness. If you must vilify, condemn, and eternally disparage, resign your position, and when you are outside, damn to your heart’s content, but as long as you are part of the institution do not condemn it. If you do that, you are loosening the tendrils that are holding you to the institution, and at the first high wind that comes along, you will be uprooted and blown away, and will probably never know the reason why. Elbert Hubbard

I come from a family of very strong women. Dear Lord, I hope you made sure I got the good genes. And I pray that you also gave me the wisdom and courage to know what to do with them 🙂