Delivered:  May 12, 2013 (Mother’s Day);  Scripture:  Proverbs 31:10-12, 25-31

It was 1843 when Josiah Reeves, a Methodist minister in Culpeper, Virginia, was told he was going to be transferred to the remote area in the mountains of Western Virginia.

These Appalachian mountains were yet to be tamed in the mid 1800s–transportation was still difficult, roadways were often treacherous, and the towns lacked the infrastructure we enjoy these days.  There were no highways, no interstates, no sewage systems, no water systems back then!

But for Josiah’s 11-year-old daughter, Ann Maria, this would be a transition that would change not only her life, but the world around her.

Ann Maria’s father valued education as much as he valued faith and encouraged his daughter to endeavor hard at her studies.  As a result, she grew, smart and confident, and married the son of local Baptist preacher… and together they would have 11 children.

It seemed a pretty normal life for a woman of the mid 1800’s… except that Ann Maria was anything but a…