Always in our hearts

This past Friday, January 9th, Ara Woodley closed her eyes to the pain she had been living with since she fell and broke her hip on Thanksgiving Day 2008, and joined her Savior. She is rejoicing with her King and enjoying her new body as we are rejoicing that she is whole again. Though our hearts ache in her absence.

Ara was my husband's grandmother but she had welcomed me as her own the first day I met her. She was a wonderful, godly woman who never met a stranger and loved everyone with her whole heart. She was a true servant, whether she was cooking food for the army of family that gathered at her house, caring for children, grandchildren, and even great-granchildren, visiting with those she cared for, or just sitting in the same room with you enjoying life as it happened around her. Her life was about others and about loving others as Christ loves us. Every child that was welcomed into the family was loved just as deeply as the child before. Every spouse that married into the family was loved as if they were her own flesh and blood.

Looking back on the years I knew Mamma, which now doesn't seem like enough, I have so many memories to treasure. She always had a smile on her face and a praise on her lips. I am so thankful that my children were able to know her even if for a short time. We are all better for knowing her and there will forever be a void in our lives now that she is gone. We love you, Mamma!