Remembering Zeola: A Foundation of Faith Yields a Woman of Noble Character

The stories Zeola told about herself show aspects of her character that were budding at ages four and five, for example, learning to clean and care for her home and to beautify it. She expressed her love for her husband and children as she labored daily to take care of them. Preparing three meals daily, washing and cleaning, and teaching and training her children to work and care for the home are all expressions of her love without using words. She loved her home and cultivated many flowers and trees on the outside. She worked hard to clean and beautify the home on the inside, too. For example, she made curtains for the windows and doilies for many tabletops, cushions for chairs, and tablecloths for tables. She and Brenda partnered to make quilts and bedspreads for the beds. The church and community were very important to her, and she taught children Sunday School classes. She loved to sing and worked with the children’s choir at church for many years. Her devotion to Jesus Christ was shown in the zeal with which she took on tasks such as tending to the sick and helping those who were in some kind of need. Many of the examples I recount bring to light her service to others. She persisted in the face of multiple trials and afflictions, always getting up and trying again without giving up under their weight. When I began to think about her legacy, I rejoiced as I looked back over her life and realized that she had developed enduring faith and Christian character through all of these things. She chose not to grow bitter because of them but to submit to God’s will and to press toward a victory that would someday be hers.

Barbara Norris Arya is the third child of ten and the second daughter of eight girls born to Zeola. She is the only child who made her home away from Mississippi, where her siblings live. Barbara has lived on the Eastern Shore of Maryland since 1985 with her husband, Rakesh, and son, Ravi Arya.