https://youtube/watch?v=WK5w0n2uhnU Oseola McCarty was born in 1913 Hattiesburg, a small town in southern Mississippi and dealt with the indignities of segregation. When she was in the sixth grade, she had to drop out of school to care for her aunt. She worked the same job doing laundry for 75 years as a washer woman. In the beginning she would have to walk to the people’s house pulling a wagon with laundry bags (she never owned a car) but later, they would bring clothes to her. She started out washing clothes on a metal washboard in a tin tub. She would wash them, put them in a pot and boil them, rinse them, and hang them on a clothes line to dry. She would iron, starch, and fold them and then she would walk them back to the owner. She did this same job in the same city until she couldn’t do it anymore. While doing this, she learned the habit of saving her money. She started putting money in her account and soon, the bankers told her she had too much money to keep it in a savings account. Talking about the banker’s advice about money in a YouTube video, she says, “They told me if I don’t take it out, it would grow. Some people, every week they take so much out that when they get through and the month’s up, they done got all their money out, out of the bank.” Oseola managed to accumulate way more than the average American -- $280,000 – while living in conditions much tougher than most of us. Eventually, she didn’t know what to do with all her money since she couldn’t spend it all. She wanted to make a difference, so before her death, she made a major donation of $150,000 for scholarships to USM (University of Southern Mississippi) so more blacks could get a degree. What a legacy. As a result, she earned an honorary degree from Harvard, was on the Oprah show, David Letterman show, and even met with President Clinton in the White House. She compares herself to others saying, “Some people didn’t give nothing. Here I am a little ol washer woman and if I can give money, everybody else ought to be able to do it. When it goes bad, that is the Lord testing you…” Here is the amazing fact: She never earned more than $9,000 per year. Even with her humble beginnings and miniscule income, she created margin in her financial life. She didn’t spend all she made. She never approached the average national income, but she had a plan. Prov 21:5 The plans of the diligent lead surely to plenty, But those of everyone who is hasty, surely to poverty. NKJV Dan & Michelle
Posted on: Sat, 13 Jul 2013 18:35:33 +0000
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