Betty Lou Crews Davis~ February 20, 1933-November 8, 2023

My Aunt Betty spent a lifetime fighting for her boys to be all they could be. The end of her life was a testimony of her boys fighting for her to be all that she could be. If you have had the blessing of living many years you know that life can give you many painful circumstances in life and none of us are immune, this lady, when faced with challenges in her life found the poetry in what God had put in her hand for battle. The way I saw it, when a challenge would come and injustices would mount, she used what God had placed in her hand for battle, and that was usually her boys. She had a houseful of warriors, and she on many occasions led them into battle, whether it was accidents, or illnesses, or just people not taking responsibility for their actions, she would raise the banner and off they would go to war. The war would be if one of them were injured then all of them had their part to play in the support of the injured one. They functioned as a family should, like a well oiled machine, where all for one and one for all, with the foundation of this machine being love.

One of my favorite memories of Aunt Betty was a recent place the Lord had taken her too, where she was traveling and singing with the trio and recording her music. The trio came up to South Carolina and performed at a shower I had for one of the girls, and the Spirit of the Lord came as worship filled my house. I know this was something dear to Aunt Betty’s heart and I loved seeing the Lord giving time and place for the expression of her love for Him. Music was a place of joy for her, and I remember as a kid in Grandma’s house the sisters all sitting on the piano bench all (except my Mom) playing the piano and singing. They filled the house with joy.

She of course came and helped mom and the sisters put on many social events with their incredible cooking extravaganzas. All the sisters joined forces and catered my oldest daughters wedding. I remember the guest commenting, “I have never had such good food at a wedding!” I think by that time Mom was already in her eighties and that was such a huge undertaking, but her sisters and Uncle Forest knew the weight of the commitment and came and worked shoulder to shoulder to render it a huge success. I loved the beauty of all the sisters together, as their expression as a unit communicated joy, love and peace. But I loved Aunt Betty's smile and her highly honed skill of getting to the nitty gritty in conversation as time was always in jeopardy of interruption, and she genuinely wanted to know the condition of my heart. I am forever grateful to the Lord for this example of a strong women in my life who loved well. I will miss her.