Over 100 years ago this October, Emma Revell Moody passed away in Northfield, Massachusetts.  

Emma was the wife of Dwight L. Moody, the good-natured, larger-than-life evangelist famous for his preaching and founding Moody Bible Institute.  

As Christianity Today summarized, Emma’s poise, serenity, and sense of humor “counterbalanced her husband’s impulsive, emotional nature and became the backbone of Moody’s success.” She wrote the lion’s share of her husband’s correspondence, handled their finances, and taught Sunday school. When the Chicago fire erupted in 1871, Emma got their two children to safety, since Dwight was preaching at church.  

As Dwight Moody would put it, “I have never ceased to wonder at two things—the use God has made of me despite my many handicaps, and the miracle of having won the love of a woman who is so completely my superior.”  

Thank God for Strong Women, married or single, who live out their faith. And thank God for marriage, which really is one of God’s very best ideas.