Favorite Verse: Philippians 4:13
Favorite Hymn: “Blessed Assurance”
Hobbies: Working in yard; bicycling
Family Status: Widow for 11 years after 54 years of marriage to husband, Mike; sons, Michael and Shawn; daughter, Nana; two grandsons
For 74 of Martha Waldrip’s 84 years, the Anniston woman has been a church musician. In January 2017 her church celebrated her 50 years as its organist. For 56 years, she has taught Sunday School. She also has been Vacation Bible School director and a member of the building committee during construction of a new church. She worked 25 years at Fort McClellan, retiring from the engineering and housing division of the budget office.
Q: What influences in your life pointed you to Christ at the beginning of your faith journey?
A: Actually, my mother. I had a wonderful Sunday School teacher. Even after I got married, I worked with her in Woman’s Missionary Union (WMU) and jobs in the church. I was saved when I was 11 years old. I was raised in a Christian home and all I knew was going to church. That was our life. You reach that age when you know you have to get it right with the Lord and that was just the time for me.
Q: When and how were you led into your ministry work?
A: I started playing in our church when I was 10 years old — at Gantt’s Quarry Baptist Church (now Marble City Baptist) in Sylacauga. I played by ear. (She later took lessons). There was no one else to play, just me. I played there 23 years. When we moved to Weaver, I started filling in for the organist immediately. I started playing on a regular basis in January 1967. It was 50 years in January (2017).
Q: What does your ministry work demand?
A: It’s your priority. If the church doors are open, you’re there. You have to be committed to what the Lord has called you to do. If the church has voted you to do a job, you do it to the best of your ability … because you’re doing it for the Lord.
Q: What do you get from your ministry work?
A: You can’t put into words — not that you’ve done anything, (but) that you’ve done what God wanted you to do. It’s not, “Look what I do”; it’s the position of a servant.
Q: How do family members support you?
A: They always know what Mother is going to do and that she was going to be in church. My husband loved music. He was a deacon and a Sunday School teacher so we were always at church.
Q: How do you see yourself involved in this in the future?
A: Until the Lord calls me home. Quitting isn’t an option. As long as I can play and do it well to please the Lord, I’ll keep doing it. I’m 84. I don’t feel 84 and I don’t act 84. I come from a family who sticks with it. … Just keep doing what you’re doing.
Q: What difference has Jesus Christ made in your life?
A: All the difference. I don’t know what life would be like without knowing Jesus. Even before I was saved, I knew there was something out there I was supposed to do. Serving Him is the center of my life.
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