Mary Custis Lee, wife of General Robert E. Lee, was the great-granddaughter of Martha Washington, wife of George Washington. Mary inherited the palatial estate Arlington that overlooked the nation’s capitol and many heirlooms from our first president. She was a devout Christian and faithfully kept a prayer journal that has survived, and thus in the 21st century we can still be inspired by the beauty of her soul.

On Sunday, July 4, 1830 shortly before becoming engaged she experienced the profoundly joyful and life-changing event of giving her life to Christ. She started her prayer journal that day and wrote: “I would live with a single eye to His service—yet—O my Savior, Thou knowest how weak we are, how unable to do anything for ourselves. ”

Mary worried about the spiritual commitment of her young husband even though he went to church and read his Bible. She wrote, “I cannot but feel that he still wants the one thing needful which all the rest may prove valueless.” Undoubtedly due to her constant prayers and shining example, Robert E. Lee’s faith matured and Christ became his rock.

 When her first son Custis was born Mary wrote: “O Lord bestow on me a double portion of Thy grace that I may train up this young spirit to glory and immortality…Wilt thou early take possession of his young heart and fill it with a holy ambition to love and serve Thee. This is all I desire for myself and all with whom I have concern.”

Because of her husband’s military career, Mary bore the brunt of raising their seven children. But he was at Arlington on that fateful night, April 19, 1861, when Virginia seceded. They had guests and she watched her troubled husband pace in the gardens and through the house. He left her with the guests and went up to his bedroom. After the guests departed she heard him pacing the floor above, then dropping to his knees in prayer. After midnight he descended with his letter of resignation in the U. S. Army in his hand.

Mary, then an invalid from arthritis, was soon forced to flee from her beloved Arlington and ultimately become a refugee in Richmond. She was a tower of strength and she and her daughters worked tirelessly knitting socks for Confederate soldiers. When the end was growing near and General Lee feared Grant would move soon, he wrote his wife: “Should it be necessary to abandon our position to prevent being surrounded, what will you do?”

Mary Custis Lee did what she always did in dire situations. She prayed. She and her daughters bolted the doors while mobs looted Richmond. Explosions rang out and a wind fanned a wall of flames towards the Lee’s rented house. Union General Weitzel sent an ambulance to take Mrs. Lee to safety. She refused the offer and continued to knit in defiance and peace. The church across the street caught fire, as did the house next door. Neighbors lined up in front of the Lee’s house with buckets of water. Just when it seemed inevitable that the house would burst into flames, the wind shifted and the fires began to die down.

Author John Perry artfully used Mrs. Lee’s prayer journal and letters to craft an inspiring biography Lady of Arlington. He concludes his book with these words: “Mary Custis Lee believed that whatever life brought her way, good or bad, came for the hand of God to ready her for a better world. What she believed, she lived. And what she lived, she proved—and leaves all of us.”