Smile More, Pray More: Moving from Rural Texas to See the World

While growing up on a cotton farm in rural Texas, Martha Elaine Couch could never have predicted that one day, she would earn three degrees from Texas Tech University and travel to more than one hundred and ten countries.

In a charming and uplifting memoir, Couch shares details of a life well lived that include anecdotes and thoughts about her parents and the rest of her family, her childhood in rural West Texas, her experiences working with youth and adult volunteers and as a professor, and her devoted faith in God as she journeyed away from her home to see the world. Included are Couch's recollections about her exciting trip to the White House during George W. Bush's tenure, seeing Muhammad Ali lighting the Olympic flame in Atlanta in 1996, visiting Tiananmen Square and Mao's Burial Tomb just a few months prior to the uprising, and surviving the emergency evacuation of a plane at the Cusco airport. Couch also shares journal entries from her mother's diaries that reveal a fascinating look at life in rural Texas during another era.

Smile More, Pray More details the life of a world traveler as she ventured away from her childhood in rural Texas and experienced more than she ever imagined.

Martha E. Couch, PhD earned a bachelor's degree in home economics education as well as master's and doctorate degrees from Texas Tech University. Her diverse career included roles as an extension agent, 4-H specialist, professor, and extension district director. She has been inducted into the National 4-H Hall of Fame, and is an active volunteer within her church. Martha's hobbies include world travel, photography, and following her beloved Dallas Cowboys.