I read this this morning with my family and it just inspired me so much. It is about Hannah the mother of Samuel, one of the greatest patriarchs of ancient times.
What a reward was Hannah’s! and what an encouragement to faithfulness is her example! There are opportunities of inestimable worth, interests infinitely precious, committed to every mother. The humble round of duties which women have come to regard as a wearisome task should be looked upon as a grand and noble work. It is the mother’s privilege to bless the world by her influence, and in doing this she will bring joy to her own heart. She may make straight paths for the feet of her children, through sunshine and shadow, to the glorious heights above. But it is only when she seeks, in her own life, to follow the teachings of Christ that the mother can hope to form the character of her children after the divine pattern. The world teems with corrupting influences. Fashion and custom exert a strong power over the young. If the mother fails in her duty to instruct, guide, and restrain, her children will naturally accept the evil, and turn from the good. Let every mother go often to her Saviour with the prayer, “Teach us, how shall we order the child, and what shall we do unto him?” Let her heed the instruction which God has given in His word, and wisdom will be given her as she shall have need. ~ Patriarchs and Prophets, 572
Inspirational
The Thoughts
“As a safeguard against evil, the preoccupation of the mind with good is worth more than unnumbered barriers of law and discipline.” Education, 213
I Will Follow Thee, My Saviour
I will follow Thee, my Savior,
Wheresoe’er my lot may be.
Where Thou goest I will follow;
Yes, my Lord, I’ll follow Thee.
Refrain:
I will follow Thee, my Savior;
Thou didst shed Thy blood for me;
And though all men should forsake Thee,
By Thy grace I’ll follow Thee.
Though the road be rough and thorny,
Trackless as the foaming sea;
Thou has trod this way before me,
And I’ll gladly follow Thee.
Though I meet with tribulations,
Sorely tempted though I be;
I remember Thou was tempted,
And rejoice to follow Thee.
Though Thou leadest me through affliction,
Poor, forsaken though I be;
Thou was destitute, afflicted,
And I only follow Thee.
Though to Jordan’s rolling billows,
Cold and deep, Thou leadest me,
Thou has crossed the waves before me,
And I still will follow Thee.
~by James L. Elginburg, 1886
Last Thursday, marked the sixth month anniversary of when my younger brother passed away. Time has gone so slow and so fast at the same time. I still want to pinch myself and see if I will wake up out of this nightmare. Today, I was contemplating some different issues that were troubling me and I was feeling a little grumbly, when I caught myself humming my brother’s favorite hymn, I Will Follow Thee, My Savior. It made me remember how my brother always said “I’m great!” to anybody who asked how he was doing, even five minutes before he was being intubated. I don’t need to feel grumbly. Others have had it a lot harder than I do, especially my Savior. He has paved the way before us, so that when we walk through those days that either seem overwhelming because of the number of pressures coming our way, or the disappointments coming our way, or the physical pain coming our way—no matter what is troubling us, He has already been there, done that. And He will give us the strength, the comfort, the courage to get through it all, as long as we choose to follow Him. That’s what I choose today.
IF
IF you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you,
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
But make allowance for their doubting too;
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or being lied about, don’t deal in lies,
Or being hated, don’t give way to hating,
And yet don’t look too good, nor talk too wise:
If you can dream – and not make dreams your master;
If you can think – and not make thoughts your aim;
If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster
And treat those two impostors just the same;
If you can bear to hear the truth you’ve spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,
And stoop and build ’em up with worn-out tools:
If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings
And never breathe a word about your loss;
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: ‘Hold on!’
If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
‘ Or walk with Kings – nor lose the common touch,
if neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you,
If all men count with you, but none too much;
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds’ worth of distance run,
Yours is the Earth and everything that’s in it,
And – which is more – you’ll be a Man, my son!
~By Rudyard Kipling
This is a poem that was read at my cousin’s wedding over 15 years ago, but it made such an impression on me that I review it periodically. It’s quite profound. I think it applies to women too, even though it was for a son.
Job’s Friends
I’ve decided to share one of the lessons that I have learned this summer.
I don’t want to be like Job’s friends.
A few months ago our pastor preached a sermon about Job, which included thoughts on his friends. I have been contemplating it ever since. I have come to the conclusion that Job’s friends are still around and that I don’t want to be like one of Job’s friends.
Have you ever been talked to by one of Job’s friends? Maybe it went something like this, “I’m so sorry you’re having to go through this. God must be trying to teach you a really important lesson.” Now we all know that difficult times and trials that come our way definitely do something to our character, either for better or for worse, but when you are in the midst of a trial, to be told that “God must be trying to teach you something” is like vinegar to the wound. That makes the trial worse not better.
I have a few friends whose children are suffering from severe health issues. One of these moms commented awhile ago that she had become keenly aware of judgmental people since they had started battling with the health issues. And that it hurt to drop some friendships, but she has to put her energy into her child, not into high-maintenance relationships. Another said that she doesn’t ever want to hear that “God never gives anyone more than they can handle.” Her point being that, many are given more than they can handle, but with God all things are possible. One mom was told that her child had a disability because she (the mom) didn’t have enough faith in God. When my brother was still alive, somebody told him that if he had more faith, he would be healed. My brother told me, “That man just doesn’t know. It takes more faith to keep believing, even when you’re not cured. Being healed would be the easy route.” One man at my brother’s memorial service kept saying to my sister-in-law, a new widow that “It was God’s will. Right? Right?”
Well, there may be an ounce or even a pound of truth in some of these comments, but they are just not comforting. Maybe Job’s friends had truth in what they were saying, but they were not helping Job at all. Too often as Christians, we make comments that sound like they came straight out of the mouths of Job’s friends.
So have you met Job’s friends? If, so be strong and of a good courage. Job was rewarded for being faithful even when his friends tempted him. Or have you been one of Job’s friends? I know I have acted the part of Job’s friends a few times. I want to be changed. I find this commendation to be very fitting. “Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ. For if anyone thinks himself to be something, when he is nothing, he deceives himself.” Galatians 6:2, 3.
Lord, help us to be filled with Your love and to lift the burdens of those who are being especially tried, and please forgive us for when we have made others burdens even heavier.
Admonition
Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? Matthew 6:25-26
Admonition
"Work as if you were working for your life to save the children from being drowned in the polluting, corrupting influences of the world." Child Guidance, p. 309