194
Counsels for the Church
Happiness is not found in empty show. The more simple the
order of a well-regulated household, the happier will that home be. It
does not require costly surroundings and expensive furniture to make
children contented and happy in their homes, but it is necessary that
the parents give them tender love and careful attention
You are under obligation to God always to be patterns of propriety
in your home. Remember that in heaven there is no disorder, and that
your home should be a heaven here below. Remember that in doing
faithfully from day to day the little things to be done in the home, you
are a laborer together with God, perfecting a Christian character.
Bear in mind, parents, that you are working for the salvation of
your children. If your habits are correct, if you reveal neatness and
order, virtue and righteousness, sanctification of soul, body, and spirit,
you respond to the words of the Redeemer, “Ye are the light of the
world.”
Begin early to teach the little ones to take care of their clothing. Let
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them have a place to lay their things away and be taught to fold every
article neatly and put it in its place. If you cannot afford even a cheap
bureau, use a dry-goods box, fitting it with shelves and covering it
with some bright, pretty-figured cloth. This work of teaching neatness
and order will take a little time each day, but it will pay in the future
of your children, and in the end will save you much time and care.
Some parents allow their children to be destructive, to use as
playthings things which they have no right to touch. Children should
be taught that they must not handle the property of other people. For
the comfort and happiness of the family, they must learn to observe the
rules of propriety. Children are no happier when they are allowed to
handle everything they see. If they are not educated to be caretaking,
they will grow up with unlovely, destructive traits of character.
Do not give the children playthings that are easily broken. To
do this is to teach lessons in destructiveness. Let them have a few
playthings, and let these be strong and durable. Such suggestions,
small though they may seem, mean much in the education of the
child
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192
The Adventist Home, 131-154
193
Child Guidance, 110, 111
; 101, 102