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put first, and others’ pleasure, taste, and happiness have come second.
Now, this is not as it should be, although it is natural.
If she is ever to enter heaven, there is a work Florida must do for
herself that no one can do for her. What kind of a heaven would it
be to you if you could enter there with all these peculiarities which
you earnestly argue against the possibility of overcoming? Will it
be necessary for the Lord to remove your husband by death, to send
adversity upon you in removing your children, to deprive you of
blessings which you now have in order to call you to your true senses
and refine and polish you [so] that you will become self-forgetful,
patient, unmurmuring, and thankful? I write to you now because I
have been shown the many excuses pregnant women make for the
perversity of temper, which is all the temptation of Satan. God will
give grace if you pursue the course of a Bible Christian.
You will feel bad, I know, over this letter, but I dare not withhold it.
Your work now is to love God supremely and your neighbor as yourself.
Be just as considerate and thoughtful in regard to your neighbor as
you are in regard to yourself. We must not be so wrapped in self
that we fail to put ourselves in the position of others and fail to make
their case our own. There are others just as sensitive as your are, just
as refined in taste, and who have excellent intellect, who dislike the
disagreeable little duties of life which somebody must do. Share these
responsibilities with them and forget Florida in the interest you take in
others’ happiness. Do what you can to lighten the burden of others in
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any capacity, and do not be wrapped up in selfishness.
This you may feel is severe, but it is just as God has presented the
case to me, and for some reason I feel His Spirit moving upon me to
rise at three o’clock in the morning and write it. You may through faith
in Christ become strong, self-reliant, and useful. But I tell you, Florida,
in the name of Jesus, you need not have one of these nervous spasms
which call for so great extra labor and bring such fear, such anxiety
and true distress, upon your husband. He cannot endure everything; he
is mortal, as well as you are. God claims the talents He has lent him.
He cannot make a success in his work and have health and vigor of
mind unless you, his wife, shall take up your lifework and help him as
only a wife can. You can be the greatest load a man can carry, or you
can be a blessing. It is in your power to break down and destroy the
courage of your husband by your own ways and your own actions, or