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Mother
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The mother’s work often seems to her an unimportant service.
It is a work that is rarely appreciated. Others know little of her
many cares and burdens. Her days are occupied with a round of
little duties, all calling for patient effort, for self-control, for tact,
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wisdom, and self-sacrificing love; yet she cannot boast of what she
has done as any great achievement. She has only kept things in
the home running smoothly; often weary and perplexed, she has
tried to speak kindly to the children, to keep them busy and happy,
and to guide the little feet in the right path. She feels that she has
accomplished nothing. But it is not so. Heavenly angels watch the
care-worn mother, noting the burdens she carries day by day. Her
name may not have been heard in the world, but it is written in the
Lamb’s book of life.
The Mother’s Opportunity
There is a God above, and the light and glory from His throne
rests upon the faithful mother as she tries to educate her children
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to resist the influence of evil. No other work can equal hers in
importance. She has not, like the artist, to paint a form of beauty
upon canvas, nor, like the sculptor, to chisel it from marble. She has
not, like the author, to embody a noble thought in words of power,
nor, like the musician, to express a beautiful sentiment in melody. It
is hers, with the help of God, to develop in a human soul the likeness
of the divine.
The mother who appreciates this will regard her opportunities as
priceless. Earnestly will she seek, in her own character and by her
methods of training, to present before her children the highest ideal.
Earnestly, patiently, courageously, she will endeavor to improve
her own abilities, that she may use aright the highest powers of
the mind in the training of her children. Earnestly will she inquire
at every step, “What hath God spoken?” Diligently she will study
His word. She will keep her eyes fixed upon Christ, that her own
daily experience, in the lowly round of care and duty, may be a true
reflection of the one true Life.
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