These are the best years of your life,
Mothers, don't wish them away,
There's no greater joy on earth
Than these little ones at play.
No career can take the place
Of each precious little face,
As you savor all the love that's yours today.
These are the best years of your life,
Reject the lures and lies.
There's no thrill outside your door
That compares with what's inside.
The fulfillment that you seek
Is yours seven days a week
Through the children that God gave
to bless your life.
O turn back to the way it's meant to be,
Seek God's plan and the truth will set you free.
Death to self will bring forth life,
Joy is found in sacrifice,
Embrace the very best years of your life.
These are the best years of your life,
Just let contentment start.
You can touch unnumbered souls
Just by guiding your child’s heart.
To be faithful in the task
Will bring joy that really lasts,
In eternal blessings you are taking part.
O turn back to the way it's meant to be.
Seek God's plan and the truth will set you free.
Death to self will bring forth life,
Joy is found in sacrifice.
Embrace the very best years of your life.
Just embrace these very best years of your life.
C 2002, Val Halloran
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The other morning Colin read 2 Corinthians 4:16-18 in our daily devotion: “For which cause we faint not; but though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed year by year.”
It’s a pink line! You’re pregnant! Wow!
Children love to have friends. That’s why they like to have lots of brothers and sisters. As they get older they love to have more friends. They love to get in the groove with their friends. In fact, many times peer pressure from friends becomes a greater influence than parent pressure! That’s why it is imperative to guard your children’s friends.
I recently read an article by the Puritan, Thomas Doolittle (1632-1707). His words were challenging. I don’t think many Christians could receive them today. They would be outraged. But would you mind if I shared two little excerpts from his writings? He wrote:
When you hear about someone who “walks with God” you imagine someone who walks a godly life and who does great things for God. You think, “I wish I could walk with God like that, but I’m just mothering children in my home. I don’t have time to do anything for God.”
The devil wants our children. He will take the souls, minds, and hearts of our children if we let him. He wants to take them down his road of destruction. We cannot give him an inch or he takes a mile. We must be fierce guarders!
Every now and then I like to get on my “band wagon” or my “soap box.” I have quite a few soap boxes! Which one am I on today?
We talked yesterday about the joyful mother. Sadly, this seems to be the opposite testimony of many mothers today. They look downcast. They are overwhelmed. They are full of self-pity. They moan and groan. Where has the joy gone?
Yesterday we talked about nesting in the home. But we must look at something more in Psalm 113:9 which describes the mother as JOYFUL. Did you know that God equates motherhood with joy? And it’s not an average kind of joy. It’s exceeding joy.
Psalm 113:9 says: “He maketh the barren woman to keep house, and to be a joyful mother of children. Praise ye the Lord.”
Yesterday we talked about how God wants us to settle in our homes (Hosea 11:11). The ESV and some other translations give another thought to this Scripture: “I will RETURN them to their homes, declares the Lord.” In other words, when we get away from our homes, God wants to return us back to our homes for this is where He has placed us.
Are you nestled in your home? God wants you to nest, rest, and invest in your home. He made the home for you. He created the home for you to raise your children. Before God created Eve, He first prepared the home for her. When she woke up to life, she was in her delightful home of Eden. Adam had already been created before the home, but not the woman!
(Question at the end about the picture).
Nothing in this life comes easy. Nor does motherhood. It’s the greatest career God has given to women. It’s fulfilling. It’s filled with joys too big for the heart. It’s our DNA. It’s what we are born for.
Writing about parenthood, the great preacher and writer, J. R. Miller says: “Duties cannot be transferred.” I happen to agree with him, although many modern Christians would not.
What do you do when someone hurts you or says something that cuts deep into you like a knife? How do you feel when it is someone very close to you, perhaps your husband? Maybe you retreat into a shell with self-pity and bitterness. Or you shout and yell. You want to pay them back.
A Facebook question popped up on my Facebook awhile back: “What do yo think about having a male friend apart from your husband? Vice versa too? Can it be a purely platonic relationship?”
I love this old painting. I just Had to share it has it brings back such memories. This is how we used to roll a hank of yarn into a ball. My father often held the yarn for my mother as she rolled the wool into a ball. We children also had to take turns of holding the wool for her. This dear old husband has drifted off to sleep. But if he was awake, he would be holding his hands in place and keep the wool tight to make it easy to roll without getting tangled. Is there anyone else old enough to have these memories?