Thots Section CHILDREN & PARENTS
Includes: Pregnancy, Birth & Babies
Related Topics: Abortion, Adoption, Cute Kids, Delinquents, Fathers, Mothers, Parents, Grandparents, Potential, Teens, Influence.
1. Would you write your name among the stars
Then write it large upon
The hearts of children.
They will remember!
Have you visions of a nobler, happier World?
Tell the children!
They will build it for you.
2. Last night my little boy confessed to me
Some childish wrong;
And kneeling at my knee,
He prayed with tears--
"Dear God, make me a man
Like Daddy--wise & strong;
I know you can."
Then while he slept
I knelt beside his bed,
Confessed my sins,
And prayed with low-bowed head.
"O God, make me a child
Like my child here--
Pure, guileless,
Trusting Thee with faith sincere."
--Andrew Gillies
3. A six-year-old came home from school one day with a note from his teacher in which it was suggested that he be taken out of school as he was "too stupid to learn". His name: Thomas Alva Edison.
4. If you have a boy who just can't learn in your class, don't despair. He may be a late bloomer. It has now come out that Dr. Wernher von Braun, the missile & satellite expert, flunked math & physics in his early teens.
5. Children are today's investment & tomorrow's dividend.
6. Children are natural mimics. They act like their parents in spite of all our attempts to teach them good manners.
7. Little girls are one of the nicest things that happen to people. They are born with a little bit of angel-shine about them; & though it wears thin sometimes, there is always enough left to lasso your heart, even when they're sitting in the mud, or crying temperamental tears, or parading the street in mother's best clothes.
8. Socrates said, "Could I climb to the highest place in Athens, I would lift my voice & proclaim--fellow-citizens, why do ye turn & scrape every stone to gather wealth, & take so little care of your chill, to whom one day you most relinquish it all?"
9. Dr. James Dobson, a child development specialist, says that children are sometimes permanently harmed by people's attitudes towards their looks. Even at age 3 or 4, children can tell if they are beautiful or ugly. One of his patients was a 36-year-old man who told him: "I was 5 years old when I realized I was ugly, & I've never been the same since."
Unhappily, most people treat children as they were beauty contest contestants, giving warmth & praise to the good-looking & ridiculing or neglecting the fat, skinny, or whatever child. The result for the latter is lifelong self-doubt & feelings of worthlessness. Nicknames like "Bucky Beaver", "Pee Wee" or "Birdlegs" can cause harm for life. Instead of exalting beauty, brains or accomplishment, the specialist urges adults to teach children to emphasize virtues such as diligence, patience & honesty.
"It's tough to buck the values of society as it is now." Dr. Dobson admitted, "but teaching a child spiritual values is at least a good place to start."
10. Newspaper columnist Abigail Van Buren has composed a "Parent's Prayer" in which she stresses the practical side of raising children. Says "Dear Abby":
"Oh, heavenly Father, make me a better parent. Teach me to understand my children, to listen patiently to what they have to say, & to answer all their questions kindly. Keep me from interrupting them or contradicting them. Make me as courteous to them as I would have them be to me. Forbid that I should ever laugh at their mistakes, or resort to shame or ridicule when they displease me. May I never punish them for my own selfish satisfaction or to show my power.
"Let me not tempt my child to lie or steal. And guide me hour by hour that I may demonstrate by all I say & do that honesty produces happiness.
"Reduce, I pray, the meanness in me. And when I am out of sorts, help me, O Lord, to hold my tongue.
"May I ever be mindful that my children are children & I should not expect of them the judgment of adults.
"Let me not rob them of the opportunity to wait on themselves & to make decisions.
"Bless me with the bigness to grant them all their reasonable requests, & the courage to deny them privileges I know will do them harm.
"Make me fair & just & kind. And fit me, Oh Lord, to be loved & respected & imitated by my children. Amen."
11. A little girl can be sweeter (& badder) oftener than anyone else in the World. She can jitter around, & stomp, & make funny noises that frazzle your nerves. Yet just when you are about to scold, she stands there demure with that special look in her eyes.
12. A girls is innocence playing the the mud, beauty standing on its head, & motherhood dragging a doll by the foot.
13. Juvenile delinquency is a situation that results when parents do not get to the seat of the problem.
14. The Rev. Sam Harney, pastor of Grace Brethren Church of Toppenish, Washington, gave mothers in his congregation large wooden paddles & warned them about sparing the rod & spoiling the child. He warned, "The time is come to leave the Dr. Spock philosophy of child raising & return to the Biblical principle of 'train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it."
15. A perfect example of minority rule is a baby in the house.
16. If a child lives with criticism
He learns to condemn.
If a child lives with hostility
He learns to fight.
If a child lives with ridicule
He learns to be shy.
If a child lives with shame
He learns to feel guilty.
If a child lives with tolerance
He learns to be patient.
If a child lives with encouragement
He learns confidence.
If a child lives with praise
He learns to appreciate.
If a child lives with fairness
He learns justice.
If a child lives with approval
He learns to like himself.
If a child lives with acceptance & friendship
He learns to find love in the world.
by Dorothy Law Nolte
17. I'm not too young to sin.
I'm not too young to die,
I'm not too little to begin
A life of faith & joy.
I'm not too young to know
The Saviour's love for me
In coming down to earth below
To die upon the tree.
I'm not too young to love,
I'm not too young to pray,
To look to Jesus up above
And all His Word obey.
Jesus, I love Thy name;
From evil keep me free,
And ever hold Thy little lamb
Who puts his trust in Thee.
18. God borrows from many creatures to make a little girl. He uses the song of a bird, the squeal of a pig, the stubbornness of a mule, the antics of a monkey, the spryness of a grasshopper, the curiosity of a cat, the slyness of a fox, the softness of a kitten, & to top it all off, He adds the mysterious mind of a woman.
19. A baby is Mama's little yelper.
20. People who say they sleep like a baby undoubtedly don't have one.
21. A rich man died & left no heirs. When his household goods were auctioned off, an elderly lady dressed in shabby garments was the only one to bid on the picture of the dead man's son. It had been greatly cherished by the wealthy father because his only child had died at an early age. But the crowd that had gathered for the sale showed no interest in it. When the woman who bought the portrait was asked why she wanted it, she said she had been the boy's nurse many years before, & had loved him dearly.
Later she examined the picture closely & noticed a bulge in the heavy paper on the back. Making a small cut, she removed an envelope which turned out to be the man's missing will. The document very clearly stated that he wanted to leave his property to the person who still held dear the memory of his beloved son.
22. Discipline is what you inflict on one end of a child to impress the other.
23. Some parents being with giving in & end with giving up.
24. By the time some parents get around to putting a foot down, the child already has his on the accelerator.
25. Applied child psychology was more effective when the applicator was a small strap.
26. Just yesterday it seems my children
Played upon the floor
And I wiped countless fingerprints
From window pane & door.
I kissed away a thousand tears
And darned sock after sock
And tried to keep pace with the hands
That raced around the clock.
And often when at end of day,
Too tired to sleep, in bed I lay,
I'd think how nice when, children grown,
My time again should be my own.
So now I sit & rock alone,
My hands at rest, the work all done;
No little tots upon the floor,
No fingerprints upon the door.
No socks to mend, bruises to kiss--
Ah me! How could I know I'd miss
The very things I grudged to do
Dear God, if only there might be
Someone again who needed me!
27. Teacher to mother about her child: "Don't believe everything he tells you about me & I won't believe everything he tells me about you."
28. A five-year-old girl in the Andean mountain area of South America was carrying her baby brother on her back. A tourist asked her, "Isn't he heavy?" "No," she answered, "he's my brother."
29. When a child is old enough to know that he has sinned, that child is old enough to know that he needs to be saved.
30. I took a piece of plastic clay
And idly fashioned it one day;
And as my fingers pressed it still,
It moved & yielded at my will.
I came again when days were past,
The form I gave it still it bore,
And as my fingers pressed it still,
I could change that form no more.
I took a piece of living clay,
And gently formed it day by day,
And molded with my power & art,
A young child's soft & yielding heart.
I came again when days were gone;
It was a man I looked upon,
He still that early impress bore,
And I could change it never more.
31. It is good to remember that Washington was one of ten children, John Wesley of twenty-one children, Shakespeare one of eight, Sir Walter Scott one of eleven, Benjamin Franklin was the tenth, Lyman Beecher, father of Harriet Beecher-Stowe, was one of thirteen & the most puny baby of them all. Tennyson was one of twelve, & Catherine of Siena one of twenty-two.
32. I'd like to tell you of my son,
He's quite a rowdy lad,
And he left, spanked, for school today.
'Cause he'd been acting bad.
I've asked the Lord to help me see
And learn the secrets why
At times he acts just like he does .
--I really want to try!
It seems his thoughts so distant
That I don't have a chance,
To try to bring him down to Earth.
--It seems he's in a trance!
But at his age, now don't you think,
He ought to comb his hair?
Or wash his face?
Or brush his teeth?
Without my being there!?
Yet, Lord, he's really reaching out
And wants to learn it all.
Each day he lives excites him so,
--All life awaits his call!
He seeks out mysteries, one by one,
And each one gives him pleasure!
Has he unlocked Pandora's box,
Or opened Heaven's treasure?
It takes real faith to trust God's Word,
That, if his heart we'll train,
And teach him in the way to go,
He'll not depart!--We claim!
So as he journeys day by day
To test all that he's heard,
We'll go ahead, prepare the trail,
And mark it with God's Word!
It's 5 o'clock, I hear him now,
His greeting has me floored!
"Mom, guess what? My class got saved!
I led them to the Lord!"
--by Seek
33. If you don't firmly program your children's minds with truth, someone else will do so with half-truth, untruth, & unimportant truth.
34. A judge who has been involved in a great many family cases said: "We adults spend far too much time preparing the path for our youth & far too little time preparing our youth for the path."
35. At four they know all the questions; at fourteen they know all the answers.
36. I went to do some evaluation of a teacher of kindergarten kids--at the teacher's request. For the fifty minutes I was there this teacher tried to lecture. Finally, the bell rang, & she cranked out the memory verse. Afterwards she sighed, "Boy, I got over the lesson."
When she came to see me, I said to her, "Did it ever occur to you that you're really competing against the Holy Spirit?"
"I certainly don't intend to do that."
"But did it ever occur to you that God made this child with an attention span of about four to five minutes? And all the time you kept saying to the child, 'keep quiet,' 'sit still' & God kept saying, 'Wiggle.' And what did he do? He listened to God every time."
About 85% of the discipline problems in school, in church, in home, come because we do not understand the pupil with whom we are working.
37. Some years ago in the state of New York, there was a poor little outcast girl by the name of Mag, just like any one of myriads in all the country round about. How much do you suppose it would have taken to have saved her? How much money? How much human service? It was not expended. She sank into vice.
Seventy years passed, & somebody who knew that Mag went bad tried to find out what had been some of the results of her badness. They found she had had 1,200 descendants in the seventy years. They found that, as far as known, 280 of these were paupers & 148 were criminals. They found positive proof that her descendants, by their vices, had cost the State $1,308,000.
If she had been saved, with an expenditure of ten, twenty five or a hundred dollars, don't you think it would have been good economy financially? Was there ever greater folly from a financial standpoint than to let Mag go down?
38. With the young mother busy elsewhere in the house, the father had undertaken the task of feeding little Becky in her highchair. The sloppy procedure went along about as expected, & after various starts, half-starts & accidents, he finally called out to his wife, "Becky just finished the strained prunes, but I think she wants some more. Should I give her a second coat?"
39. Perhaps parents would enjoy their children more if they stopped to realise that the film of childhood can never be run through for a second showing.
40. In the early French revolution, the schoolboys of Bourges, from twelve to seventeen years of age, formed themselves into a Band of Hope. They wore a uniform, & were taught to drill. On their holidays, their flag was unfurled, displaying in shining letters the sentence, Tremblez, Tyrans, Nous Grandirons! (Tremble, Tyrants, we shall grow up!) May we hear the shout of confidence & courage, uttered by the young Christians of today, as they say, "Tremble, O enemy, we are growing up for God!"
41. His mind's a flying saucer
His room a satelloid.
His words are from a glossary
An Einstein would avoid.
He's quite adept in rocketry.
He knows the names of stars.
He's forsworn Davy Crockettry
To plan a trip to Mars.
He boldly deals in distancy.
Fine spacemenship's his mark,
With just one inconsistency--
He's frightened of the dark.
42. If both horse & mare trot, the colt will not amble.
43. If we paid no more attention to our plants that we have to our chill, we would now be living in a jungle of weeds.
44. A child is your second chance.
45. Great ideas & fine principles do not live from generation to generation just because they are good, nor because they have been carefully legislated. Ideals & principles continue from generation to generation only when they are built into the hearts of children as they grow up. (Dr. George S. Benson)
46. While reviewing Jam.4:8, Joy, age 3, quoted, "Draw a line to God & he will draw a line to you."
47. The best inheritance a parent can give to his children is a few minutes of his time each day.
48. All anybody expects of an adolescent is that he act like an adult & be satisfied to be treated like a child.
49. People who handle other people's money are required to account for every cent. Are children less valuable?
50. Jesus put a child in the midst; others put him in the basement.
51. Child by child we build our nation.
52. One reason for juvenile delinquency is that many parents are raising their children by remote control.
53. All television is educational television. The only question is, what is it teaching?
54. The kind of person your child is going to be, he is already becoming.
55. I think ofttimes as the night draws nigh
Of an old house on the hill,
Of a yard all wide & blossom-starred
Where the children played at will.
And when the night at last came down,
Hushing the merry din,
Mother would look around & ask,
"Are all the children in?"
"Tis many & many a year since then,
And the old house on the hill
No longer echoes to childish feet,
And the yard is still, so still.
But I see it all as the shadows creep,
And though many the years have been,
Even now, I can hear my mother ask,
"Are all the children in?"
I wonder if, when the shadows fall
On the last short, earthly day,
When we say goodbye to the world outside,
All tired with our childish play,
When we step out into that Other Land
Where mother so long has been,
Will we hear her ask, as we did of old, "Are all the children in ?"
And I wonder, too, what the Lord will say,
To us older children of His,
Have we cared for the lambs? Have we showed them the fold?
A privilege joyful it is.
And I wonder, too, what our answers will be,
When His loving questions begin:
"Have you heeded My voice? Have you told of My love?
Have you brought My children in?"
56. Mohammed Ali summed it up neatly during his Friday visit at Children's Hospital in Newington, Conn., when he said, "What I like about the children is: Kids are exiles from Heaven. You can see God in children because they haven't had a chance to come into evil. That's why the first thing they do when they come onto Earth is cry."
57. Campbell Morgan, the famous preacher, says: "When but eight years old I preached to my little sister & to her dolls arrayed in orderly form before me. My sermons were Bible stories which I had first heard from my mother."
58. Childhood is like a mirror which reflects in later life the images presented to it.
59. Nothing is too good for the child.
60. Children are poor men's riches.
61. Let every father & mother realise that when their child is three years of age, they have done more than half they will ever do for its character.
62. Those who educate children well are more to be honored than they who produce them; for these only gave them life, those the art of living well.
63. Every child born into the world is a new thought of God, an ever-fresh & radiant possibility.
64. Many a boy is the kind of kid his mother tells him not to play with.
65. Think not that he is all too young to teach,
His little heart will like a magnet reach
And touch the truth for which you have no speech.
66. In vacation Bible school little four-year-old Mary insisted on placing her hand on the top of her head while the group said the pledge to the American flag. When her teacher asked her why she did this she replied:
"Well, that's where my heart is. Mother always puts her hand on the top of my head & says, 'Bless your little heart, Mary.'"
67. The Sunday school teacher asked a little girl if she knew who Matthew was. The answer was no. The teacher then asked if she knew who John was. Again the answer was "no". Finally the teacher asked if she knew who Peter was.
She answered: "I think he was a rabbit."
68. Money can build a house, but it takes love to make it a home.
69. Six-year-old Bobby's report card showed excellent marks except in deportment.
"Bobby," said his mother, "the teacher has a note attached that says you were a little boisterous."
"Well," answered Bobby. "It would have been a bit hard to be girlsterous!"
70. Children need love, especially when they do not deserve it.
71. A happy family is but an earlier heaven.
72. Our children need our presence more than our presents.
73. For parents to see a child grow up without Christ is a far greater dereliction of duty than for the parents to have children who grow up without learning to read or write.
74. It is emphatically not a Christian duty to let a child "make up its own mind" without first informing, guiding & encouraging him.
75. Godly parents do not inflict upon their children the cruelty of telling them that they should do "just as they please".
76. Little Susan, four years old, returned from sunday School with her offering money.
"Why didn't you give your money in the offering today, dear?" her mother asked.
"Because our teacher told us that if we love Jesus He comes & lives in our hearts. And you told me never to put money in my mouth. So I didn't know what to do. If I gave my money to Jesus I would have to swallow it."
77. If you make children happy now, you will make them happy twenty years hence by the memory of it.
78. The soul of a child is the loveliest flower
That grows in the garden of God.
Its climb is from weakness to knowledge & power,
To the sky from the clay & the clod.
To beauty & sweetness it grows under care,
Neglected, "tis ragged & wild.
'Tis a plant that is tender, but wondrously rare,
The sweet, wistful soul of a child.
Be tender, O gardener, & give it its share
Of moisture, of warmth, & of light,
And let it not lack for the painstaking care,
To protect it from frost & from blight.
A glad day will come when its bloom shall unfold,
It will seem that an angel has smiled,
Reflecting a beauty & sweetness untold
In the sensitive soul of a child.
79. God wants the boys, the merry, merry boys
The noisy boys, the funny boys,
The thoughtless boys;
God wants the boys with all their joys,
That He as gold may make them pure,
And teach them trials to endure;
His heroes brave, He'd have them be,
Fighting for truth & purity.
God wants the boys!
God wants the happy-hearted girls,
The loving girls, the best of girls,
The worst of girls;
God wants to make the girls His pearls,
And so reflect His holy face,
And bring to mind His wondrous grace,
That beautiful the world may be,
And filled with love & purity,
God wants the girls!
80. It was the maid's day off & the lady of the house was doing her own marketing. On her way home she happened to meet the maid who was wheeling a baby carriage which contained a smiling set of twins. Stopping to pet the children she casually asked the maid, "And whose children are these?"
"Mine, ma'am."
"Yours, Sally, why I always thought you were an old maid."
"Well, ma'am, I is. But I ain't a fussy old maid."
81. Howard Maxwell of Los Angeles had a four-year-old daughter, Melinda, who had acquired a fixation for "David & Goliath" & demanded that he read it to her night after night. Mr. Maxwell, pleased with himself, tape-recorded the story. When Melinda next asked for it, he simply switched on the playback. This worked for a couple of nights, but then one evening Melinda pushed the storybook at her father. "Now honey," he said, "you know how to turn on the recorder."
"Yes," said Melinda, "but I can't sit on its lap."
82. He is just seven years old.
He is made up of the following ingredients:
Noise, energy, imagination, curiosity & hunger.
He is the "cute little fellow down the street,"
"That spoiled important next door," or "My son,"
Depending upon who you are.
He is something to be kept, fed, clothed, healthy, happy & out of trouble
BUT...
He is something else, too.
He is tomorrow.
He is the future we are working for:
He is part of the World's most important generation.
Our generation must love them & win them.
His generation will determine whether it was worth doing.
He is one of the most important people in history.
SO...
Anyone who influences his life is also a mighty important person.
83. His trousers are torn, rolled up to the knee;
A hole in his shirt which he caught on a tree;
But I see a soul for whom Jesus has died,
Clothed in His righteousness, pressed to His side.
I see not labor & hours of prayer
Spent for that freckled-faced naughty boy there,
But I see a Saviour with arms open wide,
Waiting in heaven to take him inside.
I see not freckles, but man fully grown,
A heart filled with God's Word I've carefully sown,
A life speaking forth for the Saviour each day,
O Lord, for this boy I most earnestly pray.
I see not his mischief, but energy bent,
Put to the task where the Lord wants it spent;
O God, make this lively, mischievous boy
A power for Thee, to Thy heart great joy.
84. In animated conversation, the adults of the family & their guests around the dinner table had completely forgotten for the time being the presence of four-year-old Dorothy, who had been automatically excluded. After a time she tentatively plucked at her mother's sleeve, & asked, "Remember me?"
85. What a sweet good morning wake-up!
Or is it but a dream instead?
--When one hour after the other
Children crawl into my bed!
With smiles they hug & greet us,
And cuddle snugly near
Then I am, oh, so thankful
This time I have them here!
Who cares for time in private,
To be away & all alone?
Though I'll admit, that more than once I've wished for elbow room.
O Lord, please do forgive me!
--It took me time to see,
That all these precious children
Are Your sweet Love for me!
Sometimes some people ask me,
"Where's your great career?
You're still out hanging diapers
While the next one's drawing near!"
Then comes the classic question,
You don't plan on having more?!"
It breaks my heart!--They just don't see
The blessing that's in store!
Now I can smile & wonder
How I could once have thought
That walking other pathways
Could bring the joy I've got!
'Cause here in bed this morning
Nestled next to me,
Is all the joy & happiness
I once sought long to see!
Shalom
86. Sophisticated, worldly-wise,
I searched for God & found Him not,
Until one day, the world forgot,
I found Him in my baby's eyes.
--Mary Afton Thacker
87. Part of Aaron Burr's reputation for profligacy was due, not doubt, to that vanity respecting women of which Davis himself speaks. He never refused to accept the parentage of a child.
"Why do you allow this woman to saddle you with her child when you know you are not the father of it?", said a friend to him a few months before his death.
"Sir," he replied, "when a lady does me the honor to name me the father of her child I trust I shall always be too gallant to show myself ungrateful for the favor."
88. Give me a little child to point the way,
Over the strange sweet path that leads to Thee;
Give me the little voice to teach to pray;
Give me two shining eyes Thy face to see.
The only crown I ask, dear Lord, to wear,
Is this: that I may teach a little child.
I do not ask that I may ever stand
Among the wise, the worthy, or the great--
I only ask that softly, hand in hand,
A child & I may enter at the gate.
--C.A. Fields
89. "Some would gather money
Along the path of life,
Some would gather roses,s
And rest from worldly strife;
But I would gather children From among the thorns of sin,
I would seek a golden curl,
And a freckled, toothless grin.
For money cannot enter
In that land of endless day,
And roses that are gathered
Soon will wilt along the way.
But oh, the laughing children,
As I cross the sunset sea,
And the gates swing wide to heaven
I can take them in with me!"
90. A builder builded a temple,
He wrought it with grace & skill;
Pillars & groins & arches
All fashioned to work his will.
Men said, as they saw its beauty,
"It shall never know decay;
Great is thy skill, O Builder!
Thy fame shall endure for aye."
A Teacher builded a temple
With loving & infinite care,
Planning each arch with patience,
Laying each stone with prayer.
None praised her unceasing efforts,
None knew of her wondrous plan,
For the temple the Teacher builded
Was unseen by the eyes of man.
Gone is the Builder's temple,
Crumpled into the dust;
Low lies each stately pillar,
Food for consuming rust.
But the temple the Teacher builded
Will last while the ages roll,
For that beautiful unseen temple
Was a child's immortal soul.
91. The question mark & promise & wild possibility that exist in each newborn infant are a reminder to us of that in ourselves which is godlike--godlike in reason, in apprehension, & in vision. It hangs above the cradle like a rainbow. There are magic & mystery in that frail bundle of flesh. He has genius in his tiny head. He can grow & he can learn. The beauty of the World is in his face; he sleeps with the innocence of snow; he rages with the authority of Jove; & his brave little flower of a fist will grow to hold the plow, drive the ships, heal the sick, sway the multitudes, & perhaps even point the way to a happy new World.
92. He's not my boy,
but when his hand
Is held in mine I understand
The problems that he has to face;
I glimpse his goal in life's long race,
And then a thrill akin to joy
Sweeps over me--
He IS my boy.
He's not my boy, he has no dad;
He's just a lonely, little lad
Who'll have to battle all the way.
And so, in trust, if he will lay
His hand in mine, I'll count it joy
To help that lad--
I call my boy.
93. They pass so soon, the days of youth;
The children change so fast:
Quickly they harden in the mould,
And the plastic years are past.
Then shape their lives while they are young;
This be our prayer, our aim--
That every child we meet shall bear
The imprint of His name!
--Martha Snell Nicholson
94. Good manners require a great deal of time, as does wise treatment of children.
95. A little boy's first Bible
Is the greatest thrill he's known.
There's a sweet, unique excitement
In a Bible all his own!
And yet my heart is smitten
As this touching sight I see,
Has his reverence for that Bible
Depended much on me?
As I see him with his Bible,
I bow my head & pray,
May he always love that Bible
The way he does today.
Then I hear a voice within me
Speak in solemn words & true,
How he cherishes that Bible
Will depend a lot on you.
I love my Bible better
Since I've seen the beaming joy
This wonderful possession
Has afforded to my boy.
May I see to give mine daily
A devotion He can see.
For the love he bears his Bible
Will depend a lot on me.
96. Children are a big fulltime job! To be a mother takes the strength of Samson, the wisdom of Solomon, the patience of Job, the insight of Daniel, the administrative ability of David & also the fight of David. It takes the faith of Abraham, who was the father of faith & the father of the faithful, & most of all it takes the love of God!--Dad
97. One day in London, a group of children were feeling the cold & slipped inside a church to get warm. To their surprise, a service soon began, & the vicar arose to read the lesson. "This man (Christ Jesus) receiveth sinners & eateth with them."
After the service, a little girl about 8 years old went up to the vicar.
"Please, sir," she said, "I didn't know my name was in the Bible."
"And what is your name, little girl?" he asked.
"Edith, sir."
"No," he said, "Edith doesn't come in the Bible."
"Oh, yes sir," she replied, "you read this afternoon that this man Christ Jesus receiveth sinners & EDITH with them."
98. I have seed to raise & I plough the field
And I plant my crops with care,
And I thank the Lord for the rain He sends
As I watch them growing there.
But I don't sit down with a book by day,
And let my crops run wild,
For crops won't grow by themselves, I know;
Is it different with a child?
--Edgar A. Guest
99. I am the Child.
All the world waits for my coming.
All the earth watches with interest to see what I shall become.
Civilization hangs in the balance,
For what I am, the world of tomorrow will be.
I am the Child.
You hold in your hand my destiny.
You determine, largely, whether I shall succeed or fail.
Give me, I pray you, those things that make for happiness.
Train me, I beg you, that I may be a blessing to the World.
--Mamie Gene Cole
100. From a child thou hast known the holy scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus.--2 Timothy 3:15
101. Let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap if we faint not.--Galatians 6:9
102. Provoke not your children to wrath: but bring them up in the nurture & admonition of the Lord.--Ephesians 6:4
103. It's like that dear woman who had nine children whom we met when we only had one, & we are marvelled how she could care for nine when one already took all of time, & the woman answered simply: "That's just it--nine can't take any more!" You think you can't do any more than you're doing already, but you can with the help of God!--Dad
104. If you had been in the german city of Hamburg at the time when the cherries were ripe, you would have seen a wonderful sight. Every year at that time there has been a joyous procession of children through the streets carrying branches of cherries laden with ripe fruit. This yearly parade has been held in memory of a great victory over 500 years ago--& this victory was won by Hamburg's children.
It all began when news came to the city of a powerful enemy force moving towards it. The spies who brought the news said that this approaching army was so overwhelming in strength that the citizens would not have sufficient men to oppose it. "They are coming on fast--they will soon be here!" cried the messengers. It seemed as if nothing could be done to prevent an appalling massacre.
Then one of the city magistrates had an inspiration. "Let us ask the children to help us," he suggested. "What is the use of that?" grumbled the other burghers. But the man with the idea gathered all the children together & enlisted their help.
Presently, all dressed in black, the entire population of the city's children streamed out from the city gates. Away they went in a long procession moving towards the oncoming army. At last they came up against the enemy sentries, who were astonished to see them & did not know what to do with them.
"You'd better come to the general, " they decided; & soon the army of children were face to face with the fierce leader of their enemies.
"Why have you come?" he demanded sternly. And the children managed somehow to stammer out their plea for mercy for themselves & their families. The general listened, stony-faced, but in spite of himself his heart was touched, & suddenly he sprang to his feet.
"You have saved your parents' lives," he said. "None of you shall be killed."
Then the delighted children were give a great feast of cherries, for it was the time when they were ripe; & soon they were on their way home to the city they had saved, waving cherry branches & shouting their wonderful news. And that is why the children of Hamburg carry cherry branches in the streets in memory of that great day when they won the victory.
105. A girl is a girl so frilly & sweet
You'd just like to hug her the moment you meet.
She's little pink ruffles & nylon & lace;
She's an innocent look on a little pink face.
She's ice cream & candy & pink birthday cake;
She's also the cookies she helped mother bake.
She's the one perfect nuisance to each little boy,
But she's daddy's own sweetheart, his pride & his joy.
She can pout, she can stomp, she can tease, she can cry,
But still she's his pet, the very apple of his eye.
She's kittens & everything cuddly & nice,
And sure she's a bit of God's own paradise.
--Phyllis C. Michael
106. How I remember when the children were little!P--It seems odd to think of them grown.
Those were hard days, in so many ways,
But some of the best that I've known!
Treasure these little ones' smiles & tears,
Those children you hold in your arms;
And the memories you'll hold, down through the years,
Of all their cute ways & charms!
Today's but a moment, fleeting so fast,
Though the days make the tasks sometimes long;
But treasure these days, while childhood lasts,
For you'll treasure them when they are gone!
When the children are grown & gone out on their own,
To the job that Christ calls them to;
You'll be thankful then, for the years you gave them,
And the wonderful joy they gave you!
--By Hart
107. Suffer little children to come unto me, & forbid them not: for of such is the Kingdom of God...Whosoever shall not receive the Kingdom of God as a little child shall in no wise enter therein.--Luke 18:16,17
108. Dr. Schweitzer, who was known as the Jungle Doctor, used to give music recitals in order to raise money to pay for the hospital he built in the African jungle. Someone decided to include a story about him in a book of hero stories, & asked if he would write a special message to go with it. This is what he wrote:
"Tell the boys & girls that the truths they feel deep down in their hearts are the real truths. God's love speaks to us in our hearts & tries to work through us in the World. We must listen to this voice. We must listen to it as to a pure & distant melody that comes across the noise of the World's doing.s Some say, 'When we are grown up, we will listen. Now while we are young, we would rather think of other things.' But with the voice of Love, with which God speaks to us in the secret places of the heart, God speaks to us when we are young so that our youth may be really youth, & that we may become the children of God. Happy are those who listen."
109. Your little boy looks up at you,
His big eyes open wide.
He puts his trusting hand in yours,
And says, "Come look outside!"
So you tiptoe to the window
--But there's nothing there to see.
Then he points & whispers softly,
"See that robin by the tree?"
"My child," you think, stay ever young.
That joys like this might last.
But though I know you too must grow,
Why need you grow so fast?"
For soon he'll learn to read & write,
And play guitar & sing!
He'll reach out to the World about
and cut the apron strings!
He'll seem to grow so quickly then,
That days & years shall fly!
The things that made a young child smile
He'll leave, as time goes by.
One day he'll meet that special girl,
And want her for his wife.
They'll leave your care & move away
To build a brand new life.
But just like that, your thoughts come back,
He shouts, "The robin smiled!"
You hug him close & say through tears,
"Thank God you're still a child!"
--Patricia J. White
110. A story is told of a father who took his boy on his knee & told him the story of the lost sheep; now it found a hole in the fence & crawled through; how glad it was to get away; hot it skipped & played in the sunshine until it wandered so far that it could not find its way back home. And then he told him of the wolf that chased the sheep, & how, finally the good shepherd came & rescued it & carried it back to the fold.
The little boy was greatly interested & when the story was over, he surprised his father by asking, "Did they nail up the hole in the fence?"
How often we overlook the "hole in the fence!"
111. Whether I was young & very small,
I wasn't much afraid at "tal!
A shadow deep or scare would come,
My covers, "shield of faith", I'd don.
112. The family altar would alter many a family.
113. In the breast of a bulb
Is the promise of spring.
In the little blue egg
Is a bird that will sing.
In the soul of a seed
Is the hope of the sod.
In the heart of a child
Is the Kingdom of God.
114. Any great painting
Will leave my wife fainting.
Its beauty so powerfully enthralls.
But never before
Did she slump, to the floor
As at Junior's new work on our walls!
115. Train up a child in the way he should go: & when he is old, he will not depart from it.--Proverbs 22:6
116. Said a precious little laddie,
To his father one bright day,
"May I give myself to Jesus,
Let Him wash my sins away?"
"Oh, my son, but you're too little,
Wait until you older grow,
Bigger folks, 'tis true, do need Him, but
Little folks are safe, you know."
Said the father to his laddie
As a storm was coming on,
"Are the sheep all safely sheltered,
Safe within the fold, my son?"
"All the big ones are, my father,
But the lambs, I let them go,
For I didn't think it mattered,
Little ones are safe, you know."
Oh, my brother! Oh, my sister!
Have you too made that mistake?
Little hearts that now are yielding
May be hardened then--too late.
'Ere the evil days come night them,
Let the children come to Me,
And forbid them not," said Jesus,
"For such shall My Kingdom be."
117. I do not ask my son to follow in the footprints that I have made.
My faith in him points out his path in bolder steps which lead beyond the narrow borders of my way.
Be his more gentle where my feet too deeply trod, & where I faltered, may his step be firm.
A prouder glory parent never won than this
To give the world a good, a manly son.
--Robert H. Lord
118. Learning to guide this child of mine is like the training of a vine.
Numberless tendrils twist & curl wind tightly where I would unfurl & guide their growth.
Try not to force!--So easily the tendrils break & leave remorse.
119. Words of praise, indeed, are almost as necessary to warm a child into congenial life as acts of kindness & affection. Judicious praise is to children what sun is to flowers.
120. One of the most fruitful moments in my life came when my old zoology professor, Dr. Stephen Williams of Miami (Ohio) University, told me that he would give any student an A in his course who asked one intelligent question.
Up to that time I had assumed that intelligence consisted of giving answers. Now I began to see that the question is as much a part of knowledge as the answer--often the more important part.
Men had assumed from the beginning of time that a heavier object fell faster than a lighter one--until Galileo said, "Does it?"
It has been 36 years since mold teacher startled me with his pronouncement. For 30 of those years I have myself been a teacher. Most of the facts he taught me--most of the answers he gave me--have been forgotten. But I have not forgotten the questioning student is more important than the answering teacher.
121. Somewhere I read of a rough boy who attended a Sunday School & made it tough for every teacher he had. Finally, after a consultation with the teachers, the Superintendent led him to the door one Sunday with this curt dismissal: "There's the street. Go, & never come back to this Sunday School!"
He never came back, but they heard from him again! He began a career of crime & bloodshed that perhaps has never been equalled in modern times. Finally, before a theater entrance in Chicago one evening, his body was riddled with bullets.
In one of the chicago papers a most unusual picture appeared--only the feet of the dead desperado showed. The caption under the picture was brief: "These are the feet of John Dillinger!" The editorial comment was heartsearching: "Who knows where these feet might have gone if someone had guided them aright?"
122. A little boy & his daddy were looking at a litter of puppies, planning to buy one, & the daddy asked the boy which one he wanted. The lad pointed to a pup whose tail was wagging furiously & said, "That one with the happy ending."
123. England's great & good Queen Victoria was being honoured by a great celebration while visiting a city. On a corner of one street a large stand was built where a great company of children was assembled to sing for her. That night after all the excitement was over, the mayor received a telegram. Perhaps he thought it was a compliment about the celebration. But the message was a simple one straight from the motherly heart: "The Queen wants to know whether all the children got home safely."
124. There was a child who went forth every day;
And the first object he looked upon, that object he became.
And that object became part of him for the day, or a certain part of the day, or for many years, or stretching cycles of years:
The early lilacs became part of this child....
And the apple-trees covered with blossoms, & the fruit afterward, & wood-berries, & the commonest weeds by the road;
And the schoolmistress that passed on her way to the school....
The blow, the quick loud word, the tight bargain, the crafty lure, The family usages, the language, the company, the furniture--the yearning & swelling heart.
The doubts of day-time & the doubts of night-time--the curious whether & how,
Whether that which appears is so, or is it all flashes & specks?
Men & women crowding fast in the streets--if they are not flashes & specks, what are they?
These became part of that child who went forth every day, & who now goes, & will always go forth every day.
--Walt Whitman
125. First thing every morning,
Last thing every night,
Sometimes, dear Lord, I grumble,
"Oh, why is this my plight?"
But when my children 'round me
Look to me with such hope,
It gives me faith & courage
To know somehow I'll cope!
Day after day,
Weeks upon weeks,
We wash the same dishes,
Kiss the same cheeks.
But year after year
We see a bit more,
And get a few hints
Of what God has in store!
A princess?--With a dirty dress?
A prince?--With a dirty face?
Yes!--And they shall rule Earth someday
If you'll not lose your faith!
--Seek
126. Up with the sun in the morning
Away to the garden he hies
To see if the sleeping blossoms
Have begun to open their eyes.
Running a race with the wind
With a step as light & fleet
Under my window I hear
The patter of little feet.
Now to the brook he wanders
In swift & noiseless flight
Splashing the sparkling ripples
Like a fairy water sprite.
No sand under fabled river
Has gleams like his golden hair.
No pearly sea shell is fairer
Than his slender ankles bare.
Nor the rosiest stem of coral
That blushes in ocean's bed
Is sweet as the flash that follows
Our darling's airy tread.
From a broad window my neighbor
Looks down on our little cot.
And watches the "poor man's blessing"
I cannot envy his lot.
He has pictures, books & music
Bright fountains, & noble trees
Rare store of blossoming roses
Birds from beyond the seas.
But never does childish laughter
His homeward footsteps greet
His stately halls ne'er echo
To the treat of innocent feet.
This child is our "sparkling picture".
A birdling that chatters & sings
Sometimes a sleeping cherub
(Our other one has wings).
His heart, so tender & loving
Full of all that's purest & sweet
And no harpstring holds such music
As follows his twinkling feet.
When the glory of sunset opens
The highway by angels trod
And seems to unbar the city
Whose builder & maker is God.
Close to the crystal portal
I see by the gates of pearl
The eyes of our other angel
A twin-born little girl.
And I ask to be taught & directed
To guide his footsteps aright
So to live that I may be ready
To walk in sandals of light.
And h ear, amid songs of welcome
From messengers trusty & fleet
On the starry floor of heaven
The patter of little feet.
127. After a lecture by the late Francis Wayland Parker, great Chicago educator, a woman asked: "How early can I begin the education of my child?"
"When will your child be born?"
"Born" she gasped. "Why, he is already five years old!"
"My goodness, woman," he cried, "don't stand here talking to me--hurry home; already you have lost the best five years."
128. I learned more about Christianity from my mother than from all the theologians of England.--John Wesley
129. Demoralize the youth of a nation & the revolution is already won.
130. When we are out of sympathy with the young, then I think our work in this World is over.
131. If you would train your children rightly, train them in the way they SHOULD go& not in the way they WOULD.
132. What can I give my children, Lord?
When there's not much I can afford!
They're kings & queens, these girls & boys,
Yet get along with so few toys.
I see nice things I'd like to get,
But can't, for we are poor, but yet
--When we pass toys on bright display,
I squeeze my children's hands & say,
"Though we can't buy things like most can, "We've priceless gifts, you understand!
We have great riches in our keep,
That kings but DREAM of when they sleep!
We've wealth to share with all our house,
--The Words of Heaven, from God's mouth!
We've love that stands when all else flees,
And mountains tumble to the seas!
We've trust that will not break or tear,
And hope we know is always there.
We've got a Rock on which to stand,
When fears & tremors fill our land.
We've faith to stand the toughest test,
It gives us peace, when none can rest!
It whispers softly in our ears,
It calms our hearts & melts our fears!
Jesus, Jesus, what a store!
--Of treasures, diamonds, at our door!
Thy precious Words, so great, yet free,
What RICHES You have given me!
I've gifts, new gifts, to give each day,
and when they're gone, I hear Christ say,
"Come here, child, peer in My chest,
Behold it all & take the best!
Choose all the gems your children lack,
If you need more, why just come back!
Choose everything they'll need some day!
Bright gems to shine & light their way!
Give each of them a crown of gold,
Whose worth's so great, it can't be told!"
For things so priceless, precious, rare,
Most mortal men seem not to care!
But when the Earth begins to quake,
And stores & mighty buildings shake,
When towers tall, come tumbling down,
And all Man's dreams lie on the ground,
The things that filled the hearts of men,
With all become so worthless then!
They sought but things that they could see,
Now all their things are just debris!
But God's Own children shall then find,
A place of rest for heart & mind!
What more can you or I request
Than Words to help them stand such tests?
The Words, O Lord, You've given me,
I share with children on my knee.
And make each day a blest Word-feast,
There's fits for all, down to the least!
And each of them have lots of fun,
The gifts of Love cheer everyone !
We have to vie each golden Word,
'Cause there's much MORE we've not YET heard!
Yes, untold wealth, is what we own!
My heart's so full, it's overflown!
And though we'd give all that we had,
Just like the widow or little lad,
Remember, though some thought them poor,
When they gave gifts, why, none gave more!
What greater gifts could WE impart,
Than Heaven's Words, to children's hearts?
--by Seek
133. All anybody expects of an adolescent is that he act like an adult & be satisfied to be treated like a child.
134. It has been said that a college education is nothing but a four-year plan of confusing young minds methodically.
135. With the World in such a confused state, no wonder babies cry when they come into it.
136. A boy who was so slow to learn to talk that his parents thought him abnormal & his teachers called him a "misfit". His classmates avoided him & seldom invited him to play with them. He failed his first college entrance exam at a college in Zurich, Switzerland. A year later he tried again. In time he became world famous as a scientist. His name: Albert Einstein.
137. If a parent does not punish his sons, his sons will be sure to punish him.
138. You don't know what trouble is until your kids reach the age of consent, dissent, & resent--all at the same time.
139. Sometimes the lad who'll make a man
Is quite unpromising to scan;
He saunters up & down the street
With dirty hands & dirty feet;
With grimy cheeks & tousled hair
For whom nobody seems to care;
And yet beneath the dirt & grime
Perhaps there beats a heart sublime.
His clothes are grimy like his face
And all he does seems out of place;
He's just a shabby-looking lad,
A little fellow rude & bad;
And yet perhaps he's far from mean,
With intellect that's bright & keen;
A boy that people say is "tough",
Perchance a diamond in the rough.
He romps about from day to day,
Quite fond of frolic & of play;
He climbs the fence & jumps the rills,
And swims the streams & scales the hills
He keeps the neighbors ill at ease,
And so they turn on him the keys,
Lest he should "call" when they are gone
And cannot lay the hickory on.
But give this little lad a chance
And see some day how he'll advance;
He'll master books & make a name
That many others cannot claim;
He'll make success & rise somehow
With godly laurels on his brow,
Till men may say, "How could this be
From such a shabby lad as he?"
--Walter E. Isenhour
140. Happy children of the King,
Jesus Children dance & sing!
Watch them dance around His Throne,
The ones He calls His very own!
See them dancing in the street,
Sharing love with all they meet!
They are stars of His great show!
With tears of joy, we watch them glow!
What a wonder He should please,
To use such simple ones as these--
To give us glimpses of above
And show the World His wondrous Love.
Little child, so full of grace,
Jesus shining in your face!
How I wonder if you see--
Jesus, when you look at me?
Little child, by cares unbound
You lighten up the World around!
Jesus grant you by His grace,
To, as you you sleep, behold His face!
Happy children of the King,
Jesus Children, dance & sing!
Dance & sing around His throne;
Jesus loves you as His Own!
Lord, give me faith as a child.
To lose my cares & learn to smile.
To daily show my love to You,
And trust You Jesus, as they do!
--Esther David
141. We've got Heaven already in our children.they're little bits of Heaven sent down from the Lord! They were Up there with the Lord before, but He sent them down here to be with us. Isn't that wonderful?--Dad
142. Children are the greatest child psychologists in the World & they'll pull psychology on you! They know more about it than you do, you've just gotta keep at least one jump ahead of them.--Dad
143. "Dear Mother", said the little girl,
"Please whisper to me--Before I am a Christian
How old ought I be?
"How old ought you to be, dear child,
Before you can love me?"
"I always loved you, Mommy dear,
Since I was tiny, wee."
"I love you now, & always will,"
The little daughter said,
And on her mother's should hid
Her golden curly head.
"How old, my girlie, must you be
Before you trust my care?"
"Oh, Mother dear, I do, I do,
I trust you everywhere."
"How old ought you to be my child,
to do the things I say?"
The little girl looked up & said,
"I can do that today."
"Then you can be a Christian, too,
Don't wait 'til you are grown.
Tell Jesus, now, you come to Him
To be His very own."
And so the little girl knelt down,
And said, "Lord, if I may,
I'd like to be a Christian now,"
He answered, "Yes; today."
144. Open the door for the children,
Tenderly gather them in,
In from the highways & hedges,
In from the places of sin;
Some are so young & so helpless,
Some are so hungry & cold,
Open the door for the children,
Gather them into the fold.
Open the door for the children,
This would God have you to do,
Many are there near your doorstep,
Willing to listen to you.
Show them the way of salvation,
Teach them from God's Holy Word,
Reach them while hearts are yet tender,
Lead them in love to the Lord.
--Mary F. Kidder
145. I think our children have a great feeling of security as long as they feel our love & our care & concern & they have the Lord. It doesn't matter whether we move tomorrow or turn things upside-down or upset the fruit basket or play musical chairs or whatever, they wouldn't feel the least bit less secure because they know they've got a Family & they have the Lord & they're perfectly happy no matter what happens. In fact, children actually LOVE change!--Dad
146. Children can always adapt & they can always cope, the Lord will always be with them & help them!--Dad
147. Where did you come from, baby dear?
Out of the Heavens into here.
Where did you get your eyes so blue?
Out of the sky I cam through.
What makes the light in them sparkle & spin?
Some of the starry spikes left in.
Where did you get that little tear?
I found it waiting when I got here.
What makes your forehead so smooth & high?
A soft hand stroked it as I went by.
What makes your cheek like a warm white rose?
I saw something better than anyone knows.
Whence that three-cornered smile of bliss?
Three angels gave me at once a kiss.
Where did you get this pearly ear?
God spoke, & it came out to hear.
Where did you get those arms & hands?
Love made itself into hooks & bands.
Feet, whence did you come, you darling things?
From the same box as the cherubs' wings.
How did they all just come to be you?
God thought about me, & so I grew.
But how did you come to us, you dear?
God thought about you, & so I am here.
--George MacDonald
148. Please Jesus, watch our little one
And keep him through the night.
Help him to behold Thy face,
Be precious in Thy sight.
Comfort him & strengthen him
and give him restful sleep,
We ask You Lord, please watch his soul,
this new life safely keep.
And Jesus grow him straight & strong
In body & in mind
Help him grow to know You more,
A new life with You find.
Help him grow to love Your Words,
Your Spirit, Life & Love
And Hunger for the Words you give
To David, Your Beloved.
Jesus, help us to be more
The way You'd have us be,
To raise him in a Godly way
To draw him close to Thee,
To be a sample of Your Love
In everything we do
So he will want with all his heart
To give his life to You.
Anoint him by Your Spirit, Lord
to use the gifts you give,
And use them to Your Glory
so that others too may live.
Please Lord, don't let us stifle him
Use him to keep us new
And be a pyramid of love
And ever loving You.
--by Jaala Scribe
149. Children are really a joy to old men. (Prov. 17:6) There's just something about them! The old are the past & the young are the future. We're leaving, they're just coming, so I think it's that link with the future that causes grandparents to feel a strong attachment & a great love for grandchildren.--Dad
150. Baby has a runny nose
But as for why, well Heaven knows!
We sometimes fail to do what's right,
And leave tossed covers off at night.
They run around without their socks
Or go outside with still wet locks.
Or other things which seem to be
On parents' part, sheer idiocy!
It seems to be a constant fight
To keep them out of sorry plight
Like colds & coughs & fevers, flu,
Scratches, bumps & bruises too,
And "germs" & "bugs" & other such
That plague these babes we love so much.
Though they may little rascals be,
They're precious Lord to us & Thee.
Forgive us Lord for these mistakes
That mommy (also daddy) makes
Forgive these blunders on our part
They come from mind & not from heart.
We're thankful that You know what's best,
And thankful too for trial & test.
But teach us Lord & help us learn.
The lessons, so they'll not return,
And happen time & time again
Like tossing dust against the wind.
Help us well this fact respect:
They suffer some from our neglect,
And not because "It's meant to be",
But more because we let it be.
Though we've affliction great & small
You deliver us from all,
But help us not to add to these
Other needless problems, please--
Especially on our most loved ones,
Precious daughters, loving sons.
--Anthony
151. In our Family we have the most marvellous opposite of anyone to really teach & train our children right. The Future depends upon what you're teaching your children now & how well you're teaching them now.--Dad
152. Lord Jesus Christ, our Lord most dear,
As Thou wast once an infant here,
So give this child of mine, we pray,
thy grace & blessing day by day:
O holy Jesus, Lord divine.
As in Thy heavenly kingdom, Lord,
All things obey Thy sacred Word,
Do Thou Thy mighty succour give,
And shield this child by morn & eve:
O holy Jesus, Lord divine.
Their watch let angels round him keep
Where'er he be, awake, asleep;
Thy holy Cross now let him bear,
That he Thy crown with saints may wear:
O holy Jesus, Lord divine.
--by H. Von Laufenberg
153. Lord, in another hour I stand
Before a wide-eyed, wond'ring band
Of little ones--& mine to teach--
My little school! What longings lie
Behind this moment now so nigh?
Now ere from out my room I fare,
Hear Thou, O Lord, teacher's prayer.
Great teacher--God, oh, make Thou me
The teacher that I long to be--
Who sees beyond the smiles & tears
Of schoolroom life to coming years,
Which touches children now, that then
His impress may be seen on men,
Who labours not for fame, or fee,
who teaches e'en as unto Thee.
Help me, O Lord, as it comes each morn
and with it countless cares are born--
The little things that mean so much
To every childish heart I touch.
Help me to laugh, & though' tired & sad,
Help me to make my children glad,
Help me, O Lord, when things go wrong,
To carry on with cheery song.
Keep Thou each day my lips, dear Lord,
From sharp or harsh or hasty word,
Would patience yield to weary nerve,
Help me to remember Whom I serve.
I go to face this waiting band--
Oh, make me wise to understand
Each little heart within my care--
Grant Thou, O Lord, a teacher's prayer.
154. Children are the future forever! They are the Future for the years of the Endtime & also for the Millennium! For the next 10 years & for the next 1000 years! They are going to be the Future, & what works on them now, they're going to be teaching others later, teaching others to teach others.--Dad
155. God garden had need of a little flower,
It had grown for a time here below,
But in tender love He took it above
In more favorable clime to grow.
It might have been marred had He left it below,
Although we had tended with care,
Had tilled & watered & hedged about,
Watching each petal fair.
There with His smile for sunshine,
It will grow to perfection of bloom,
No withering blight or destructive storm
To crush out its sweet perfume.
Perhaps sometimes, in quite hours, We shall notice its sweet perfume,
Steal softly down from the heavenly place,
'Till it seems to fill the room.
Then the early spot will seem less bare,
As we think of the time to come,
When we shall enter the garden fair,
And find our transplanted bloom.
156. As Hannah to the Temple gate
Her dearest treasure bore,
So, Lord, to Thee we consecrate
This child for evermore.
Thy faithful soldier, may he fight
Against falsehood, sin & shame
and losing all to win the right
Confess Thy holy name.
Thy faithful servant, may he learn
To love & labour still,
And with a flaming spirit burn
To know & do Thy will.
O Saviour, all he is is Thine,
And all he yet may be;
O shelter him with love divine,
And draw him near to Thee.
For Thou, O Lord, are all our life
In Thee all struggles end:
Through all the sorry & the strive
Our Maker & our Friend.
--by Bishop Gilbert White
157. When baby wakes, his sleepy eyes
Creep open with a vague surprise,
As if the sunlight of the day
Had stolen all his dreams away!
When baby wakes--at morn's first hour--
His face is like a new pink flower!
When baby wakes, the wooly spread
That held him warmly in his bed
Shows little humps, where tiny feet
Make patterns underneath the sheet!
And, oh, his hands seek friendly things--
Like butterflies with frail, sweet wings.
When baby wakes, the whole house grows
Alive & active! Goodness knows
How one small human being's voice
Can make us hurry--& rejoice!
Life is his game--he always wins.
When baby wakes the day begins!
--Margaret E. Sangster
158. Our children are as much missionaries as their parents, sometimes more so!--And a tool in the hand of the Lord to win hearts & win souls & distribute the Word as much, if not more, than some of their parents! So don't belittle the children, they're our fulltime missionaries too, let's face it!--Dad
159. He was only three years old when his father died. "So that", he said, "I grew up under the care of my blessed mother. She developed my early talent for drawing, & encouraged me in my visits to the machine-shops of the town." Robert was a poor pupil at school, however, & the teacher complained to his mother. Whereupon Mrs. Fulton replied proudly: "My boy's head, sir is so full of original notions that there is no vacant chamber in which to store the contents of your musty books." "I was only ten years old at that time," said Fulton, "& my mother seemed to be the only human being who understood my natural bent for mechanics.
160. Parents have always sought advice on rearing their children, & they still do. Back in 1853, Mrs. Abell had the following to say.
"Remember that children are men & women in miniature, & though they should be allowed to act as children, still our dealings with them should be manly, & not morose; recollect, also that every look, word, tone & gesture, nay even your dress makes an impression.
"Never correct a child on suspicion, or without understanding the whole matter, nor trifle with a child's feelings when under discipline.
"Be always mild & cheerful in their presence; communicative but never extravagant, trifling or vulgar in language or gesture. Never trifle with a child, nor speak beseechingly, when it is doing wrong. Always follow commands with a close & careful watch, until the thing is done, allowing no evasion, & no modification, unless the child ask for it, & it be expressly granted.
"Never speak in an impatient, fretful manner, if you have occasion to find fault.
"Never disappoint the confidence a child reposes in you, whether it be a thing placed in your care or a promise.
"Always give prompt attention to a child when he speaks, so as to prevent repeated calls, & that he may learn to give prompt attention when you call him.
"Even in sickness, gentle restraint is better for the child than indulgence.
"Never try to impress a child with religious truth when in anger, or talk to him of God, as it will not have the desired effect. Do it under more favourable circumstances.
"Improve the first ten years of life as the golden opportunity, which may never return. It is the seed time, & your harvest depends upon the seed then sown.
"Selfishness that binds the miser in chains, that chills the heart, must never be allowed a place.
"Never reprove children severely in company, nor hold them up to ridicule, or make light of their failings.
"At the table a child should be taught to sit up & behave in a becoming manner, not to tease when denied, or to leave his chair without asking. A parent's wish at such a time should be a law, from which no appeal should be made.
"There should never be two sets of manners, the one for home & the other for company, but a gentle behaviour should be always required.
"Never say to a child, 'I don't believe what you say,' nor even express doubts. If you have such feelings, keep them to yourself, & wait; truth will eventually be made plain."
161. "Jesus loves me, this I know,
For the Bible tells me so:--
Little children ask no more,
For love is all they're looking for,
And in a small child's shining eyes
The Faith of all the ages lies--
And tiny hands & tousled heads
That kneel in prayer by little beds
Are closer to the dear Lord's heart
And of His Kingdom more a part
Than we who search, & never find,
The answers to our questioning mind--
For Faith in things we cannot see
Requires a child's simplicity
For, lost in life's complexities,
We drift upon uncharted seas
And slowly Faith disintegrates
While wealth & power accumulates--
And the more man learns, the less he knows,
And the more involved his thinking grows,
And, in his arrogance & pride,
No longer is man satisfied
To place his confidence & love
With childlike Faith in God above--
Oh, Father, grant once more to men
A simple childlike Faith again
and, with a small child's trusting eyes
May all men come to realise
That Faith alone can save man's soul
And lead him to a Higher Goal.
--Helen Steiner Rice
162. An old sexton in a cemetery took special pains with the little graves. When asked why, he said, "Sir, about those larger graves, I don't know who are the Lord's & who are not, but, you know, it's different with the children."
163. My music is the patter
Of happy little feet,
Exploring house & attic
And scampering down the street.
My art is crayon scribbling
On table, door & wall
In classic style & modern--
I treasure one & all.
My literature comprises
The books my children know
And old tales I remember;
From childhood long ago.
The kind of culture I acquire
No college impart,
Yet wisdom only life can teach
I cherish in my heart.
--Kathrine Kelly Woodley
164. But the mercy of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting upon them that fear Him, & His righteousness unto children's children; to such as keep His covenant, & to those that remember His commandments to do them.--Psalm 103:17,18
165. They say, "Well, you really pay for having children."--But I'd say that we RECEIVE much more than we pay! The kids are the pay-off! They're worth it all! One of the most wonderful things we have in this life are children.--Dad
166. It seems that Satan first makes friends with the parents to make it easier to get their boys & girls.
167. God shocked the World with a babe, not a bomb.
168. The birth of a baby is God's vote of confidence in the future of man.
169. Everyone needs recognition, but one can carry the need too far--like the little boy who says to his father, "Let's play darts, I'll throw, &you say, 'Wonderful!'"
170. My mother-in-law, a schoolteacher, had constant difficulty with one of the boys. She tried every method she knew--reasoning, kindness, sternness. Not knowing what else to do, she applied a ruler to the palm of his hand.
One day when she was about to raise the ruler to strike, the thought flashed to her mind, "I'll reverse this. I'll let him strike the palm of my hand." Surprised, the boy gave his teacher a smart blow. Never again did she have the slightest trouble with him.
Who can count the multitudes who, knowing of Christ's suffering on the cross, have repented of their sins saying, "He suffered there for me"?
God's divine power saves us when we repent of our sins & realise that Jesus cared enough to be bruised in our stead for our sins.
171. Many years ago a farmer had an unusually fine crop of grain. Just a few days before it was ready to harvest, there came a terrible hail & wind storm. The entire crop was demolished. After the storm was over, the farmer, with his little son sent out on the porch. The little boy looked at what was formerly the beautiful field of wheat, & then with tears in his eyes he looked up at his dad, expecting to hear words of despair. All at once his father started to sing softly, "Rock of ages, cleft for me, let me hide myself in Thee." Years after, the little boy, grown to manhood, said, "That was the greatest sermon I ever heard." The farmer lost a grain crop, but who knows but that that was the turning point in the boy's life? He saw the faith of a godly father in practice.
172. A widow, left with five little boys, was honored at a banquet. She had reared the boys to be noble, upright men. "Explain to us how you did it," asked the toastmaster. She said, "The secret lies in an occasional pat on the back. It gets positive results if given young enough, often enough, & low enough!"
173. A knowledge of the Bible without a college course is more valuable than a college course without the Bible.
174. I really believe our children today are our greatest & most important job of all! You say, "What do you mean, Dad? I thought it was to go into all the World & preach the Gospel to every creature. I thought it was being a missionary out in the foreign field winning Hindus & Muslims & trying to get folks saved!" Yes! But your own kids are PART of it!--They are your PERSONAL responsibility. "To the Jew first." (Rom.2:10)--Your own family!--Dad
175. Nothing is harder on a grandparent than having to watch a grandchild being disciplined.
176. There is an old story called "Not One to Spare!" There was a very poor family who had five children, & somehow a very rich old couple became acquainted with them & they fell in love with the couple & their children. They themselves were childless, so they offered to adopt one of the children. They said, "We'll bring up your child in wealth & give him a good education, he'll live in a wealthy home & inherit all our riches! We want to adopt one of your children for o your own."
So the father & mother discussed which one they should give up, & they went into the bedroom where the children were sleeping: "Let's see, could we give this one? Or should we give that one?" When the rich couple came back in the morning & asked, "Which one are you going to give us?", the parents answered, "We're sorry, but we don't have one to spare!"--Dad
177. A child's ear is a delicate instrument that can't hear a parent's shout from the next room, but picks up the faintest tingle of the ice cream man's bell.
178. The generation that criticises the younger generation is always the one that raised it.
179. Too often an abandoned child is one who is still living with this parents.
180. Watch the kid who's cutting classes at school--he may be in training to be a congressman later in life.
181. Some kids are like ketchup bottles. You have to spank their bottoms a few times to get them moving.
182. All children don't disobey their parents. Some are never told what to do.
183. When children are seen & not heard it's apartment to be through binoculars.
184. Children always brighten up a home. They never turn out the lights.
185. An unusual child is one who asks his parents questions they can answer.
186. Nothing makes a boy smarter than being a grandson.
187. Children disgrace us in public by behaving just like we do at home.
188. It now costs more to answer a child than it once did to educate his father.
189. Children brought up in Sunday school are seldom brought up in court.
190. There are many "bright children" who should be applauded with one hand.
191. Children may tear up a house, but they never break up a home.
192. Children are very much like airplanes; you hear only of the ones that crash.
193. Most kids can't understand why a country that makes atomic bombs would ban firecrackers.
194. Some children are running everything around the house except errands.
195. One important way for us to help our children grow up is for us to grow up first.
196. If you are disgusted & upset with your children, just imagine how God must feel about His!
197. Children are a great deal more apartment to follow your lead than the way you point.
198. A baby may not be able to lift very much, but it can hold a marriage together.
199. If brushing up on manners doesn't help some children, the brush should be moved down a bit.
200. Children need strength to lean on, a shoulder to cry on, & an example to learn from.
201. You can get any child to run an errand for you--if you ask him at bedtime.
202. Maybe children could keep on the straight & narrow if they could get information from someone who's been over the route.
203. If you don't want your children to hear what you're saying, pretend you're talking to them.
204. It's extremely difficult for a child to live right if he has never seen it done .
205. There's nothing thirstier than a child who has just gone to bed.
206. A boy is the only thing God can use to make a man.
207. A "brat" is a child who acts like your own but belongs to your neighbour.
208. Most children seldom misquote you; they repeat what you shouldn't have said word for word.
209. Among the best home furnishings are children.
210. It's very difficult to teach children the alphabet these days. They think V comes right after T.
211. Parents are embarrassed when their children tell lies, but sometimes it's even worse when they tell the truth.
212. Every father should remember that one day his son will follow his example instead of his advice.
213. As the gardener is responsible for the products of his garden, so the family is responsible for the character & conduct of its children.
214. A lucky farmer is one who has raised a bumper crop of good boys.
215. Children often hold a marriage together by keeping their parents so busy they don't have time to quarrel.
216. There are still a few old-fashioned mothers who would like to tuck their children in bed, but they can't stay awake that late.
217. Who said kids aren't obedient? They'll obey any TV commercial about buying a new toy.
218. You have to give American parents credit--they know how to obey their children.
219. Child psychology is what children manage their parents with.
220. Where do kids get all those questions parents can't answer?
221. Efficient school teachers may cost more, but poor school teachers cost the most.
222. The guy whose troubles are all behind him is probably a school bus driver.
223. The child who knows the value of a Dollar these days must be terribly discouraged.
224. The trouble with teaching a child the value of a Dollar is you have to do it almost every week.
225. A boy loves a dog because it's the only thing around the house that doesn't find fault with him.
226. It used to be when a boy couldn't learn at his mother's knee he found himself over his father's.
227. Teaching children to count is not as important as teaching them WHAT counts.
228. A switch in time saves crime.
229. Psychiatrists tell us that discipline doesn't break a child's spirit half as often as the lack of it breaks a parent's heart.
230. When adults behave like children we call them juvenile; when children behave like adults we call them delinquents.
231. A meeting was held quite far from Earth!
It's time again for another birth.
Said the Angels to the Lord above,
"This Special Child will need much love.
"His progress may be very slow
Accomplishment he may not show
And he'll require extra care
From all the folks he meets down there.
"He may not run or laugh or play;
His thoughts may seem quite far away.
In many ways he won't adapt
And he'll be known as handicapped.
So let's be careful where he's sent
We want his life to be content.
Please, Lord, find the parents who
Will do a SPECIAL job for YOU!!
They will not realize right away
The leading role they're asked to play.
But with this child sent from above
Comes stronger Faith & richer Love!
"And soon they'll know the PRIVILEGE given
In caring for their gift from Heaven.
Their precious charge so meek & mild
"Is HEAVEN'S VERY SPECIAL CHILD!!!"
--by Edna Massimilla
232. One of the problems of juvenile delinquency is children running away from home. It is entirely possible they may be looking for their parents.
233. Children are like wet cement. Whatever falls on them makes a lasting impression.
234. Our little "knew disciple" is a special event for us, conceived & born in Indonesia where we have been missionaries for six years. After five years of marriage & never being able to get pregnant, I finally did! Indonesian people believe that if a woman cannot conceive, if she will adopt a child, God will bless her with more. When we adopted Samuel, our friends told us I'd become pregnant. I knew if I would just be faithful to try my best to be a good mother to Samuel it would only be a matter of time. And I became pregnant just before his first birthday. We hope this testimony will inspire others who have not gotten pregnant yet. In God's time He will do it, for He truly is the God of all flesh & nothing is too hard for Him!--Daniel & Miriam, Indonesia.
235. Themistocles had a son who was the darling of his mother.
"This little fellow," said Themistocles, "is the sovereign of all Greece."
"How so?" said a friend.
"Why, he governs his mother, his mother governs me, I govern the Athenians, and the Athenians govern all Greece."
236. You can scrape the baby out of the womb, but you cannot scrape the baby out of the mind.
237. A century ago men were following with bated breath the march of Napoleon, & waiting with feverish impatience for news of the wars. All the while, babies were being born in their own homes. But who could think about babies? Everybody was thinking about battles.
In one year, 1809, midway between Trafalgar & Waterloo, there came into the World some babies who were destined to be stars of greatest magnitude--Gladstone, Oliver Wendell Holmes, Tennyson, & Felix Mendelsohn. But nobody thought of babies, only battles. Yet which of the battles of 1809 mattered more than the babies of 1809? We fancy that God can manage His world only with big battalions when all the while He is doing it by babies. When a wrong wants righting, or a truth wants preaching, or a continent wants opening, God sends a baby into the World to do it!
238. A sweet little miniature weaver
Came into our home one day,
Like a wee little queen of the cradle,
God grant her a long, long stay.
Such is the spell she has woven,
We scarce know how it came to be,
Into the meshes of every heart,
Knitting herself tenderly.
Dear little helpless struggler
What strength for such tiny fist,
A fountain of love, and a teacher
Whose lessons so few can resist.
Like a week small glam'rous enchantress
You reign from your magic bed,
A queen from the tip of your tiny toes
To the top of your fuzzy head.
A delegated prophet, whose office
Is to brighten, & deepen home love,
We welcome you, little sojourner
as a loan from the Father above.
A harbinger & herald of good tidings;
You make, with your smiles & your tears,
Young again hearts well nigh wearied
By the cares & the toil of the years.
--Velma B. Hofman
239. The mythical country of Boruvia has a law requiring all babies to be named within an hour after birth. One day, a woman was rushed to the hospital, where she delivered twins. At the same time, her husband was rushed to the hospital unconscious with a head injury received on the job. When the man came to, he was informed that his wife had delivered a boy & a girl two hours before, & his brother had given them names. "Oh, no, not by brother," groaned the man, "He's such a practical joker. What did he name them?"
"He named the girl Denise," replied the nurse.
"Oh, I like that name," said the man, obviously relieved. "What did he name the boy?"
"Denephew."
240. Human babies are such illustrations of spiritual babies! They're the only babies that are born absolutely helpless. No other baby animals of any kind are born as helpless as human babies. Nearly all farm animals are born to be able to immediately stand up & start walking, almost in a way able to take care of themselves except for their mother's milk!--But not us!--Ha! And not our spiritual babies, who desperately need the milk & the Word & are dependent upon us for their very growth.--Dad
241. My baby when she's nursing,
Doesn't mind my extra flab.
In fact she thinks it's very nice,
Just more of Mom to grab!
She thinks my tummy is just grand,
For squeezing with her chubby hand.
A LITTLE fat is Heaven-sent,
To keep this baby so content.
And while it may not pay the rent,
We know this time is so well spent!
Into the Temple she takes me,
Jesus, baby & I make three.
And as the baby takes her fill,
I'm listening to His voice so still,
Helping me know His precious Will.
--Moriah Newlove
242. My day-old child lay in my arms
And I held his pudgy hand;
I whispered softly, "How I wish,
That you could understand.
I've oh so much to say to you.
(He gave a cough & a nod)
Hurry, hurry, hurry & grow
So I can tell you of God!"
My newborn's little mouth was still
As though he didn't hear,
But a kind of light passed thru' his eyes
And I saw this thought appear:
"How I wish that I could speak,
I've a hundred things to say;
Before I forget, I'd tell YOU of God--
I was with Him yesterday."
243. More children are spoiled because the parents won't spank Grandma.
244. My mother was a firm believer in pre-natal influence, & she was such a believer in it she practiced it! When I was still unborn in her belly she took me around to all kinds of art galleries to see beautiful paintings & to symphony concerts to hear beautiful music, as well as reading the Bible & hymns aloud to me & going to church, anything she thought would be good for me & make a good impression on me & be a good influence on me.--Dad
245. You're a little angel because you love Jesus & you flew down here from Heaven to be with us, & you're gonna fly back up someday again. You were up in Heaven with Jesus. But then you had to come down from Heaven & go into the darkness of Mommy's tummy, & then come out of the darkness into His Heavenly light! Isn't that pretty?--Dad
246. He blocks out babies' memories of their pre-existence in Heaven so that they don't have to worry about it. It won't make them feel so bad about being in this World if they don't remember how wonderful it was in Heaven--Paradise lost! --Dad
247. Isn't it wonderful to watch a baby learn & grow? Did you know even while he's still in his mother's tummy the baby is learning?--He's hearing sounds, voices, music, recognising voices, even recognising music!--Dad
248. A small boy invaded the lingerie section of a big California department store & shyly presented his problem to a woman clerk. "I want to buy my mom a present of a slip," he said, "but I don't know what size she wears."
"Is she tall or short, fat or skinny?" asked the clerk.
"She's just perfect," beamed the small boy. So she wrapped up a size 34 for him.
Two days later mom came to the store herself--and changed it to a 52.
249. A good man dies when a boy goes wrong.
250. Out of 8000 delinquent children, only 42 attended Sunday School regularly.
251. A mother & her little girl of five were visiting. The little girl misbehaved, and her mother said, "Sarah, you must not do that." The child soon forgot and did it again. The mother said, "Sarah, if you do that again I will punish you." Soon the child did it again. When it was time to go home the mother went for her hat, and Sarah was sad for the punishment to come. A young lady noticed it and said, "Never mind, I will ask your mother not to whip you." The reply was, "That will do no good; my mother never tells lies."
252. Considering the number of divorces today, it seems that more PARENTS are running away from home than CHILDREN.
253. It is sobering to recall that fathers bear the title God Himself has chosen as a picture of His relationship to His people.
254. Babies right away recognise people. I think they're more psychic than adults. Even if they don't see too well they recognise your voice & your touch & I think they probably even sense your aura.--Dad
255. The police department of Houston, Texas, issued a leaflet given rules for raising delinquent children:
Begin from infancy to give him everything he wants. When he picks up bad words, laugh at him. Never give him any spiritual training. Wait until he is twenty-one & let him decide for himself. Don't use the word "wrong". It may give him a guilt complex. Do everything for him so that he will be experienced in throwing all responsibility on others. Let him read any printed matter he can get his hands on.
Quarrel frequently in his presence--he won't be too shocked when the home is broken up. Give him all the spending money he wants. He shouldn't have things as tough as you had them. AND prepare for a life of grief--you will have it.
256. A young English boy was called "Carrot Top" by other students & given "little chance of success" by some teachers. He ranked third lowest in class: grade averages for English was 95%, history 85%, mathematics 50%, Latin 30%.
His teacher's report reads: "The boy is certainly no scholar & has repeated his grade twice. He has also a stubborn streak & is sometimes rebellious in nature. He seems to have little or no understanding of his school work, except in a most mechanical way. At times, he seems almost perverse in his ability to learn. He has not made the most of his opportunities."
Later, the lad settled down to serious study & soon the world began to hear about Winston Churchill.
257. A child has to learn obedience in the home or he will never learn obedience to the Heavenly Father.
258. Let thy child's first lesson be obedience, and the second will be what thou wilt.
259. A church bulletin that recently came to my desk tells a modern fable. "Once there was a little boy. When he was three weeks old his parents turned him over to a baby-sitter. When he was two they dressed him up like a cowboy & gave him a gun. When he was three everybody said, 'How cute!' as he went about lisping a beer commercial jingle. When he was six his father dropped him off at Sunday School. When he was eight they bought him a BB gun & taught him to shoot sparrows. He learned to shoot windshields by himself.
When he was ten he spent his afternoons at the drugstore newsstand reading comic books. His mother wasn't home & his father was busy. When he was thirteen, he told his parents other boys stayed out as late as they wanted to, so they said he could, too. It was easier that way. When he was fourteen they gave him a deadly two-ton machine, wrangled a license for him to drive it & told him to 'be careful.' When he was fifteen, the police called his home one night & said, 'We have your boy. He's in trouble.' Screamed the father, 'It can't be MY boy!' But...it was."
260. Oftentimes when we hear our children talk, we realize we should have been more careful of what they heard us say.
261. There are too many dads who will tie up the dog at night & let their sons run loose.
262. A father is a person who is forced to endure childbirth without an anesthetic.
263. Fathers give daughters away to other men who aren't good enough so they can have grandchildren that are better than anybody else's.
264. For a long time, the Mohammedans had been laying siege to the capital of Spain. Courageously & skillfully King Alphonso led the defense, but by some twist of fate the attackers captured the king's son.
The besiegers made the most of their hostage. The sultan ordered a gallows built in full view of the capital. The young prince was forced to stand under the words, "Alphonso, either the city or your son!"
What a decision for a father to make! Anxiously his advisors & officers watched the face of their king. Will he give up the city & allow the enemy to slay or enslave his people? Or will he give up his own dear son? They had not long to wait, for King Alphonso decided quickly. Back to the sultan went this message: "Let my son die, that my people may live!"
265. A young successful attorney said:
"The greatest gift I ever received was a gift I got one Christmas when my Dad gave me a small box. Inside was a note saying, 'Son, this year I will give you 365 hours, an hour every day after dinner. It's yours. We'll talk about what you want to talk about, we'll go where you want to go, play what you want to play. It will be your hour!'"
"My dad not only kept his promise," he said, "but every year he renewed it--and it's the greatest gift I ever had in my life. I am the result of his time."
266. Lost! A boy! Not kidnapped by bandits & hidden in a cave to weep & starve & raise a nation to frenzied searching. No, his father lost him. Too busy to sit with him at the fireside & answer his trivial questions during the years when Dad is the only great hero to a boy, he let go his hold. His mother lost him too. Engrossed in worthwhile programs, clubs with high aims, she let the babysitter hear his prayers & abdicated her place of influence.
267. When a man praises discipline, nine times out of ten this means he is prepared to administer it rather than submit to it.
268. If it had not been for a crooked groceryman, J.C. Penny might have become the owner of a grocery store rather than the owner of a dry goods chain & the nation's leading merchandiser.
When he was a teenager, Jim worked for a groceryman in Hamilton, Missouri. He liked the work & had plans to make a career of it. One night he came home & proudly told his family about his "foxy" employer. The grocer had a practice of mixing low quality coffee with the expensive brand & thus increasing his profit. Jim laughed as he told the story at the supper table.
His father didn't see anything funny about the practice. "Tell me," he said, "if the grocer found someone palming off an inferior article on him for the price of the best, do you think he would think they were just being foxy, & laugh about it?"
Jim could see his father was disappointed in him. "I guess not," he replied. "I guess I just didn't think about it that way."
Jim's father instructed him to go to the grocer the next day & collect whatever money due him & tell the grocer he wouldn't be working for him any longer. Jobs were not plentiful in Hamilton, but Mr. Penny would rather his son be unemployed than be associated with a crooked businessman.
J.C. Penny came that close to becoming a grocer.
269. Doctor Potter tells the story of a young man who stood at the bar of a court of justice to be sentenced for forgery. The judge had known him from a child, for his father had been a famous legal light & his work on the Law of Trusts was the most exhaustive work on the subject in existence. "Do you remember your father?" asked the judge sternly, "that father whom you have disgraced?"
The prisoner answered: "I remember him perfectly. When I went to him for advice or companionship, he would look up from his book on the Law of Trusts, & said, "Run way, boy, I am busy." My father finished his book, & here I am." The great lawyer had neglected his own trust, with awful results.
270. Glenn Doman, author of "Teach Your Baby to Read", says, "Parents, in the main, are unmatched in their potential, & they, not the professionals, should be making the decisions concerning their children. A reasonably proficient father is a much better combination than a totally proficient professional like myself."
271. I've made this observation while browsing 'round the town:
Some people bring their children up,
Some people bring their children down.
272. I shall never forget an hour in our home (where there were ten children) when my father sat there before us, & the college question was up. One of the children said to him, "If you had used the great brains you have in the law business, instead of being a preacher, we would all have had a chance to go to college, & you would have had money enough to send us." I saw my dad look out the window. He turned back with tears running down his cheeks, & said, "Yes, that is the truth. I could have done it, but when you woke up in hell you would have cursed me far worse than you do now. Children, money isn't everything; & I will try to leave you an inheritance that is incorruptible, that does not fade away. When I am gone--a poor Methodist preacher--you will know one thing, & that is that I knew Jesus." Oh, I am glad he didn't sell out to what his children wanted!
273. O mothers, so weary, discouraged,
Worn out with the cares of the day,
You often grow cross & impatient,
Complain of the noise & the play;
For the day brings so many vexations,
For many things go amiss;
But mothers, whatever may vex you.
Send the children to bed with a kiss!
The dear little feet wander often.
Perhaps from the pathway of right,
The dear little hands find new mischief
To try you from morning till night;
But think of the desolate mothers
Who'd give all the world for your bliss,
And, as thanks for your infinite blessings,
Send the children to bed with a kiss!
For some day their noise will not vex you,
The silence will hurt you far more;
You will long for their sweet, childish voices,
For a sweet, childish face at the door;
and to press a child's face to your bosom,
You'd give all the world for just this!
For the comfort 'twill bring you in sorrow,
Send the children to bed with a kiss!
274. we had a friend whose wife sued him for divorce because of his stern strict discipline on his teenagers. But let me tell you, when she took away those children from this righteous Godly Christian friend of ours & his strict discipline, God knew what to do! Someone came to their house one cold night & found the mother & all five of the children dead, suffocated by a gas heater! God removed them all so that the poor man would have no further responsibility & be no longer obligated to them nor have to support them nor furnish their home nor pay alimony, & he was free to serve the Lord & he went to the field as a missionary, thank God!--Dad
275. Everybody has heard of Martin Luther; but who knows the name of his mother, the wife of a coal miner who often went hungry so that little Martin might attend school?
276. You painted no Madonnas
On chapel walls in Rome,
But with a touch diviner
You lived one in your home.
You wrote no lofty poems
That critics counted art,
But with a nobler vision
You lived them in your heart.
You carved no shapeless marble
To some high-souled design.
But with a finer sculpture
You shaped this soul of mine.
You built no great cathedrals
That centuries applaud,
But with a grace exquisite
Your life cathedraled God.
Had I the gift of Raphael,
Or Michelangelo,
Oh, what a rare Madonna
My mother's life would show!
--Thomas W. Fessenden
277. God could not be in every place
With loving hands to help erase
The teardrops from each baby's face,
And so He thought of mother.
He could not send us here alone
And leave us to a fate unknown;
Without providing for His own,
The outstretched arms of mother.
God could not watch us night & day
And kneel beside o your crib & pray.
Or kiss our little aches away;
And so He sent us mother.
And when our childhood days began,
He simply could not take command,
That's why He placed our tiny hand
Securely into mother's.
The days of youth slipped quickly by,
Life's sun rose higher in the sky,
Full grown were we, yet ever nigh
To love us still, was mother.
and when life's span of years shall end,
I know that God will gladly send,
To welcome home her child again,
That ever faithful mother.
--George W. Wiseman
278. A man was walking along & saw this poor little street urchin sitting all dirty & dedraggled & hungry on the curb asking for some money to get something to eat. The man asked him, "Where do you live?" And he pointed to his huge mansion right behind him! "You live there? Are you one of the servants?" The boy said, "No, I'm the son of the owners." "Well, where's your father?" "He's off on business." "Well, where's your mother?" "She's at a meeting for the Society of Neglected Children!"--Dad
279. An aged, white-haired mother sat with a smile on her face, waiting for her famous son, Dwight Eisenhower, to arrive. Someone said to her, "You must be proud of your great & illustrious son?" Upon which she asked, "Which son?" Each one was equally great to that noble mother.
Said Dwight Eisenhower: "My sainted mother taught me a devotion to God & a love of country which have ever sustained me in my many lonely & bitter moments of decision in distant & hostile lands. To her, I yield a son's reverent thanks."
280. I did not have my mother long, but she cast over me an influence which has lasted all my life. The good effects of her early training I can never lose. If it had not been for her appreciation & her faith in me at a critical time in my experience, I should never likely have become an inventor. I was always a careless boy, & with a mother of different mental calibre, I should have turned out badly. But her firmness, her sweetness, her goodness, were potent powers to keep me in the right path. My mother was the making of me. The memory of her will always be a blessing to me.
--Thomas A. Edison
281. Years ago, a young mother was making her way across the hills of South Wales, carrying her tiny babe in her arms, when she was overtaken by a blinding blizzard. She never reached her destination alive, & when the blizzard had subsided her body was found beneath the snow. But the searchers discovered that before her death she had taken off all her outer clothing & wrapped it about her baby.
And when they unwrapped the child, to their great surprise & joy, they found he was alive & well. She had given her life for her child, proving the depth of her mother love. Years later the child, David Lloyd George, grown to manhood, & without doubt one of England's greatest statesmen.
282. The head of the American family should speak in a loud, firm voice--& she does!
283. Parents can tell but never teach,
Until they practice what they preach.
284. The little boy & girl were talking together after Daddy had told them a bedtime story, & left the room. The little boy said to his sister, "Haven't we heard that story before?--Didn't he just tell us that the other night?" "Yes", said his sister knowingly, "Of course! But it does Daddy so much good!"--Dad
285. It's a happy home where the only scraps are those brushed off the dining table.
286. She could not paint, nor write, nor rhyme
Her footprints on the sand of time,
As some distinguished women do;
Just simple things of life she knew--
Like tucking little folks in bed,
Or soothing someone's aching head.
She was no singer, neither blessed
With any special loveliness
To win applause & passing fame;
No headlines ever blazed her name.
But, oh, she was a shining light
to all her loved ones, day & night!
Her home was kingdom, she its queen;
Her reign was faithful, honest, clean,
Impartial, loving, just, to each
And every one she sought to teach.
Her name? Of course, there is no other
In all the world so sweet--just Mother!
--May Allread Baker
287. Mother is the name for God in the lips & hearts of little children.
288. You may have tangible wealth untold;
Caskets of jewels & coffers of gold;
Richer than I you can never be--
I had a mother who read to me.
289. I was abroad a large air liner some time ago which ran into an extremely severe wind & rainstorm. Despite the size of the plane & the tremendous power of its four wing motors, the ship was being tossed violently. A little nine-year-old fellow was my seat companion. It was his first experience in the air, & he was desperately afraid. Suddenly he looked up at me & said, "Are you afraid?" I smiled & replied, "No, this is real fun." And immediate change came over the little chap--fear & tension left him. He, too, had fun.
290. "Only a dad with a tired face,
Coming home from the daily race,
Bringing little of gold or fame,
To show how well he has played the game,
But glad in his heart that his own rejoice,
To see him come home &hear his voice.
"Only a dad of a brood of four,
One of ten million men or more,
Plodding along in the daily strife,
Bearing the whips & scorns of life,
With never a whimper of pain or hate,
For the sake of those who at home do wait!
"Only a dad, neither rich nor proud,
Merely one of the surging crowd,
Toiling, striving, from day to day,
Facing whatever may come his way,
Silent whenever the harsh condemn,
And bearing it all for the love of them!
"Only a dad, but he gives his all,
To smooth the way for his children small,
Doing with courage stern & grim,
The deeds that his father did for him.
This is the line that for him I pen:
Only a dad, BUT THE BEST OF MEN!"
--Edgar A. Guest
291. The Lord made parents so they could be examples of His loving discipline & loving rule. I think He meant their loving care & loving discipline to be training in submission to Him. If all our lives we've submitted to our earthly parents, then it shouldn't be so difficult to recognise God's authority & to bow to it & defer to it, & submit to it!--Dad
292. "They shall be Mine when I make up My jewels." (Mal. 3:17)
"A diamond in the rough,
Is a diamond sure enough;
For before it ever sparkles,
It is made of diamond stuff!
Of course some one must find it,
Or it never will be found;
and then some one must grind it,
Or it never will be ground;
But when it's found, & when it's ground,
And when it's burnished bright,
It sparkles everlastingly,
Just shooting forth its light!
Ah, teacher in the Sunday school,
Don't say, 'I've done enough,'
That worst boy in your Bible class,
May be a diamond in the rough!
Perhaps you think he's grinding YOU,
And maybe you are right,
But possibly you need the grinding,
To finish you out bright!"
293. An old schoolmaster said one day to a clergyman, who came to examine his school, "I believe the children know the catechism word for word."
"But do they understand it? That is the question," said the clergyman.
The schoolmaster bowed respectfully, & the examination began. A little boy had repeated the fifth commandment, "Honor thy father & thy mother," & he was asked to explain it. Instead of trying to do so, the little boy, with his face covered with blushes, said, almost in a whisper, "Yesterday I showed some strange man over the mountain, & the sharp stones cut my feet. The man saw they were bleeding, & gave me some money to buy shoes. I gave it to my mother, for she had no shoes either, & I thought I could go barefooted better than she could."
294. The older you get, the more you begin to appreciate some of your parents' problems with you. I dare say today most of you can look back & be a little bit sorry for how you acted & misbehaved & didn't appreciate when you had'm. I hope you're letting them know that now.--Dad
295. I hardly know a real father or real mother who doesn't love their child or their children more than themselves. That's what makes them real fathers & mothers willing to suffer for them, willing to sacrifice for them.--Dad
296. A busy mother was one day regretting that she could do so little Christian work. "I shall have only a life of housework to show at last," she said rather sadly to a friend one day. "Why, Mother," exclaimed her little daughter, who overheard the words, "all we children will stand up & tell all you've done for us--everything! I shouldn't s'pose they'd want anything better than good mothers up in Heaven!"
And the friend answered: "The child is right. Earth will send to Heaven no better saints than the true Christian mothers who have done their best."
297. Upon a rocky trail one day
I met a friendly pair,
A father & his little lad--
A storm was in the air.
The precipice was dangerous,
The wind was coming on,
But on that child's trusting face
Was joyfulness & calm.
My own heart quaked a bit with fear
Of what might lie ahead,
But when I said, "Aren't you afraid?"
The laddy shook his head,
Astonished at my ignorance,
"Oh, you don't understand,
Why, Mister, I can't be afraid
When Daddy holds my hand."
--Alice Mortenson
298.
Used to wonder just why Father,
Never had much time to play;
Used to wonder why he'd rather
Work each minute of the day.
Boys are blind to much that's going
On about them every day,
And I had no way of knowing
What became of Father's pay.
All I knew was when I needed
shoes I got 'em on the spot;
Everything for which I pleaded,
Somehow Father always got.
Wondered season after season
Why he never took a rest,
And that I might be the reason
That I never even guessed.
Rest has come--his task is ended,
Calm is written on his brow,
Father's life was big & splendid,
And I understand it now.
--Edgar A. Guest
299. "What will you have?" asked a waiter of a man who had taken his seat at a table in a restaurant. "A glass of beer", said the man. "And what shall I get for the little boy?" asked the waiter of the boy sitting beside his father. "Same as Dad," said the boy. Instantly, the father said, "Give me something else!"
300. No cowboy was ever faster on the draw than a grandparent pulling a baby picture out of a wallet.
301. Another thing "so simple a child can operate" is a grandparent.
302. Some how a fellow can't express
The feelings he has had
While through the years he's walked & talked
And laughed & played with Dad.
He cannot put in words the love--
The pride that wells within,
The admiration in his heart,
Whene'er Dad looks at him.
Dad is the hero of his dreams,
The king upon the throne,
The pattern for that idea life
Which he would make his own.
He knows that Dad well understands]
The conflicts in his breast,
And shared the problems he must face,
Though often unexpressed.
How could a fellow go astray,
Who with his Dad has stood
Within the secret place of prayer
Before a holy God!
And this my constant prayer shall be,
That until life is done,
My conduct here shall honor him,
Who proudly calls me "Son."
--Alvis B. Christiansen
303. P.H. Chang, Chinese consul-general in New York City was asked to comment on the fact that there are no juvenile delinquents among Chinese-American youths. He said, "A Chinese child, no matter where he lives, is brought up to recognize that he cannot shame his parents. Before a Chinese child makes a move, he stops to think what the reaction on his parents will be. Will they be proud or will they be ashamed? That is the sole question he asks himself."
304. There are little eyes upon you,
and they're watching night & day;
There are little ears that quickly
take in everything you say;
There are little hands all eager
to do everything you do.
And a little boy who's dreaming
of the day he'll be like you.
You're the little fellow's idol,
you're the wisest of the wise;
In his little mind about you
no suspicions ever rise;
He believes in you devoutly,
holds that all you say & do
He will say & do in your way
when he's grown up just like you.
There's a wide-eyed little fellow
who believes you're always right,
And his ears are always open,
& he watches day & night.
You are setting an example
every day in all you do
For the little boy who's waiting
to grow up to be like you.
--Leslie Hale
305. "They say that man is mighty, he governs land & sea;
He wields a mighty scepter on lower powers than he.
"But mightier power & stronger, man from his throne has hurled,
For the hand that rocks the cradle is the hand that rules the world."
306. There was a crooked man, who had a crooked smile,
Who made a crooked fortune, in a very crooked style!
He lived a crooked life, as crooked people do,
and wondered why it turned out, his sons were crooked, too!
307. My hand is large & his is small
And there is nothing on earth at all
More important than the task
That lies ahead of me. I ask
For wisdom, Lord, that I may lead
This child aright; his every need
Depends on me. But Thou my guide
That I, in walking by his side,
May choose the right paths for his feet.
The days are swift, the years are fleet,
Make me alert in deed & word
As we go forward, blessed Lord,
His precious clinging hand in mine,
With always, Lord, my hand in Thine.
--Grace Noll Crowell
308. Little Mary Nell was rapidly eating fistfulls of chocolate candy when suddenly her father appeared, coming up the walk. Cramming the last piece of chocolate in her mouth, she squealed with delight as she dashed toward her father. She threw herself into his outstretched arms, joyously exclaiming: "Daddy! Daddy! You're home! You're home!"
Father saw Mary Nell's chocolate smeared hands, mouth, & dress too late! His white shirt was a mess! His first impulse was to reprimand her. He put her down, however, & laughed heartily! How could he react differently to the spontaneous outburst of love, joy & armfuls of affection, when he thought, "Did I not come to the heavenly Father soiled by years of sinful living? Did He not enfold me in His arms of love?"
309. The young Mother set her foot on the path of life.
"Is the way long?" she asked.
And her Guide said" "Yes. And the way is hard. And you will be old before you reach the end of it. But the end will be better than the beginning."
But the young Mother was happy, & she would not believe that anything could be better than these years. So she played with her children, & gathered flowers for them along the way, & bathed with them in the clear streams; & the sun shone on them & life was good, & the young Mother cried, "Nothing will ever be lovelier than this."
The night came, & storm, & the path was dark, & the children shook with fear & cold, & the Mother drew them close & covered them with her mantle, & the children said, "Oh, Mother, we are not afraid, for you are near, & no harm can come," and the Mother said, "This is better than the brightness of day, for I have taught my children courage."
And the morning came, & there was a hill ahead, & the children climbed & grew weary, & the Mother was weary, but at all times she said to the children, "A little patience & we are there." So the children climbed & when they reached the top, they said, "We could not have done it without you, Mother." And the Mother, when she lay down that night, looked at the stars & said: "This is a better day than the last, for my children have learned fortitude in the face of hardness. Yesterday I gave them courage. Today I have given them strength."
And the next day came strange clouds which darkened the earth--clouds of war & hate & evil, & the children groped & stumbled, & the Mother said: "Look up. Lift your eyes to the Light." And the children looked & saw above the clouds an everlasting Glory, & it guided them & brought them beyond the darkness. And that night the Mother said, "This is the best day of all, for I have shown my children God."
And the days went on, & the weeks & the months & the years; & the Mother grew old, & she was little & bent. But her children were tall & strong, & walked with courage. And when the way was hard, they helped their Mother, & when the way was rough, they lifted her, for she was as light as a feather; & at last they came to a hill, & beyond the hill they could see a shining road & a golden gate flung wide.
And the Mother said: "I have reached the end of my journey. And now I know that the end is better than the beginning, for my children can walk alone, & their children after them."
And the children said: "You will always walk with us, Mother even when you have gone through the gates."
And they stood & watched her as she went on alone, & the gates closed after her. And they said: "We cannot see her, but she is with us still. A Mother like ours is more than a memory. She is a living presence."
310. His little arms crept 'round my neck, & then I heard him say,
Four simple words I can't forget, four words that made me pray.
They turned a mirror on my soul, on secrets no one knew,
They startled me, I hear them yet, he said, "I'll be like you!"
--Herbert Parker
311. That is a commandment of the Lord, Jesus quoted it so it's part of His Law of Love: "Honour thy father & thy mother." (Mat.19:19) He said this is the first commandment with a promise attached. He said it was the first commandment with promise, think of that. "Honour thy father & thy mother, that your days may be long in the land & verily thou shalt be fed." (Eph.6:2,3)--Dad
312. THE BLIND CHILD
I know what mother's face is like,
Although I cannot see;
It's like the music of a bell;
It's like the roses I can smell--
Yes, these it's like to me.
I know what father's face is like;
I'm sure I know it all;
It's like his whistle on the air;
It's like his arms which take such care
And never let me fall.
And I can tell what God is like--
The God whom no one sees.
He's everything my parents seem;
He's fairer than my fondest dream,
And greater than all these.
313. I saw tomorrow look at me
From baby's deep blue eyes,
Reminding me of God's great trust;
Oh, heavenly Father, make me wise.
314. The Family is a garden
With flowers sweet & fair.
The parents are their pruners
Of each child in their care.
God made the family garden,
Allowed each blossom to unfold.
He blessed the family garden,
Gave it a budding beauty to behold.
Love controls the pruning tool,
Used by the parents each day.
Trust is the timeless tool
that guides a family in God's way.
--Wilma L. Shaffer
315. It takes great courage & foresight to say to your child, "I don't care what you think of me now; I'm concerned with what you will think of me a few years from now."
316. Mother love is dangerous when it becomes SMOTHER love.
317. Mothers who scold their sons for carrying useless things in their pockets should take a look in their handbags!
318. The alarm went off
Half an hour ago!
Why doesn't he get up?
He wakes up so slow!
I open the closet,
And let out a sigh,
He said he would clean it,
But let it slip by.
The kids sit a'waiting,
For the breakfast I make.
And he comes to the table
Though he's still not awake!
I've waited all day
For a tender embrace,
But he's been so busy
Running 'round everyplace!
He goes to the store,
For diapers & thread.
But the list gets misplaced,
And he comes home with bread.
It's the middle of night,
Baby's waking again.
How can he not hear her?
He sleeps on with a grin.
Should I wake him from slumber,
And chide him or scold?
No, the story's not over,
There's more I've not told.
For him there's no job,
That's too small or great.
Whatever needs doing,
Why, he won't hesitate!
The kids they sure love him,
'Cause he gives them his all!
He's a master at crayons,
And stories & balls!
He must have his problems,
As least ONCE in awhile,
but they don't seem to stop him,
From going one more mile.
I don't know how he does it:
He just trusts through each test!
He tells me his victories,
And tells Jesus the rest!
When it gets hard at times,
And I sigh in despair,
He'll say, "Look up, Honey,
You know Jesus cares!"
He says, "Come now, Sweetheart,
You take a short rest.
I'll take all the kids
And I'll give them my best!"
And then he assures me,
"Why, there's no need to fret!
We'll do what we can do,
And He'll see us through yet!"
And he's right every time,
'Cause the Lord's Love is true,
And He gives us the grace,
For the trials we go through!
When yo've got a big family
And a babe on the breast,
If your mate's a real daddy,
Well, you know you are blest!
He gives it his all,
Yes, he's done what he could!
And sometimes I feel,
He's done more than he should!
So what if he sleeps
In a little bit late?
He's such a good daddy!
He's such a good mate!
--Seek
319. I remember a little fellow, frightened by the lightning & thunder, who called out one dark night, "Daddy, come, I'm scared." "Oh, son", the father said, "Good loves you & He'll take care of you." "I know God loves me & that He'll take care of me", the small son replied, "But right now, I want somebody who has skin on."
320. A dad is a mender of toys, a leader of boys.
He's a changer of fuses, a healer of bruises.
He's a mover of couches, a healer of ouches.
He's a hanger of screens, a counsellor of teens.
He's a pounder of nails, a teller of tales.
He's a dryer of dishes, a fulfiller of wishes.
Bless him, O Lord.
--Jo Ann Heidbreder
321. The greatest battle that ever was fought-
Shall I tell you where & when?
On the maps of the world you will find it not:
It was fought by the Mothers of Men.
Not with cannon or battle shot,
With sword or nobler pen;
Not with eloquent word or thought
From the wonderful minds of men;
But deep in a walled-up woman's heart;
A woman that would not yield;
But bravely & patiently bore her part;
Lo! There is the battlefield.
No marshalling troops, no bivouac song,
No banner to gleam & wave;
But, Oh, these battles they last so long--
From babyhood to the grave!
But faithful still as a bridge of stars
She fights in her walled-up town;
Fights on, & on, in the endless wars;
Then silent, unseen goes down!
Ho! ye with banners & battle shot,
With soldiers to shout & praise,
I tell you the kingliest victories fought
Are fought in these silent ways.
--Joaquin Miller
322. A careful mother I must be,
A little daughter follows me.
I do not dare to go astray,
For fear she'll go the self same way.
She's only just a bit past three,
But I see in her a smaller me.
Like me she says she's going to be,
This precious babe who follows me.
She likes to help me cook & sew,
She follows me where'er I go.
Not once can I escape her eyes,
Whate'er I do she always tries.
She acts like I'm almost divine,
Believes in every word of mine.
The base in me she must not see,
This trusting child who follows me.
Lord! make me conscious as I go,
Through summer sun & winter snow,
That she'll be what she's trained to be.
A future mother follows me.
--by Martha E. Lambert
323. "this hurts me more than it does you," remarked the Magistrate, as he fined his daughter $10.00 for speeding & $3.00 for running past a red light, & then dug into his pocket for the fines.
324. We thank You, Lord,
So great & good,
For the depth & breadth
Of Fatherhood.
We thank You, Lord,
So great & good,
For the love & care
Of Motherhood.
We thank You, Lord,
So great & good,
For trusting parents
With Babyhood.
325. I love you as a mommy,
I love you as a friend,
I love the way you see through tales
--The kids dare not pretend!
I love you as a seamstress,
I love you when you dance,
I love you for your diligence.
--Seems nothing skips your glance!
I love you as a head-mistress,
I love you as a nurse,
I love the way you just make do
In better & in worse.
I love you as a florist
Who tends her little sprouts.
I love the way you clean out junk;
What you don't need goes out!
I love you as a laundress,
No spot is overlooked.
I love you as a cuisine-Queen;
and enjoy each meal you've cooked!
I love you when you decorate,
I love the way you walk,
I love the way you clean your house,
--No time for idle talk!
I love you as a counsellor,
I love when others say,
"How does Fiona manage?
Her hair's not even grey!"
I love you as a sister
--Though a Queen you truly are!
I love you 'cause you're close to me,
Though I may travel far.
I love you when you're pregnant,
I love you when you're slim,
I love the way you calmly put
Your faith & trust in Him!
--Windy
326. How hurt or disappointed do you feel when your children make a mistake? Oh yes, of course you feel a little bad, but you expect them to fail & to be bad sometimes or make the wrong decisions, it's all a part of growing up. You don't get all sensitive or offended because your child does something wrong; you know they're going to be that way & they're going to do things wrong sometimes, they're not perfect. In fact, the initial disappointment is all but forgotten in the happiness you feel when you see him learning his lesson & doing the right thing. When you're learning, you're bound to make mistakes.--Dad
327. Are you frustrated, Mommy?
Are you tired, Dad?
Does no one appreciate
The tough day you've just had?
Is there no one near to thank you
Or pat you on the back
For all the work you've done today
In spite of all you lack?
You wonder if you'll get ahead
And when you'll see the light.
But 'cause your children need you so,
You know you'll hold on tight!
'Cause if you'd ever just give up
Why, who would see them through?
This one thought, I wot, just ought
To give new strength to you!
The Son of God, was yet a man
With only mortal strength--
Yet how they pressed & drew from Him,
Compelled Him to such lengths!
With weary hands He touched & healed,
With weary lips He spake!
With weary feet He walked lone ways
--He did it for their sakes!
His life was surely not His own,
For He gave it all away!
To those who pressed to touch, to hear
The Words He had to say.
O Lord, today help ME to say
With smile & cheerful heart,
"It's not a sacrifice at all
When called to do my part!"
And daily as I teach & train,
And little lives I mold,
I know my labours one day soon
Shall yield one hundred-fold!
Oh, what a tiny price to pay,
For such a noble cause,
To teach their hearts to trust in God,
And keep His loving laws!
Frustrated Mom & tired Dad,
I sympathise with you.
But give your all & He'll give strength
And Joy to see you through!
--By Seek mother of 10
328. Your children are your greatest task! They are your greatest responsibility, the little disciples that God has given you that you have to take care of & you must train, & they had better be taught well & reared well in the nurture & admonition of the Lord & trained up in the way they should go, so that when they are older they will not depart therefrom! (Prov.22:6)--Dad
329. Since the coming of television we no longer have family circles--we have semi-circles.
330. A grandmother is a baby sitter who watches the kids instead of the television.
331. "I'll lend you for a little time
A child of Mine", He said,
"For you to love the while he lives
And think of when he's gone.
I cannot promise he will stay
Since all from life return
But there are lessons taught down there
I want this child to learn.
I've looked the wide World over
In My search for teachers true,
And from the throngs that crowd life's lane
I have selected you.
Now will you give him all your love
Nor think the labour vain,
Nor hate Me when I come to call
To take him back again?"
332. Listen, son: I am saying this as you lie asleep, one little paw crumpled under your cheek & the blond curls stickily wet on your damp forehead. I have stolen into your room alone. Just a few minutes ago, as I sat reading my paper in the library, a stifling wave of remorse swept over me. Guiltily I came to your bedside.
These are the things I was thinking, son: I had been cross to you. I scolded you as you were dressing for school because you gave your face merely a dab with a towel. I took you to task for not cleaning your shoes. I called out angrily when you threw some of your things on the floor.
At breakfast I found fault, too. You spilled things. You gulped down your food. You put your elbows on the table. You spread butter too thick on your bread. And as you started off to play & I made for my train, you turned & waved a hand & called, "Goodbye, Daddy!" & I frowned, & said in reply, "Hold your shoulders back!"
Then it began all over again in the late afternoon. As I came up the road I spied you, down on your knees, playing marbles. There were holes in your stockings. I humiliated you before your boyfriends by marching you ahead of me to the house. Stockings were expensive & if you had to buy them you would be more careful! Imagine that, son, from a father!
Do you remember, later, when I was reading in the library, how you came in timidly, with a sort of hurt look in your eyes? When I glanced up over my paper, impatient at the interruption, you hesitated at the door, "What is it you want?" I snapped.
You said nothing, but ran across in one tempestuous plunge, & threw your arms around my neck & kissed me, & your small arms tightened with an affection that God had set blooming in your heart & which even neglect could not wither. And then you were gone, pattering up the stairs.
Well, son, it was shortly afterwards that my paper slipped from my hands & a terrible sickening fear came over me. What was habit been doing tome? The habit of finding fault, of reprimanding--this was my reward to you for being a boy. It was not that I did not love you; it was that I expected too much of youth. I was measuring you by the yardstick of my own years.
And there was so much that was good & fine & true in your character. The little heart of you was as big as the dawn itself over the wide hills. This was shown by your spontaneous impulse to rush in & kiss me good night. Nothing else matters tonight, son. I have come to your bedside in the darkness, & I have knelt there, ashamed!
It is a feeble atonement; I know you would not understand these things if I told them to you during your waking hours. But tomorrow I will be a real daddy! I will chum with you, & suffer when you suffer, & laugh when you laugh. I will bite my tongue when impatient words come. I will keep saying as if it were a ritual: "He is nothing but a boy, a little boy!"
I am afraid I have visualised you as a man. Yet as I see you now, son, crumpled & weary in your cot, I see that you are still a baby. Yesterday you were in your mother's arms, your head on her shoulder, I have asked too much, too much.
333. This is what a grandchild does: brushes off the years;
Polishes a grandpa's smiles; banishes his fears;
Lightens up his step a bit; brings him tasks to do;
Teaches him to play once more games which once he knew;
Leads him to the toy shops; in his world of men;
Sends him on his daily round young at heart again.
Grandfolks have no time to think they are getting old.
They must learn anew the rhymes & the tales they told;
They must plan for circus time; wander 'round the zoo,
Call the animals by name, as they used to do.
They've no voice for aches & pains. Young at heart are they.
Eastertide is theirs once more, & the Christmas Day.
This is what a grandchild does: long lost joys restores;
Gives age back the birds & flowers & the out-of-doors;
Pleasures lost & long forgot; songs he used to sing;
Princes in the golden towers; butterflies a-wing;
Every charm that childhood bears in its joyous train,
For a third time down the years--all is ours again!
--Edgar A. Guest
334. Oh, say not that your little son is dead;
The word too harsh & much too hopeless seems,
Believe, instead,
That he has left his little trundel bed
To climb the hills
Of morning, & to share the joy that fills
God's pleasant land of dreams.
Nay, say not that your little son is dead.
It is not right, because it is not true.
Believe, instead,
He has but gone the way that you must tread,
And, smiling, waits
In loving ambush by those pearly gates,
To laugh & leap at you.
No knight that does you service can be dead;
Nor idle is this young knight gone before.
Believe, instead,
Upon an envoy's mission he hath sped
That doth import
Your greatest good; for he at heaven's court
Is your ambassador.
--T.A. Daly.
335. O Lord, You've made another day,
I wonder what will come our way
Before the even falls?
If I could take a little peek
I'd know if I should stay asleep
Or beckon to them all--
Let's rise & shine & greet the sun,
Let's get along, children, it's such great fun!
To wake up in the morning!
(Droopy little eyes & heads,
I hope nobody's wet their beds,
'Cause that's just not so charming!)
Now line up at the bathroom door.
--But no bare feet upon the floor!
Make sure you wear your sandals.
Now who'll be first to make their bed?
Looks like a storm just hit & fled,
And left your beds in shambles!
But if each one will do their part,
We'll get it done, we just need start.
But slowly now.--We're not in such a hurry!
Now, Stephen, don't you start to cry!
She didn't mean to poke your eye!
Ruth, tell him please you're sorry.
Papa's going to fry the eggs,
Just for a little help, he begs.
Is someone free to set the table?
Jason, you're a great big boy,
Come, & set aside that toy,
Please help papa when you're able!
Girls, you BOTH can't wear that dress!
And look!--Your hair is still a mess!
Mmmm! Can you smell the pancakes bakin'?
Oh, please do what I ask you to,
And help poor Jamie find his shoe,
Before he feels forsaken!
I guess we just forgot to pray
The Lord to help us start this day!
No wonder things are topsy-turvy!
Jesus, please unite our hearts,
Give each of us a brand new start,
Even though we're so unworthy!
We're coming, Honey, on our way!
It's going to be a real good day,
Thanks so much for waiting for us!
Praise the Lord! Now, let's sit down,
And share this feast!--Oh look around,
A banquet's spread before us!
Kids, you really touch our hearts,
You really play the biggest parts,
And help so much in all we do!
You're special & we need you so,
And we just thought you'd like to know
How much we love each one of you!
O Lord, You've made another day,
And got us started on Your way.
--Thanks for all the kids You've given!
Whatever happens, good or bad,
You'll give us faith & make us glad
For this great life of Love we're livin'!
--Seek
336. A gentleman whose wife was delivered of a boy six months after marriage, asked a physician the reason for this.
"Don't worry about it," said the latter, "this often happens in the case of the first child, but never afterwards."
337. A mother's patience is like a tube of toothpaste--it's never quite all gone.
338. Rejecting things because they are old-fashioned would rule out the sun & the moon--& a mother's love.
339. When the last diploma's granted,
And the race takes its degree,
And the worthwhile things are graven
In the Hall of History;
When the World's great benefactors
Gather at the Master's call,
There will be one more deserving,
One more worthy than them all.
When the deeds of men are measured
And their services are weighed,
And the Master of all masters,
Hands to each his final grade,
Then the warrior, merchant, banker,
Each shall take his separate place
'Round about a central figure,
The most honoured of our race.
Then the ones who fought for power
And the ones who strove for wealth
Will discover that the greatest
Was the one who offered self;
Then the teacher, true & faithful,
Will be greeted from the Throne
By the greatest of all Teachers;
"Ye shall reap as ye have sown!"
--Riley Scott
340. A Sunday school teacher
I don't know his name,
A wonderful preacher
Who never found fame.
So faithful, so earnest
When I was a boy--
He stuck to his task
Though I tried to annoy.
He never was missing
In cold or in heat,
A smile his face lighted
The moment we'd meet.
He taught by example
As well as by word,
this splendid old teacher
Who honoured his Lord,
He helped my young life
More than ever he knew
Later years I remembered
And tried to be true.
I suppose he has gone now
To join Heaven's ranks
May it be good fortune,
Someday to say, thanks.
--Will H. Houghton
341. I sent my boy to college
With a pat upon the back.
I spent ten thousand dollars
And got--a quarterback.
342. Burdened with the care of a new baby the young mother sent her little brother to the department store to get some things for the new arrival.
He managed to get everything without too much trouble. The last item on his list was diapers. He went to the counter where there were sold, stated his wishes, & in the space of a few minutes the salesgirl returned with a bundle.
"That will be sixty cents for the diapers & two cents for the tax."
"Ah, never mind the tacks," said the youngster, "Sis puts them on the baby with safety pins."
343. A little four-year-old daughter, suffering from a severe scolding from her mother was heard to sob pitifully to herself, "I wish Mother loved me as much as she does God. she talks so kind to Him." And immediately one's thoughts flash back to a great man who said, "I owe a great department to the life of my mother in my early childhood days. She always lived like she prayed."
344. In her book "Odd Patterns in the Weaving", Mrs. Sonia E. Howe in her narration mentioned something seen when she was still in her teens. A family Russian academician was working a Mosaic, a copy of an old oil painting which had been in a famous Cathedral. He was putting in tiny pieces of marble, one by one, to carry out the beautiful design. Sonia Howe, approached him & said, "Is not this fearfully dull, uninteresting work?"
"No, not at all," the artist replied, "for, you see, it is work for eternity." (1 Cor.15:58)
345. During a blistering hot day, a family was entertaining guests for dinner. When all were seated, the man of the house turned to his six-year-old son & asked him to say the blessing.
"But daddy, I don't know what to say," he protested.
"Oh, just say what you've heard me say," the mother chimed in.
Obediently, he bowed his little head & said, "Oh, Lord, why did I invite these people here on a hot day like this!"
346. Agostino d' Antonio, a sculptor of Florence, Italy, wrought diligently but unsuccessfully on a large piece of marble. "I can do nothing with it," he finally said. Other sculptors, too, worked with the piece of marble, but they, too, gave up the task. The stone was discarded. It lay on a rubbish heap for forty years.
Out strolling one day, Michelangelo saw the stone & the latent possibilities in it. It was brought to his studio. He began to work on it. Ultimately, his vision & work were crowned with success. From that seemingly worthless stone was carved one of the World's masterpieces of sculpture--"David"!
347. Throughout the ages no nation has ever had a better friend than the mother who taught her children to pray.
348. A mother is a woman who decorates her life with babies.
349. One way to curb juvenile delinquency is to take the parents off the streets at night.
350. The trouble with the average juvenile delinquent is not always apparent--sometimes it's two parents!
351. Let's stop criticising the younger generation. If we can't keep up with them we can at least get behind them.
352. Two little girls were playing with their dolls & singing, "Safe in the Arms of Jesus." "How do you know you are safe?" asked the older sister. "Because I am holding Jesus with both my hands tight." "That's not safe," said the other. "Suppose Satan came along & cut your hands off?" The child looked troubled, dropped dolly, & thought. Suddenly her face shone with joy., "Oh, I forgot! Jesus is holding me; And Satan cannot cut off his hands, so I am safe."
353. Through Rochester, N.Y. runs the Genessee River, between steep & crooked banks. One occasion, a gentleman, who lived in the city, had just arrived by train from a journey. He was anxious to go home & meet his wife & children. He was hurrying along the streets, with a bright vision of home in his mind when he saw on the bank of the river a lot of excited men. "What is the matter?" he shouted. They replied, "A boy's in the water!" "Why don't you save him?" he asked.
In a moment, throwing down his carpet-bag & pulling off his coat, he jumped into the stream, grasped the boy in the arms, struggled with him to the shore, & as he wiped the water from his dripping face & brushed back his hair, he exclaimed, "Heaven, it is my boy!" He had plunged in for the boy of somebody else & saved his own.
354. It was Sunday morning. A father sat in his easy chair reading the Sunday newspaper. Then he said to his boy, "Put down that funny paper. Get ready for Sunday school. "Daddy, aren't you going with me?" "No, I'm not going with you, but I want you to hurry up & get ready." "daddy, did you go to Sunday school when you were a little boy like me?" "Certainly I did. I went every Sunday," said the father. Said the little fellow as he walked sadly away, "I bet it won't do me any good, either!"
355. What imitators are little children! A small girl watched, with absorbing interest, everything which was happening at mother's card party. She observed how mother was dressed; how she dealt the cards; how the women drank cocktails, & how freely they smoked cigarettes! Next day, the little girl gathered her playmates together to "play party". She dressed herself in some of her mother's clothes. Slipping into her mother's room, she got mother's package of cigarettes. Returning to her little playmates, she put a cigarette in her mouth, struck a match, &, in lighting the cigarette, she accidentally ignited the over-size dress she was wearing. Instantly she became a "human torch!" A few hours later, her little charred body lay still in death! As she died, she gasped, "I did like mother, & it killed me!"
356. Juvenile delinquency is no mystery. Mama is so busy keeping up with the Joneses & Papa is so busy keeping up with Mama that neither of them has any time left for keeping up with John & Mary.
357. A boy's mind is a wonderful thing. It starts working the minute he gets up, & never stops until he gets to school.
358. The frightening thing about heredity & environment is that parents provide both.
359. Before dealing too harshly with our teenagers, let's remember who reared them.
360. I once attended a convention in Atlanta, Ga., & heard a speaker tell this true story in illustration of her address on stewardship. A woman in the congregation to which the speaker belonged took her two small children one Saturday afternoon to a matinee to see Maude Adams in Peter Pan. The tickets were priced at "2.50 each . The children saw their mother open her purse, take out seven one dollar bills, pile them on the shelf, put a 50 cent piece on the pile of bills, push all under the window, take the three little pieces of cardboard & lead them into the theater to their seats. The next day she took her little daughter to church with her. When the offering was taken, the child saw her mother open her purse, take out a quarter, & put it on the plate as it passed them. As the organ played the soft, religious music, the little daughter looked up into her mother's face, & said in a clear stage whisper which everyone around them could hear, "Mother! Church comes a heap cheaper than matinees, doesn't it?"
361. A young father was pushing a baby buggy down the street. He seemed to be unruffled by the bawling of the baby & softly said, "Easy, Albert! Control yourself! Keep calm!" The baby bawled more loudly. "Now, now, Albert, keep your temper!" the father went on. A mother, passing by, said, "I must congratulate you on your self-control. You surely know how to speak to a baby--calmly & gently!" She patted the crying baby on the head, & asked soothingly, "What's wrong, Albert?" "No, no!" exclaimed the father, "the baby's name is Johnny. I'm Albert!"
362. Years ago, out in the country, we knew a girl in her teens who had measles in winter-time. She was put to bed, but was not very sick. Her parents had to drive to town on business. They gave her strict orders to stay in bed & keep warm, but left her with some misgivings, for she was a willful child & had never learned to obey. As soon as they were gone she thought of something she wanted from the unheated upstairs, & in spite of what her parents had commanded, she got out of bed & went up in only her night clothes. Several days later we conducted her funeral, for she had contracted pneumonia & died. We recalled the words of a famous children's specialist: "When it comes to serious illness, the child who has been taught to obey stands four times the chance of recovery that the spoiled & undisciplined child does."
363. A distressed father said to his teenage daughter, "Young lady, either that dress is too short or you're not in it far enough."
364. To keep a small boy out of the cookie jar, lock it & hide the key under a cake of soap.
365. Many modern dads worry more about their golf swing than they do their offspring.
366. The worst danger that confronts the younger generation is the example set by the older generation.
367. Some years ago in a manufacturing town of Scotland a young lady applied to the superintendent of a Sunday school for a class. At his suggestions she gathered a class of poor boys. The superintendent told them to come to his house during the week & he would get them each a new suit of clothes. They came, & each was nicely fitted out.
The worst & most unpromising boy in the class was a lad named Bob. After two or three Sundays he was missing & the teacher went out to hunt him up. She found that his new clothes were torn & dirty, but she invited him back to the school, & he came. The superintendent gave him a second new suit, but, after attending once or twice, Bob was again absent. Once again she sought him out, only to find that the second suit had gone the way of the first.
"I am utterly discouraged with Bob," she said, when she reported the case to the superintendent, "& I must give him up."
"Please don't do that," the superintendent replied. "I can't but hope there is something good in Bob. Try him once more. I'll give him a third suit if he'll promise to attend regularly."
Bob did promise, & received his third new suit. He attended regularly after that, & became interested in the school. He became an earnest & persevering seeker after Jesus, & found Him. He joined the church. He was made a teacher. He studied for the ministry. The end of the story is that this discouraging boy--forlorn, ragged, runaway Bob--became Robert Morrison, the great missionary to China who translated the Bible into the Chinese language, & by so doing, opened the kingdom of heaven to the teeming millions of that vast country.
368. Old men declare wars, but it is youth that must fight them.
369. One of the advantages of being young is that you don't let common sense get in the way of doing things everybody else knows are impossible.
370. What kids need today is plenty of LSD--Love, Security, & Discipline.
371. People who wonder where this generation is headed will do well to consider where it came from.
372. One father was complaining in the presence of another father of the fact that his son was costing him so much. He had to have money for clothes, books, carfare, lunch, etc. It was a burden.
The other father remarked, "My son does not cost me a dollar. I wish I could spend something on him."
"Why doesn't your son cost you?"
"Because," replied the second father, "we lost him a few months ago."
373. A minister who was walking along a road saw a crowd of boys surrounding a dog. "What are you doing with the dog?" asked the kindly minister.
"Whoever tells the biggest lie, he wins the dong."
"Oh, my, my, my," exclaimed the minister, "when I was a little boy like you here I never told a lie."
There was a moment's silence. "Here," said one of the little fellows, "you win the dog."
374. A small boy observed his mother put a penny on the offering plate at the morning service. On the way home from church, she freely criticized the poor sermon they had heard. "But, Mother," said the boy, "what could you expect for a penny?"
375. A boy was in danger of being drowned while bathing in a river. Seeing a traveller on the bank, he called to him for help; but the man started to lecture him on his rashness. "Rescue me now," cried the boy: "you can lecture me later on when I am safe."
376. If Shakespeare came back today, a lexicographer claims, he would understand only five of every nine words spoken. Few modern parents can do that well.
377. It was a dark, stormy night, & a little child, lost in the streets of the city, was crying in distress. A policeman, gathering from the child's statement enough to locate the home, gave directions after this manner: "Just go down this street half a mile, turn & cross the big iron bridge, then turn to your right & follow the river down a little way, & you'll see then where you are." The poor child only half comprehending, chilled by the wind, & bewildered by the storm, was turning about blindly, when another voice spoke & said in a kindly tone, "Just come with me." The little hand was clasped in a stronger one, & the corner of a warm cloak was thrown over the shoulders of the shivering child. The way home was made easy. The first one had told the way; this one condescends to be the way.
378. some members of the younger generation believe that elbow grease is a petroleum product.
379. At a certain period in the life of every youth, he wonders how such dull parents produced such a bright child.
380. Our tastes change as we mature. Little girls like painted dolls; little boys like soldiers. When they grow up, the girls like the soldiers & the boys like the painted dolls.
381. The time to start worrying about a boy is when he leaves the house without slamming the door.
382. A disgruntled school-teacher handed in her resignation with the following comment: "In our public schools today, the teachers are afraid of the Principals, the Principals are afraid of the superintendents, the superintendents are afraid of the board, the board members are afraid of the parents, the parents are afraid of the children, & the children are afraid of nobody." (Eph.6:1-4; Col.3:20).
383. A small child was taken to a cathedral. She sat watching the sunshine through the windows. She asked her mother, "What are these people on the windows?" "They are saints," was the answer. Then the child said, "Now I know what saints are. They are people who let the light shine through."
384. In the nursery the children were talking rather loudly, & mother went in & asked what they were quarrelling about. "We're not quarrelling, mother," said the eldest, "we're just playing 'Daddy & Mummy'."
385. A woman sat by a hearthside place
Reading a book with a pleasant face,
Till a child came up with a childish frown
And pushed the book saying, "Put it down."
Then the mother, slapping his curly head,
Said, "Troublesome child, go off to bed;
A great deal of God's Book I must know
To train you up as a child should go."
And the child went off to bed to cry
And denounce religion--by & by.
Another woman bent o'er a book
With a smile of joy & an intent look,
Till a child came up & joggled her knee,
And said of the book, "Put it down--take me."
Then the mother signed as she stroked his head,
Saying softly, "I never shall get it read;
But I'll try by loving to learn His Will,
And His Love into my child instill."
That child went to bed without a sigh
And will love her Jesus--by & by.
--Aquilla Webb
386. If the younger generation doesn't know where it's going, it must be following in its father's footsteps.
387. Young folks of today have the disadvantage of having too many advantages.
388. Good tools do not make an excellent teacher, but an excellent teacher makes good use of tools.
389. Kindling of interest is the great function of the teacher. People sometimes say, "I should like to teach if only pupils cared to learn." But then, there would be little need of teaching.
390. Martin Luther warned, "I am much afraid that the universities will prove to be the great gates to Hell, unless they diligently labour to explain the Holy Scriptures & to engrave them upon the hearts of youth. I advise no one to place his child where the Scriptures do not reign paramount. Every institution where they are not unceasingly occupied with the Word of God must become corrupt.
391. The teacher was trying to impress on the children how important had been the discovery of the law of gravitation. "Sir Isaac Newton was sitting on the ground, looking at the tree," she said, "an apple fell on his head, & from that he discovered gravitation. Just think, children," she added enthusiastically, "isn't that wonderful?"
The inevitable small boy replied, "Yes, an' if he had been settin' in school lookin' at his books, he wouldn't never have discovered nothin'!"
392. "Nobody likes me at school," said the son. "The teachers don't, & the kids don't. The superintendent wants to transfer me, the bus driver hates me, & the custodians have it in for me, I don't want to go."
"You have to go," insisted the mother. "You're healthy. You have a lot to learn. You've got something to offer others. You are a leader. Besides, you are 49 years old. You're the principal, & you have to go to school."
393. Perhaps the most incisive story about the progressive method is the one about the school psychologist who is putting a young girl through a series of tests to determine her intellectual fitness.
"Now first," said the psychologist, "are you a boy or a girl?"
"A boy," said the girl promptly.
"Well," said the psychologist, taken aback, "that's interesting. And what are you going to be when you grow up?"
"A father," said the child.
"But darling," interrupted her mother, "you know better than that. Why do you say such things to the doctor?"
"Because," said the child in all seriousness, "if he's going to ask silly questions, I'm going to give silly answers."
394. Mary had a little cold, but wouldn't stay at home,
And everywhere that Mary went, the cold was sure to roam.
It wandered into Molly's eyes & filled them full of tears;
It jumped from there to Bobby's nose, & thence to Jimmie's ears.
It painted Anna's throat bright red, & swelled poor Jennie's head.
Dora had a fever, & a cough put Jack to bed.
The moral of this little tale is very quickly said--
Mary could have saved great pain with just one day in bed!
395. Little Eldon, fretting at the teacher's assignment asked skeptically, "Do you get paid for teaching us?"
The teacher smiled, "Yes."
Puzzled, the boy exclaimed, "That's funny! We do all the work!"
396. Dr. Percival, a busy surgeon, was a Christian. He had one daughter, Kitty, whom he loved devotedly. One day she came to her father & told him she was going as a missionary to China. He said, "Kitty, I forbid you ever to get out of my sight." At last she gave up plans for going, & married. She had two darling children.
I lived next door to Dr. Percival. One day he told me that he had to give up his surgeon's license because of the condition of his eyes. Later he had to have an operation on his eyes. When the bandages were taken from them, his doctor said, "In two weeks you will be totally blind."
Dr. Percival sent for Kitty & the babies to come. He carefully felt their faces & seemed to get a mental picture of them in his fingertips. He took me out into the light to "look at his pastor". It was a sad day in our block, & everyone was weeping.
Months later I went out to lunch with Dr. Percival. I had to help feed him. As he walked home I could see that he wanted to say something. "Say it, Doctor," I said. He said, "Tucker, I told Kitty that she could never go out of my sight, but God has taken her from my sight. Wherever you go, plead with parents to keep out of the way when God calls their children into His Service."
397. A sociable professor with grown children, living near us, was raking his front yard, when a group of neighborhood children happened by & offered to help. From time to time the professor made interesting comments & sustained their interest to such an extent that when the job was done each child said, "Thank you for letting me help."
Next morning early, the professor's doorbell rang. His wife opened the door to a five-year-old girl, one of the helpers of the previous day. the little girl smiled & said shyly, "Can he come out to play?"
398. When the small daughter of the distinguished sculptress, Sally James Farnum, was asked which child was her mother's favourite, the little girl, according to Francis Newton in "This Week", promptly replied: "She loves Jimmy best because he's the oldest; & she loves Johnny best because he's the youngest; & she loves me best because I'm the only girl!" It would be difficult to find anything which could more lucidly explain God's all-enveloping love for His children. No matter to what heights you have risen or to what depths you have fallen, God loves you best because of some characteristic personal quality which, while it may not be apparent to your fellow men, is known & cherished by your Heavenly Father.
399. A small child's world is a wonderful place,
Filled with God's Love, & adorned with His Grace.
There, so much faith & trust can be found,
No voices of doubt dare utter a sound.
No thought's taken, nor cares for the way,
As they romp hand in hand in childish play.
With joy in their hearts, their spirits are light.
They see so much good, that the bad takes to flight.
They quickly forget the harm that's been done,
And give tender pardon when they've suffered wrong.
Their love can't be quenched, whatever you do,
For they love without doubting that you love them too!
They're God's little spirits sent down from Above,
To help me & guide me in pathways of Love!
I watch them & marvel, feel helpless at best,
To equal their pureness, partake of their zest.
I look on with envy, but feel there's no way,
To be part of their world, oh, try though I may!
But then my sweet children take my hand in theirs,
And somewhere within me, my childhood stirs.
And then as I follow these little ones' lead,
I'm freed from life's cares & learn faith's simple creed.
They love me no matter if I'm out of sorts,
And share with me dreams to which children resort.
My world now, too, is a wonderful place,
Since He's filled it with children who show me His grace.
--by Seek
400. Psychologists tell us that it is detrimental to be an orphan; a disadvantage to be the only child; crushing to be the middle child; & taxing to be the oldest child. Obviously, the only way out of the dilemma is to be born an adult!
401. The class had been reading the story of Moses. Afterward one boy asked, "Did Moses have the same after-dinner illness my po's got?"
Puzzled the teacher asked him what he meant.
"Well," he said, "it says here the Lord gave Moses two tablets."
402. As tender mothers guiding baby steps
Where places come at which the tiny feet
Would trip, lift up the little ones in arms
Of love, & set them down beyond all harm,--
So did our Father watch the precious boy,
Led o'er the stones by me, who stumbled often
Myself, but strove to help my darling on:
He saw the sweet limbs faltering, & saw
Rough ways before us, where my arms would fail;
So reached from Heaven, lifting the dear child,
Who smiled in leaving me; He put him down,
Beyond all hurt, beyond my sight, & bade
Him wait for me! Shall I not then be glad,
And, thanking God, press on to overtake?
403. God lent him to me for my very own,
Let me become his father, me alone!
Gave him to me not for an hour--for years!
('Tis gratefulness gleams in my eyes, not tears.)
No joy that fathers know but it was mine,
And fathering that laddie strong & fine.
Time after time I said: 'Tis but a dream;
I shall wake to find things only seem
Grand as they are.' Yet still he lingered on
Till year on sweeter year had come & gone.
My heart is filled forever with a song,
Because God let me have my lad so long.
He was my own until I full knew
And never could forget how deep & true
A father's love for his own son may be.
It drew me nearer God Himself; for He
Has loved His Son. (These are but grateful tears--
That he was with me all those happy years!)
--Strickland Gililan
404. Teenagers haven't changed very much. They still grow up, leave home, & get married. The big difference is that today they don't always do it in that order.
405. He built a house; time laid it in the dust;
He wrote a book, its title now forgot;
He ruled a city, but his name is not
On any table graven, or where rust
Can gather from disuse, or marble bust.
He took a child from out a wretched cot,
Who on the state dishonor might have brought,
And reared him to be the Christian's hope & trust.
The boy, to manhood grown, became a light
To many souls, & preached for human need
The wondrous love of the Omnipotent.
The work has multiplied like stars at night
When darkness deepens; every noble deed
Lasts longer than a granite monument.
--Ray M. Johnson
406. Lord, who am I to teach the way
To little children day by day,
So prone myself to go astray?
I teach them KNOWLEDGE, but I know
How faint they flicker & how low
The candles of my knowledge glow.
I teach them POWER to will & do,
But only now to learn anew
My own great weakness through & through.
I teach them LOVE for all mankind
And all God's creatures, but I find
My love comes lagging far behind.
Lord, if their guide I still must be,
Oh, let the little children see
The teacher leaning hard on Thee.
--Leslie Pinckney Hill
407. Those dear, little feet that pattered upstairs
Each day at the set of sun,
Are pattering now the golden streets
With life's short journey done.
And the chubby, pink hands that clasped each night
On the breast of my darling child;
and the dear little lips, that lisped in prayer;
And the innocent eyes that smiled:
These are my treasures laid up on high--
With Christ--in that blest retreat,
How sweet shall sound when I enter Heav'n
The patter of little feet.
--M. J. Scott
408. I really had a battle all day long, but my High School kids finally got to where they respected me & appreciated me & some of them even cried when I left! The worst boy in the outfit was handsome, smart & rich & I had more trouble with him than anybody & I had to keep him in for lunch or for recess, & that was as hard on me as it was on him! I gave him so many lectures & Bible verses to learn! And when I was leaving the school he came up & handed me a gift, crying that I was leaving. "On our most uncomely parts we do bestow the most care." (1Cor.12:23) He was the worst troublemaker of all & I spent the most time with him & took the most trouble with him. but he knew I loved him, I prayed with him so often!--Dad
409. admitting one's own mistakes--even when one hasn't corrected them--can help convince somebody to change his behaviour. This was illustrated by Clarence Zerhusen of Timonium, Maryland, when he discovered his fifteen-year-old son was experimenting with cigarettes.
"Naturally, I didn't want David to smoke," Mr. Zerhusen told us, "but his mother & I smoked cigarettes; we were giving him a bad example all the time. I explained to Dave how I started smoking at about his age & how the nicotine had gotten the best of me & not it was nearly impossible for me to stop. I reminded him how irritating my cough was & how he had been after me to give up cigarettes not many years before.
"I didn't exhort him to stop or make threats or warn him about their dangers. All I did was point out how I was hooked on cigarettes & what it had meant to me.
"He thought about it for awhile & decided he wouldn't smoke until he had graduated from high school. As the years went by David never did start smoking & has no intention of ever doing so.
"As a result of that conversation I made the decision to stop smoking cigarettes myself, & with the support of my family, I have succeeded."
A good leader follows this principle: Talk about your own mistakes before criticizing the other person.
410. I had gone to the mountains to preach at a little Indian church that Sunday, & I was to show pictures there that Sunday evening. It was a long rough mountain ride over gravel roads in my old Ford, but I made it! After the Sunday A.M. service, I ate Sunday Mexican dinner with this precious little Indian family & their lovely daughter.
But just before the evening church service I phoned home--to tell Mom I had arrived safely up there, when she said that Ho had suddenly come down with a very high fever & was just lying limp & weak on the couch, not even moving--almost like he was unconscious!
She said that some people from our church there wanted to rush him to the hospital quickly, that maybe he was dying, maybe he had polio, maybe this, that or the other!--You know how some people panic!--So Mom wanted to know, "Do you think maybe you ought to come home?"
But I said, "Honey, I'm here on the Lord's work--& about to have an evening service, I don't think it is God's will for me to forsake this work. I'm on the wall like Nehemiah, & I don't think it is God's will for me to come down! (Neh.6:3) I think it's an attack of the Enemy to try to defeat God's work!--So I'm going to pray right now for him over the phone. You lay hands on him & I'll pray for him, & we'll just trust the Lord & believe, no matter what happens, that the Lord wants me to go ahead & take care of His Work, & God will take care of him!"--And so we prayed desperately together over the phone & just put him in God's hands & hung up, as I had to hurry on to church.--What a test of faith! (1Pe.1:7)
It was a very important preaching engagement at this Indian church, because the Indians were neglected there & the White people didn't care much about them, & if I had suddenly run out on them, they might have felt that I thought our little boy's sickness was more important than preaching the Gospel to all those Indians--a whole tribe! So I just prayed & committed him to the Lord, & trusted the Lord that He was going to touch him.
So right away after the meeting I phoned Mom back again, & she said that between the two phone calls his fever had broken & he was sitting up smiling & happy & looking better & feeling better!--The Lord had really touched him! so it was really a testimony to the little Indian village family too, that the Lord had really touched him!
I got home somewhere around midnight, & he was sleeping peacefully & the fever was completely gone!--Dad
411. If human life can be taken before birth, there is no logical reason why it cannot be taken after birth.
412. Happy is the home when God is there,
And love fills every breast:
When one their wish, one their prayer.
And one their heavenly rest.
Happy the home where Jesus' name
Is sweet to every ear;
Where children early lisp His fame
And parents hold Him dear.
Happy the home where prayer is heard,
And praise is wont to rise;
Where parents love the sacred Word,
And live for the heavenly prize.
Lord, let us in our homes agree,
This blessed home to gain;
Unite our hearts in love to thee,
And love to all will reign.
413. The ceaseless round of little things
Which every dawning brings--
'Tis this, which makes my sum of care
'Tis this, I pray for strength to bear.
Lord, help me through it all to see
How much my duties bring to me.
These never ending tasks I face
Which sometimes seem so commonplace,
The beds I make to make again,
The little windows splashed with rain,
The floors I sweep, the chairs I dust,--
All these I do because I must.
The little garments I repair
And make them fit once more to wear,
The meals I get, the rows and rows
Of dishes every woman knows;
'Tis these, dear Lord, that make me doubt
And fear they'll wear my patience out.
Lord, keep my vision sweet and clear
When irksome days grow dark and drear;
Still let me see their eyes aglow
With love that shall be mine to know;
Help me to sing each morning through,
Because such tasks are mine to do.
For them I sew, for them I bake,
For them these endless pains I take;
Help me to see in ,Ill I touch The little hearts I love so much,
And understand ('tis all I ask)
The meaning of each little task.
-Edgar A. Guest
414. A fatal accident, involving the lives of four young people, took place upon one of the nation's highways. The evidence that the liquor was the culprit was found in the broken whisky bottles among the debris and mangled bodies of the four youthful victims. The father of one of the girls in frenzied anguish over the untimely death of his beautiful daughter threatened to kill the one who had provided the four young people with liquor, but upon going to the cupboard where he kept his supply of choice beverages, he found a note in his daughter's hand-writing, "Dad, we're taking along some of your good liquor--I know you won't mind."
415. A boy, 12 years old, was the important witness in a law suit, one of the lawyers, after cross-questioning him severely, said, "Your father has been telling You how to testify, hasn't he?" "Yes," said the boy. "Now," said the lawyer, "just tell us how your father told you to testify." "Well!" said the boy modestly, "Father told me the lawyers would try to tangle me in my testimony; but if I would just be careful & tell the truth, I could tell the same thing every time."
416. "If we knew the little fingers
Pressed against the window pane,
Would be cold & quiet tomorrow,
Never trouble us again,--
Would the bright eyes of our darling
Catch the frown upon our brow?
Would the prints of rosy fingers
Vex us then, as they do now?
"Ah, those little lifeless fingers--
How they point our memories back
To the hasty words & actions
Strewn along our backward track!
How those little hands remind us,
As in snowy grace they lie,
Not to scatter thorns, but roses,
For our reaping by & by."
--R.T. Cross
417. A young man had been extremely profane, & thought little of it. After his marriage to a lovely Christian girl the habit appeared to him in a different light, & he made spasmodic efforts to conquer it. But not until some years had passed did he become victor, when the evil was set before him by a little incident. One Sunday morning as he stood before his mirror shaving he inflicted a slight cut &, true to fixed habit, he blurted out the single word, "God!" He was not a little chagrined when he saw reflected in the mirror the pretty image of his three-year-old daughter. Hastily laying down her doll, she exclaimed as she looked expectantly about the room. "Is God here?" Blushing & ashamed, the father said, "Why do you ask that?" "I thought He must be 'cause I heard you speak to Him!" said the child. Then, noticing the sober look on his face, she added, "Call Him again, Daddy; I know He'll come!" The child's trusting words cut to the heart. He caught her up in his arms & for the first time in his life asked God to forgive him & to make him a real Christian from that time forward.
418. Paul was then a lad of ten. Moody was holding meetings in Denver, Col. Little Paul wanted so badly to hear Mr. Moody preach. At the door the usher
419. A father, reading his Sunday paper & wishing not to be disturbed by his little girl, but up a map of the World, gave it to her, & told her to put it together. After awhile she returned with it & every piece was in its place. The father was very much surprised & said: "Why, how did you do it, darling? You don't know anything about geography." The little one replied, "There was a picture of Jesus on the other side, & I knew when I had Jesus in the right place, the whole World would be all right!"
420. A father had told his son he would send him to sleep in the attic, with only bread & water for his supper, if he broke the laws of the home once more. The child disobeyed again & was sent to the attic.
The father could not eat. He had the boy on his mind & his heart. His wife said: "I know what you are thinking. But you must not bring the boy from the attic. It would clause him to disobey again. He would have no respect for your word. You must not cheapen your relation as his father by failing to keep your promise."
To which her husband replied: "You are right. I will not break my word. To do so would cause my son to lose his respect for my word. But he is so lonely up there." He kissed his wife good night, entered the attic, ate bread & water with the boy, & when the child went to sleep on the hard boards, his father's arm was his pillow.
He who knew no sin suffered for the sinner.
421. Voice over the phone: "I sent my little son, James, to your store for five pounds of apples, & i find on weighing them that you sent only four & a quarter pounds." The Grocer: "Madam, my scales are regularly inspected & are correct. Have you weighed your little boy?"
422. "Joseph was the boy who never had a cold neck," the boy told his mother when she quizzed him about the Sunday school lesson. "How do you know that?" mother asked. "Because," replied the lad, "Joseph had a coat of many collars."
423. A little waif of the streets was admitted to a children's home. He was offered a new outfit, & took a boy's pride in getting a new suit, new stockings, new boots. But when they offered him a new capital he wanted to cling to the old, ragged one he held in his hand. When obliged to part with it, it was noticed by the kindly Sister that he tore out its lining & stuffed it in his pocket. "Why did you do that?" asked the Sister. "Because," he said, with tears in his eyes, "the lining of my old capital was part of my mother's dress. It is all I've got left of her, & somehow it seems to bring her back."
424. a boy once asked, "Dad, how do wars begin?" "Well, take the First World War," said his father. "That got started when Germany invaded Belgium." Immediately his wife interrupted him. "Tell the boy the truth. It began because somebody was murdered." The husband drew himself up with an air of superiority & snapped back, "Are you answering the question or am I?"
Turning her back upon him in a huff, the wife walked out of the room & slammed the door as hard as she could. When the dishes stopped rattling in the cupboard, an uneasy silence followed, broken at length by the son. "Daddy, you don't have to tell me how wars begin; I know now!"
425. A man went to steal corn from his neighbor's field. He took his little boy with him to keep a lookout, so as to give warning in case anyone should come along. Before commencing he looked all around, first one way & then the other. Not seeing any person, he was just about to fill his bag, when his son cried out, "Father, there is one way you haven't looked yet!" The father supposed that someone was coming, & asked his son which way he meant. He answered, "You forgot to look up!" The father, conscience-stricken, took his boy by the hand, & hurried home without the corn which he had designed to take.
426. Some years ago, in a St. Louis murder trial, a young criminal said: "My father always said I was no good. Mother said I'd never amount to anything. The school teachers told me I was no account. Even my own home town never expected me to be anything but a criminal. I always wondered why, for, as far as I could see, I was just like other boys, only a bit more independent. The only creature that ever really seemed to understand or believe in me was my dog. When he died, I became a bum!"
427. Folks are queer as they can be,
Always sayin' "don't" to me;
Don't do this an' don't do that.
Don't annoy or tease the cat,
Don't throw stones, or climb a tree,
Don't play in the road. Oh, me!
Seems like when I want to play
"Don't" is all that they can say.
If I start to have some fun,
Someone hollers, "Don't you run!"
If I want to go an' play
Mother says: "Don't go away."
Seems my life is filled clear through
With the things I mustn't do.
All the time I'm shouted at:
"No, no, Sonny, don't do that!"
Don't shout so an' make a noise,
don't play with those naughty boys,
Don't eat candy, don't eat pie,
Don't you laugh & don't you cry,
Don't stand up & don't you fall,
Don't do anything at all.
Seems to me both night an' day
"Don't" is all that they can say.
When I'm older in my ways
An' have little boys to raise,
Bet I'll let 'em race an' run
An' not always spoil their fun;
I'll not tell 'em all along
Everything they like is wrong;
An' you bet your life I won't
All the time be sayin' "don't."
--Edgar A. Guest
428. There is a tradition that Jonathan Edwards, third president of Princeton & America's greatest thinker, had a daughter with an ungovernable temper. But, as is so often the case, this infirmity was not known to the outside world.
A worthy young man fell in love with this daughter & sought her hand in marriage. "You don't have her," was the abrupt answer of Jonathan Edwards. "But I love her," the young man replied. "You can't have her," said Edwards. "But she loves me," replied the young man.
Again Edwards said, "You can't have her." "Why?" said the young man. "Because she is not worthy of you." "But," he asked, "she is a Christian, is she not?" "Yes, she is a Christian, but the grace of God can live with some people with whom no one else could ever live."
429. The new minister was a bachelor, & when he helped himself to the biscuits for the third time he looked across the table at the hostess' small daughter. She was staring at him with round eyes. "I don't often have such a good supper as this, my dear," he told her. "We don't either," said the little girl. "I'm glad you came!"
430. For 120 years Noah preached the Gospel; tell me, how many conversions did he get? Seven. Who were Noah's converts? They were his wife & family. The place where the reality of a man's religion is tested the most is in his own home.
431. An old man, going a lone highway,
Came at the evening, cold & gray,
To a chasm vast & deep & wide,
Through which was flowing a raging tide.
The old man crossed in the twilight dim;
The sullen stream had no fears for him;
But he turned when safe on the other side,
And built a bridge to span the tide.
"Old man," said a fellow-pilgrim near,
"You are wasting your strength with building here;
Your journey will end with the closing day;
You never again will pass this way.
You've crossed the chasm deep & wide.
Why build you this bridge at eventide?"
the builder lifted his old gray head.
"Good friend, in the path I have come," he said,
"There followeth after me today
A youth whose feet must pass this way.
This chasm which has been as naught to me,
To that fair haired youth may a pitfall be;
He, too, must cross in the twilight dim;
Good friend, I am building this bridge for him."
432. A spot is pointed out at Niagara Falls from which a father threw his little girl headlong into the seething torrent, without having the slightest thought of doing so. He took her in his arms & gave her a playful swing out over the abyss merely to see if it would frighten her.
The child in a paroxysm of fear, gave a sudden jerk & fell with a shriek into the great abyss. You say he had no business to trifle with her in that way. No more have you a right to trifle with your soul by swinging it out in foolish indifference over the great chasm of eternity.
433. Down in Jackson, Mississippi, three boys arrived in school late. It was as late as 10:00 a.m. They had been fishing. For their excuse they stated that they were delayed because of a flat tire. The teacher decided to give them a test immediately, so she had them seated apart from one another. She said, "This test will have only one question, & I will give you thirty seconds to put down your answer." The question was, "Which tire?"
The teacher was pretty sharp. There is no question as to the result of the test. The boys were shown to be liars.
434. The boy was standing before the judge of a juvenile court charged with a crime that had shocked the entire community & had brought grief & misery to his parents. "Where did you get the idea of committing such a deed?" asked the judge. "I read it," replied the lad simply. The judge hesitated a moment, then turned & addressed the boy's father, "Did you ever take the pains to examine the literature your boy was reading?" "Why-er, no--that is, it never occurred to me," responded the man, cut to the quick by the question. Who was to blame? Do you--teacher, mother, father--realise the tremendous influence on a character building that is represented by the literature that is falling into the hands of your boys & girls?
435. On an occasion when the teacher let the children "draw" the Bible story they had heard, one little boy drew the picture of an airplane with a pilot in the front seat. The passengers were a man, woman & baby. When asked to tell about his picture, he said, "This is Pontius the pilot taking Mary & Joseph & Baby Jesus on a flight out of Egypt."
436. Mrs. Brown was shocked to learn that Junior had told a lie. Taking the youngster aside for a heart-to-heart talk, she graphically explained the consequences of falsehood.
"A tall black man with red fiery eyes & two sharp horns grabs little boys who tell lies & carries them off at night. He takes them to Mars where they have to work in a dark canyon for fifty years! Now," she concluded, satisfied, "you won't tell a lie again, will you, dear?"
"No, Mom," replied Junior gravely. "You tell better ones."
437. My Lord, I do not ask to stand
As king or prince of high degree;
I only pray that hand in hand
A child & I may come to Thee.
To teach a tender voice to pray,
Two childish eyes Thy face to see,
Two feet to guide in Thy straight way--
This fervently I ask of Thee.
O grant Thy patience to impart
Thy holy law, Thy words of truth;
Give, Lord, Thy grace that my whole heart
May overflow with love for youth.
As step by step we tread the way,
Trusting, & confident, & free--
A child & I, day by day,
Find sweet companionship with Thee.
438. A little five-year-old girl had been attending the church kindergarten. Each day before the children were dismissed, the teacher had them sing the Doxology, which the little five-year-old loved to sing, but in her own words: "Praise God from whom all blessings flow, Praise Him all creatures, here we go!"
439. One day a mother noticed that her little girl was in her room a long, long time & she had said she was going in to pray to Jesus. Finally, when the little girl came out her mother asked her what she was doing in her room for such a long time when she had just gone in to pray.
"I was just telling Jesus that I love Him & He was telling me that He loves me. And we were just loving each other."
440. A kindergarten-age lad was deeply grieved because his tiger cat had just died. His mother helped the boy put the cat in a box & bury it. Some weeks later the lad came running into the house excitedly, urging his mother to go outside with him & look up into the tree. Looking down at the boy & his mother was a tiger cat a little larger than the one that had died, but marked the same way. "There he is, Mommy," the boy said. "See? I planted Tiger & he just growed up!"
441. Jesus, tender Shepherd, hear me;
Bless Thy little lamb tonight;
Through the darkness be Thou near me,
Watch my sleep till morning light.
All this day Thy hand has led her,
And I thank Thee for Thy care;
Thou hast cloth'd & warm'd & fed me;
Listen to my evening prayer.
Let my sins be all forgiven!
Bless the friends I love so well!
Take me, when I die, to Heaven;
Happy, there with Thee to dwell.
--Mary Lundi Duncan
442. I could know
Wonders wild
If I could grow
Up to a child.
It is no myth
That a child can unfence
Paradise with
Its innocence.
An eager child
Will breathlessly push
Through jungles wild
In a backyard bush.
It will begin
Exploring for new
Edens in
Each drop of dew.
A man has not
Child's gift for this
Being what
It really is.
A child leaps free
From what it seems:
A child can be
The thing it dreams.
--Louse Ginsberg
443. The other day I was walking with Nina, our 3-year-old, down strange steps. She was walking very shakily, so I said, "Nina, watch your steps!" She said, "Daddy, these are not MY steps, they are somebody ELSE'S steps!"--Hez & Mary.
444. Praise does wonders for a child's hearing.
445. Mark Twain was a distinguished-looking figure in his later years. One day he was strolling in the park when a little girl pattered up to him & asked if she could walk with him. Highly flattered, Twain told her stories for an hour, then gave her a nickel & said, "Now run along home--& when you grow up you can tell your friends you once walked with Mark Twain." "Mark Twain!" echoed the little girl, bursting into tears. "I thought you were Buffalo Bill!"
446. When he was only nine months old,
And plump & round & pink of cheek,
A joy to tickle & to hold
Before he'd even learned to speak,
His gentle mother used to say:
"It is too bad that he must grow.
If I could only have my way
His baby ways we'd always know."
And then the year was turned, & he
Began to toddle round the floor
And name the things that he could see
And soil the dresses that he wore.
Then many a night she whispered low:
"Our baby now is such a joy
I hate to think that he must grow
To be a wild & heedless boy."
But on he went & sweeter grow,
And then his mother, I recall,
Wished she could keep him always two,
For that's the finest age of all.
she thought the selfsame thing at three,
And now that he is four, she sighs
To think he cannot always be
The youngster with the laughing eyes.
Oh, little boy, my wish is not
Always to keep you four-years-old.
Each night I stand beside your cot
And think of what the years may hold;
And looking down on you I pray
That when we've lost our baby small,
The mother of our man will say
"This is the finest age of all."
--Edgar Guest
447. "How much do babies cost?" said he
The other night upon my knee;
And then I said; "They cost a lot;
A lot of watching by a cot,
A lot of sleepless hours & care,
A lot of heart-ache & despair,
A lot of fear & trying dread,
And sometimes many tears are shed
In payment for our babies small,
But everyone is worth it all.
"For babies people have to pay
A heavy price from day to day--
There is no way to get one cheap.
Why, sometimes when they're fast asleep
You have to get up in the night
And go & see that they're all right.
But what they cost in constant care
And worry, does not half compare
With what they bring of joy & bliss--
You'd pay much more for just a kiss.
448. There are three children in my family. If they were to confront a spider web in the garden, each would react differently. The first child would examine the web & wonder how the spider wove it. The second would worry a great deal about where the spider was at that particular moment. And the third would exclaim, "Oh, look! A trampoline!" One reality, three dimensions.
449. A college student in his four years does not make proportionately a fraction of the progress the well-trained infant does in his first two years.
450. I thought myself, indeed secure
So fast the door, so firm the lock;
But, lo! he toddling comes to lure
My parent each with timorous knock.
Who knows but in eternity
I, like a truant child, shall wait
The glories of a life to be,
Beyond the Heavenly Father's gate?
And will that Heavenly Father heed
The truant's supplicating cry,
As at the outer door I plead,
"'Tis I, O Father! only I?"
My heart were stone could it withstand
The sweetness of my baby's plea--
That timorous, baby knocking &
"Please let me in--it's only me."
I threw aside the unfinished book,
Regardless of its tempting charms,
And, opening wide the door, I took
My laughing darling in my arms.
451. I wish I had two little mouths
Like my two hands & feet--
A little mouth to talk with
And one that just could eat.
Because it seems to me mouths have
So many things to do--
All the time they want to talk
They are supposed to chew!
--Dorothy Aldis
452. Far-away is very far
Like riding in a bus or car,
But near-away is near:
It's going to the kitchen or
Seeing what the doorbell's for.
And so I always try to know
WHICH away she's going to go:
If near-away then I can do
Whatever I was planning to;
If far-away then I must be
Good till she gets back to me.
--Dorothy Aldis
453. Mrs. Arthur Sulzberger, of the newspaper dynasty, was bidding a granddaughter good-night one evening when the child remarked, "Mommy & Daddy are entertaining some very important people downstairs." "You're right," agreed Mrs. Sulzberger, "But how did you know?" "Just listen," advised her granddaughter, "Mommy is laughing at all of Daddy's jokes!"
454. My sister's young son spent a weekend at a nature camp. When she went to pick him up, he told her camp was okay, but that they play tricks on you. Asked to explain, he said, "Well, like when they make you get up every morning for ravioli--& then they never give you any!"
455. I think that life has spared those mortals much--
And cheated them of more--who have not kept
A breathless vigil by the little bed
Of some beloved child; they go, it seems,
Scot-free, who have not known fear-haunted days
And nights of terror, when the dim lamp burns
And shadows menace from the waiting walls,
While life & Death, majestic, in the room
Gigantic rise above the fret & rub,
The petty prickings of small goads, & all
One has, & years to have, is, ruthless, flung
Into a fragile balance.
Hours pass
While on the thread of weary, childish breaths
The issue hangs. Then, one comes close to God,
Waiting & watching; & the hoping heart
Seems branded with the clutch of helpless hands
That leave long scars.
And when the turning tide
Bears life upon its slow, triumphant surge,--
When tortured eyes grow calm, & when a voice
Speaks feebly--but speaks again--I think
The watchers' eyes see, radiant, a dawn
Break on a newer world, a world more fair
Than ever world has seemed to them before.
God's mercy is as sunligh in the room;
And hearts that through the endless night were crushed
Between the millstones of despair & hope
Are free to sing.
Oh, life has spared so much--
and less revealed--to those who have not known
A breathless vigil by some little bed.
--Faith Baldwin
456. Bernard Shaw was enjoying a swin in a pool during a stay in South Africa; so were some boys who knew nothing of the august author. One small boy was "dared" by his playmates to "duck the old man" for a shilling. He accepted, but when he was close to his victim, panic seized him. Shaw turned, saw the youngster, & asked him what he wanted. In halting accents, the boy revealed the plot & the shilling bet. "Well," said Shaw, looking sternly at the youngster, "if you wait a moment while I get my breath, I'll let you push my head under water." He did, & the small boy swam back triumphantly to collect his shilling.
457. Never a sigh for the cares that she bore for me,
Never a thought of the joys that flew by;
Her one regret that she couldn't do more for me,
Thoughtless & selfish, her Master was I.
Oh, the long nights that she came at my call to me!
Oh, the soft touch of her hands on my brow!
Oh, the long hears that she gave up her all to me!
Oh, how I yearn for her gentleness now!
Slave to her baby! Yes, that was the way of her,
Counting her greatest of services small;
Words cannot tell what this old heart would say of her,
Mother--the sweetest & fairest of all.
458.
You can talk about your music, & your operatic airs,
And your phonographic record that Caruso's tenor bears;
But there isn't any music that such wondrous joy can bring
Like that concert when the kiddies & their mother start to sing.
When the supper time is over, then the mother starts
to play
Some simple little ditty, & our concert's under way.
And I'm happier & richer than a millionaire or king
When I listen to the kiddies & their mother as they sing.
There's a sweetness most appealing in the trilling of their notes:
It is innocence that's pouring from their little baby throats;
And I gaze at them enraptured, for my joy's a real thing
Every evening when the kiddies & their mother start to sing.
459. O Mother-My-Love, if you'll give me your hand,
And go where I ask you to wander,
I will lead you away to a beautiful land--
The Dreamland that's waiting out yonder.
We'll walk in a sweet-posie garden out there
Where moonlight & starlight are streaming
And the flowers & the birds are filling the air
With the fragrance & music of dreaming.
There'll be no little tired-out boy to undress,
No questions or cares to perplex you;
There'll be no little bruises or bumps to caress,
Nor patching of stockings to vex you.
For I'll rock you away on a silver-dew stream,
And sing you asleep when you're weary,
And no one shall know of our beautiful dream
But you & your own little dearie.
And when I an tired I'll nestle my head
In the bosom that's soothed me so often,
And the wide-awake stars shall sing in my stead
A song which our dreaming shall soften.
So, Mother-My-Love, let me take your dear hand,
And away through the starlight we'll wander--
Away through the mist to the beautiful land--
The Dreamland that's waiting out yonder!
460. The day after the circus came to town, a teacher received the following excuse for the absence of one of her pupils:
'Dear Teacher: Education, you know, is a lot of things. It is reading & writing & ciphering. It is "Yes, please" & "Yes, thanks," & 'No, thank you.' It is the washing of our hands & the use of forks. It is pencils & scissors & paste & erasers & chalk dust. It is the excitement of vacations. It is autumn bonfires & sleds & puddle-wading.
"Education is a lot of things. It is a brass band blaring & a calliope tooting, Education is a woman shot from a cannon, a man on a tight rope, a seal playing a tune with his nose. It is sideshow barkers, clowns, lions, cotton candy, cowboys & spangles. Education is the wonderment of new things new sensations. It is, in short, a circus!
"That's why Ginger wasn't in your classroom yesterday. Excuse it, please."
461. A comment was made to some of the Combo kids by one of their teachers that if they kept helping out & doing work & being a blessing, that they'd get to be on one of the higher levels of Space City. Their reply was, 'Oh that's O.K., we want to be on the bottom where all the fairs are!'--Bileam
462. David, Davida & Techi enjoy very much the MWM Drama tape containing, besides other stories, the story of 'Sophie, the Washerwoman' in the rich lady's house. After first listening to it the children were so excited, & Techi right away wanted to hear it again. "Please," she pleaded, "can we again hear the story of "Soapy, the Washerwoman'?"
463. Davida was searching through the TK book for one of her favourite Letters on the Spirit Queen of Love. When she found one she said, "Oh, there it is--Our Decoration of Love"
464. David (when 5-years-old) was looking through the encyclopedia one day & found Jesus' picture included in a group of others on a page about "Famous Men". He was quite disgusted that the book would group Jesus in with some rather weirdie-beardie types, like Confucius. He asked who Confucius was, & I read "an ancient Chinese writer & philosopher..." & David said sharply, "Well! God is not the author of Confucius!"
465. During a Christmas Flannelgraph story, I asked Techi the name of the angel who visited Mary. "Hark, the herald angel!", she answered.
466. Someone noticed Techi (3) putting her own shoes on & said, "Techi, You put Your shoes on the wrong feet!" "No," she said, "I put the wrong shoes on the right feet!"
467. One father confessed that he did not realise how dishonest he was until he learned a hard lesson. His fourth-grade son received a very low mark in spelling. In spite of scoldings & extra study it seemed his son simply could not bring up his grade. One day the lad told his teacher, "When my dad went to school he got all A's in spelling." "How do you know?" the teacher asked. "Did he tell you he did?" "No!" the boy replied, "But I know he did by the way he scolds me."
"The way I scolded my son", the father said, "I conveyed in untruth. The fact is that I, too, had a hard time in spelling. Then I told my son I also had a difficult time in spelling. Immediately I saw hope shining in his eyes. From that moment on my son did much better, By giving him the impression I got all A's I made him feel defeated. By being honest myself I gave him hope that since Dad made it, he could, too.'
468. At the Newspaper Boys Congress Dinner one little boy kept coming back again & again for pieces of pit. The coloured lady finally said to him, "Boy, if yo' don' stop eatin' pie, you's gonna bust!" The little boy said, "Well, lady, gime the pie & get outta the way!"--Dad
469. A little girl in Sunday School was asked by the teacher what else goes with the Armour of God; there's the shield of faith, the breastplate of righteousness & what else? The little girl said, "The Axe of the Apostles."
470. One of my favourite stories concerns the farmer's wife who had a brood of 9 children, She worked hard & was never ill. One day the doctor commented to her, "How is it that I have patients who have nervous breakdowns & yet they don't have as much to do as you have?" The farmer's wife looked wistful as she replied, "Doctor, I've often wanted to have a breakdown but always someone wanted me to fix a meal."
471. When Mrs. Ruth Hopkins, a fourth-grade teacher in Brooklyn, New York, looked at her class roster the first day of school, her excitement and joy of starting a new term was tinged with anxiety. In her class this year she would have Tommy T., the school's most notorious -bad boy." His third-grade teacher had constantly complained about Tommy to colleagues, the principal and anyone else who would listen. He was not just mischievous; he caused serious discipline problems in the class, picked fights with the boys. teased the girls, was fresh to the teacher, and seemed to get worse as he grew older. His only redeeming feature was his ability to learn rapidly and master the school work easily.
Mrs. Hopkins decided to face the "Tommy problem" immediately. When she greeted her new students, she made little comments to each of them: "Rose, that's a pretty dress you are wearing." "Alicia, I hear you draw beautifully." When she came to Tommy, she looked him straight in the eyes and said, "Tommy, I understand you are a natural leader. I'm going to depend on you to help me make this class the best class in the fourth grade this year." She reinforced this over the first few days by complimenting Tommy on everything he did and commenting on how this showed what a good student he was. With that reputation to live up to, even a nine-year-old couldn't let her down--and he didn't.
If you want to excel in that difficult leadership role of changing the attitude or behavior of others, give the other person a fine reputation to live up to.
472. Remember that story I told you about my Mother? She didn't like bread crusts when she was a little girl so she just ate the inside of the bread & put all the crusts around under the rim of her plate trying to hide them from her mother so they wouldn't see how she hadn't eaten the crust, And then her mother came along clearing the table, picked up the plate & here was this ring of bread crusts! She said, "Nina Virginia, aren't you ashamed of Yourself? Think of those poor starving Armenians!" She said, "Yes, Mother, that's just who I was saving them for!" --Dad
473. One businessman to another: "I finally taught my son the value of a dollar. Now he wants his weekly allowance in Swiss Francs!"
474. David & Davida are both learning about spelling now. David said, "Guess what! I can spell ,cannot'!" I thought he'd play a trick & spell the contraction "can't", but he said "k-n-o-t!"--Sara
475. Susanna (4) said while passing by a hair salon where she'd gotten her hair trimmed: "They do children's & they do adultery too!"--Isaac Numbers
476. Maria (3) was quite interested in knowing about babies & asked me how they got into my tummy. So I explained to her that when daddy makes love to Mommy he plants a seed in my tummy etc. A few days later after we had eaten oranges she grabbed a seed off the table & swallowed it. I asked, "Why did you do that?" She immediately answered, "I want to have a baby too."
477. The mother of the little boy that sleeps
Has blest assurance, even as she weeps:
She knows her little boy has now no pain--
No further ache, in body, heart or brain;
All sorrow is lulled for him--all distress
Passed into utter peace & restfulness.--
All health that heretofore has been denied--
All happiness, all hope, & ill beside
Of childish longing, now he clasps & keeps
In voiceless joy--the little boy that
sleeps.
--James Whitcomb Riley
478. Dr. R. A. Torrey told a touching story about a man in Chicago who had a sweet little daughter. He loved her dearly, but God took the little child away from him. The house was so lonely and he was so angry against God, that he walked up and down in his room far into the night cursing God for having robbed him of his child. At last, thoroughly worn out, and in great bitterness he threw himself on his bed. He dreamed he stood beside a river, Across the river, in the distance, he heard the singing of such voices as he had never listened to before. Then he saw beautiful little girls coming toward him, nearer and nearer, until at last it the head of the company, he saw his own little girl. She stood on the brink of the river and called across, "Come over here, lather!" That overcame his bitterness. He accepted Jesus and prepared to go over yonder where his sweet child had gone.
479. Our children must know the Scriptures so they can quote them when they're in trouble & when all they have is what they've hidden in their hearts. That they can't take away from them. It's hidden in their hearts. It's a bulwark, a defence against the voice of the Enemy.--Dad
480. If you haven't dwelt in the Word, kept the Word & taught your children the Word & made them examples of the Word, then you have failed. 14 you are not absorbing the Word yourself & living the Word & preaching the Word & practicing the Word & teaching your children the Word & making them good examples of the Word, for get it!--Dad
481. Adolescence is of necessity a time of conflict between one's own capabilities and what one is expected and permitted to do. It is a time if ambiguity. The adolescent is forever being told by the adult world to 'act his age,, that is, to behave according to his chronological maturity. But he is also being told to stay out of adult concerns, that is, to behave according to his cultural age. Whatever he does, he is wrong. He does violence tither to his chronological or to his cultural age. He is, therefore, inevitably a problem to himself as well as to society.--Peter Drucker
482. Absorbed in his own minor tribulations of coin & conquest, the adult too often forgets that youth is a jarring time, full of excruciating first experiences & full-blown tragedies. It is a pimple on the cheek which everyone will see with distaste; it is the clothes which never seem to fit a gangly body; it is the ultimate disappointment, a broken promise by a parent. It is a training ground for adulthood, a place & time to try for independence, a place & time to try & fail & succeed.
483. You adults really "adopt" each other in the wedding ceremony, yet feel closer to your mate than to the blood brothers and sisters with whom you grew up as a child. Use this analogy of your adoption of your marital partner when it comes to explaining the adoption of your son or daughter.
484. Adults are used to talking, to giving orders, but when it comes to living with Teens, adults need to listen with both ears and with their hearts.
485. The problem of communicating with the younger generation would be less complicated if parents knew a little more about what was going on under that male or female hair. One way to find out, I have discovered, is to act as chauffeur for a group of teenagers. Keep your mouth shut, & within minutes of starting out you will be forgotten & conversation will go on is though You were an automatic pilot. I don't know if this is considered an illegal form of bugging, but it is effective.
486. "We lost our first child", said a man in the course of a conversation with a friend.
The other, shocked, cried out, "I didn't know she was dead!"
"Oh, she isn't dead," was the quick response, to which was added sadly, "I was too busy."
487. The only time you grow is when you're sleeping, did you know that? You little ones want to grow fast, so the more you sleep, the more you grow! Don't forget that! That's the time when you grow, when you're sleeping.
488. All Hail to the Queen.
-- To the mother who's been
A Heroine again & again!
CHORUS:
All Hail to the Queen!
--To the mother unseen,
All Hail to the mother of men!
All Hail to the Queen!
--To the mother who's seen
The Future from now until then!
All Hail to the Queen!
--Whose job has been
The highest & hardest 'mongst men!
All Hail to the Queen!
--Unheard & unseen,
Who slips in & out now & then.
All Hail to the Queen!
--Unsung & unseen,
Who gives & keeps giving again.
All Hail to the Queen!
--The mother who's been
A martyr again & again.
All Hail to the Queen!
--Whom the future has seen
As the mother of life without end!
All Hail to the Queen!
--The truly Great Queen!
--A mother!--A mother of men!
All Hail to the Queen!
--To that heroine unseen!
All Hail to that mother of men!
All Hail to the Queen:
--To the future unseen
Let's praise her again & again!
All Hail to the Queen!
--Who finds time between
To tend more & more of them!
All Hail to the Queen!
--There has never been
Such heroine 'mongst daughters of men!
All Hail to the Queen!
--Such a glory I've seen
As she lays down her life for us men!
All Hail to the Queen!
--How long has it been
Since you in her praise did time spend?
All Hail to the Queen!
--To that heroine unseen!
All Hail to the mother of men!
All Hail to the Queen!
--To the mother who's been
Your lover from beginning to end!
All Hail to the Queen!
--Little mother unseen!
What a challenge to the virtues of men
Give Hail to your Queen,
--Tiny baby unseen,
That God from His glory did send!
Give Hail to your Queen,
--Tiny baby unseen,
For with you the angels descend!
All Hail to the Queen!
--With shimmering sheen
She shines with a light without end!
All Hail to the Queen,
--All glorious within
Upon whom all nations depend!
All Hail to the Queen!
--Who pales to the mean
The most glorious exploits of men!
All Hail to the Queen!
--Her beauty is seen
As a glory that never will end!
All Hail to the Queen!
--Who with interest keen
Causes all good things to blend!
All Hail to the Queen!
--Whom delicious cuisine
Can make e'n He hardest to bend!
All Hail to the Queen!
--Of wisdom a dean!--
You'd best to her counsel ear lend!
All Hail to the Queen!
--And who is the fiend
Who'd not to her least need attend?
All Hail to the Queen!
--E'en in dear Aberdeen
She's the mother of all the Scots men!
All Hail to the Queen!
--Who makes your caffeine
And all of your troubles to mend..'
All Hail to the Queen!
--Who begins the Beguine
And trips the fantastic to end!
All Hail to the Queen!
--Who with love's medicine
Can make all our hearts to mend!
All Hail to the Queen!
--What a sight to be seen
When bare bosom to babe she does lend!
All Hail to the Queen!
--And who is so mean
That her greatest love can't defend?
All Hail to the Queen!
--Who had tiny Dauphin
And made him a King in the end!
All Hail to the Queen!
--Not Mr. Begin!
She triumphs o'er worlds without end!
All Hail to the Queen!
--E'en in faraway Chin
She's the mother of all Chinamen!
All Hail to the Queen!
--Let's begin the Beguine
And dance to her glory 'til ten!
All Hail to the Queen!
--Who's fixin' my jean
And sews all the patches to mend!
All Hail to the Queen!
--Who with strong Energine
She wipes out the spots from my pen!
All Hail to the Queen!
--She can wash & can clean
And find it before you count ten!
All Hail to the Queen!
--When I dream of Jean
She rounds up a girl for my yen!
All Hail to the Queen!
--And when I am lean
She causes my hunger to end!
All Hail to the Queen!
--It's on her you can lean
When it seems you have come to your end!
All Hail to the Queen!
--To the mother who's been
Your helper from beginning to end!
All Hail to the Queen!
--And let no man demean
What an angel she's been to all men!
All Hail to the Queen!
--Do you know what I mean?
Or is her meaning beyond mortal ken!
All Hail to the Queen!
--Never let it be seen
That she's ever to lack for a lend.
All Hail to the Queen!
--And much more can be seen
Than all of these words I have penned.
All Hail to the Queen!
--When she's gone from the scene
It causes our hearts to rend!
All Hail to the Queen.
--Such a beautiful Queen!
No greater could God ever send!
All Hail to the Queen.
--Such a wonderful Queen!
All Heaven her glories attend.
All Hail to the Queen!
--From that glorious scene
From Heaven she helps me to fend.
All Hail to the Queen!
--When the path is unseen
She still helps me my way to wend!
All Hail to the Queen!
--Who someday between
Will guide me to worlds without end!
All Hail to the Queen!
--There has never been
A soul with such virtues to vend!
489. A recipe for a dear grandmother:
Begin with warm & sunny smiles & add a hug or two.
Combine with all the thoughtful things grandmothers say & do.
Sprinkle with understanding, add memories of family fun,
And you'll have a DEAR grandmother, a Very SPECIAL one!
490. What is a Dad? A dad is someone to count on, for his
warm good-natured ways.
He's a gentle strength that's always there, he's encouragement & praise.
Dad's the one you can call on when you need a helping hand,
He'll stand by you, he'll be a friend, he'll somehow understand.
And though it seems he never gets the thanks that are his he,
Life truly is a better place because of dads like you.
Thoughts of you, Dad, are always filled with gratitude for all
The years you give to care for me when I was young and small,
This letter comes straight from a heart that knows so very clearly
That you gave me so much!--And I love you so very dearly, Dear Dad!
491. When you need real understanding, when You need someone to care,
When you need someone to guide you, when you just need someone there,
It's so wonderful) haying a father who's thoughtful, gentle & kind,
A father who's ready to help & hear what you have on your mind.
How wonderful haying a father who cares about all that you do.
How wonderful haying a father like that, a father who's just like you!
492. It takes such special qualities to make a Dad like you,
Loving kindness, thoughtfulness & understanding ton.
It takes the giving manner of a true & trusted friend,
And the kind and loving mercies that just never seen to end.
It takes such special qualities to make a Dad like you,
A Dad who sure deserves our love--And admiration too!
493. A father's deep interest & loving concern
Are generous gifts we do nothing to earn.
Gifts he keeps giving us day after day,
Gifts of the heart we can never repay.
For the time that you've taken to listen & share,
For the things you've done that show that you care.
For all of these things, You're thought fondly of,
And wished a blest birthday with plenty of love!
494. Dads are special people no home should be without,
For everyone will sure agree they're nice to have about.
They are a happy mixture of a small boy in a man,
with soft and twinkling eyes and a strong and guiding hand.
Sometimes they're most demanding & stern is they can be,
But it's only 'cause they love us so, it's plain as day to see,
For in any kind of trouble, a Dad will reach out with his hand,
And You can always count on him to help understand.
And whilt we do not thank him quite as often as we should,
We love him & admire him & hope it's understood,
That we're really mighty thankful to have a Dad like you,
For we know how much you love us by the loving things you do!
495. Mothers are God's helpers that show us tender care,
So a prayer that's said for mothers is a very special prayer.
And God gives His warmest blessing, purest sunlight from above,
When you say a prayer for mother with a heart that's filled with love.
496.There's no one like a mother who so thoughtfully displays,
A real care for others by her sweet & loving ways
There's no one like a mother to bring joy & comfort too !
And there's no mother anywhere more wonderful than you!
497. A mother's love is fashioned after God's enduring Love.
For it's endless & unfailing like the Love of Him above.
A mother's love is beautiful in giving & in sharing,
A mother's love is always so considerate & caring.
A mother's love is ever new & oh, so very dear!
It's a part of special memories that lasts down through the years.
498. It takes a lot of loving care & patience day by day,
Kindness & unselfishness all along the way.
It takes a world of thoughtfulness, I lot of dearness too,
And everything that's especially nice to make a mother like you.
499. All Your loving ways, Mother, help others to see,
How beautiful caring & sharing can be.
So my best loving wishes ire that God will bless you.
With a beautiful birthday & a happy year too.
500. For you, Mother:
A smile, a hug, a word of praise,
A guiding hand, a tender phrase,
A heart wire is the sun above,
A precious gift: A mother's love.
It really would be hard to count,
The thoughtful things you've done,
To make the pith for those you love,
A smoother brighter one.
So it's no wonder, Mother, that
You're loved the whole year through,
And wished a world of happiness,
Today & always too.
501. Everything they've ever said about a mother's ways,
About the sunshine of her smile that brightens cloudy days,
About her gentle patience & her understanding care,
About the comfort she can give by simply being there.
Everything they've eyer slid about a mother's touch,
About the happiness she shares, the warmth she shows so much,
About the way she's always glad to help & see things through.
Everything they've ever said is very true of you.
502. What is a Mother? A mother is someone who guides & inspires.
She helps us to attain our dreams & desires.
Wisdom & insight are part of her way,
And her faith in her children brightens their days.
503. Mother is a tender smile that brightens up the day,
Mother is the helping hand that guides us on our way.
Mother is the cheering word, that speaks of deeds so kind.
Mother is the listening ear when smething's on our mind.
Mother is the tender soul, the heart that's always true.
Mother dear, these words of rhyme were written just for you.
Happy Birthday!
504. To a very dear mother.
I said a birthday prayer for you, I asked the Lord Above
To keep you safely in His arms & hold you in His Love.
I did not ask He grant you fortune, nor riches, no, nor fame.
But that the gentle life you live might glorify His Name.
And Mother, in my heart I know
You would have prayed the same.