Lydia and I are making our way through the Elsie Dinsmore series. I am just as encouraged - if not more! - than Lydia is by these books. Here's an excerpt that I love from Elsie's Children.
"Dear me, Elsie, how can you take so much trouble with your children?" she said, "You seem to be always training and teaching them in the sweetest, gentlest way; and of course they're good and obedient. I'm sure I love mine dearly, but I could never have the patience to do all you do."
"My dear friend, how can I do less, when so much of their future welfare, for time and for eternity, depends upon my faithfulness?"
"Yes," said Lucy slowly, "but the mystery to me is, how you can keep that in mind all the time, and how you can contrive always to do the right thing?"
"I wish I did, but it is not so; I make many mistakes."
"I don't see it. You do wonderfully well anyhow, and I want to know how you manage it."
"I devote most of my time and thoughts to it; I try to study the character of each child, and above all, I pray a great deal for wisdom and for God's blessing on my efforts; not always on my knees, for it is a blessed truth, that we may lift our heart to him at any time and in any place. Oh, Lucy," she exclaimed with tearful earnestness, "if I can but train my children for God and heaven, what a happy woman shall I be! The longing desire of my heart for them is that expressed in the stanza of Watts's Crade Hymn:
'Mayst thou live to know and fear Him,
Trust and love Him all thy days,
Then go dwell forever near Him,
See His face and sing His praise!' "
That was great. I'm going to have to look into those books.
ReplyDeleteHow true that is though. How we are often discouraged from this by those around us, such as this other mother speaking. I think I'll print this out for my homeschool folder's encouragement section, if you don't mind.
Hey, JavaMama! :-) The Elsie Dinsmore books are SO good. I had a hard time getting into them at first because they seemed so goody-goody - too goody-goody, but then I realized that the books weren't too goody-goody, but me with the problem. ;-)
ReplyDeleteDefinitely print it out! I know we can all use all the encouragement we can get.