| Making the Most of Life |
Chapter 21 |
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Children, too, are great blessings, when God sends them, bringing into the home rich possibilities of happiness. They cost care, and demand toil and sacrifice, ofttimes causing pain and grief: yet the blessing they bring repays a thousand times the care and cost. It is a sacred hour in a home when a baby is born and laid in the arms of a young father and mother. It brings fragments of heaven trailing after it to the home of earth. There are few deeper, purer joys ever experienced in this world than the joy of true parents at the birth of a child. Much of home’s happiness along the years is made by the children. We say we train them, but they train us ofttimes more than we train them. Our lives grow richer, our hearts are opened, and our love becomes holier when the children are about us. Croons a young mother over her babe–
“And art thou mine, thou helpless, trembling thing,
Thou lovely presence? Bird, where is thy wing?
How pure thou art! Fresh from the fields of light,
Where angels garner grain in robes of white.
“Didst thou bring ‘sealed instructions’ with thee dove,
How to unlock the fount of mother-love?
Full well dost thou fulfill thy winsome part;
With holy fire they’re writ upon my heart.
“My child, I fear thee! Thou’rt a spirit, soul!
How shall I walk before thee? Keep my garments whole?
O Lord, give strength, give wisdom for the task,
To train this child for thee! Yet more I ask:
“Life of my life, for thee I crave best gifts and glad,
More than, even in dreams, thy mother had!
O Father! Fine this gold! Oh, polish this, my gem!
Till it is fair and fitting for thy diadem.”
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