Monday, December 8, 2008

Stepping Heavenward by Elizabeth Prentiss (7)

“And do people call it living who never had any children?”

Several years ago I was in a toy store shopping and overheard the conversation of several women complaining about their children. Not that they were bad, just that they were not elsewhere but with them. They viewed their children as a burden. This is the common view of children in today’s society. Wait until you can afford children in both time and money. Only have one or two so you can be indulgent to the child and yourself.

Most mothers of a newborn realize what an enormous responsibility they have. At this stage the babe can do nothing but let you know it has needs. But it is influencing the mother to grow in selflessness, to take responsibility for its needs, to become what she would have the child become.

Yes, there is an unspoken challenge to the mother from the babe. You are the most important person in my life. You are the one I will follow and without realizing it, you are the one I will copy.

To truly live, one must grow and children are a guarantee to cause one to grow. As Katy says, “For their sakes I am continually constrained to seek after an amended, sanctified life; what I want them to become I must become myself.”

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