A Dear Lady In The Church I Serve Shared With Me ...

A dear lady in the church I serve shared with me a poem she cut out of a magazine over 60 years ago. It has the spirit of what Dr. Graham’s mother felt about being a mother:

A Mother’s Prayer

Sing me no eulogy of praise,

Give me no hallowed stool;

Just let me be my children’s friend,

Their bulwark in life’s school.

Don’t make of me a gilded queen,

Or unsophisticated clod,

But let me understand their needs,

And point their way to God.

Help me to live the things I preach,

Admit my faults and fears,

Oh let me be humbled enough

To blend with theirs my tears.

Let me be firm to earn their trust;

Not gullible or weak.

Let my child know I care enough

To mean it when I speak!

This world needs mothers with a goal,

Unswayed by changing fad,

Who love the Lord and by his grace,

Can tell good from the bad.

I seek no sentimental crown,

No high and lofty praise.

But give me children who will stand

Through these ungodly days.

The greatest ‘thank you’ I could ask,

Most satisfying pay,

Will come when they are at Christ’s side

On God’s great Judgment Day!

-- Dorothy Sickal

Friends, this poem was given to me by Alpha Routh, wife of a farmer. Mrs. Routh and her husband Joe raised several children and weathered the difficult rural life of North Carolina during the hard times. Alpha told me that she read the lines of the poem one day while she was helping out with the spring planting. Her job was to drive the fertilizer truck, keeping a few minutes ahead of Joe. She would fill the fertilizer buckets, pull up to the next stop and wait for Joe to bring the horses.

While waiting Alpha would read from the Bible, Sunday School book, or magazines. She read this poem, cut it out and pasted it in her Bible. She often referred to it as she reflected on her calling as a mother.

Now, that’s not a bad picture for each of us to keep in mind as the formula for motherhood – one hand holds the Bible; the other hand steers the fertilizer truck. God gives us the instructions – we get busy with the work. That’s the key to a successful payday for a Super Mom!