Mothers Partners In Nurturing Children

Mothers -- Partners in Nurturing Children

Joshua 24:14-15

“Now fear the Lord and serve him with all faithfulness. Throw away the gods your forefathers worshiped beyond the River and in Egypt, and serve the Lord. But if serving the Lord seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourself this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your forefathers served beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.”

An elementary school teacher collected old, well-known and worn proverbs. She asked the children in her classroom to fill in the blanks.

• As you shall make your bed so shall you…mess it up.

• Better be safe than …punch a 5th grader.

• Strike while the …bug is close.

• It’s always darkest before … daylight savings time.

• You can lead a horse to water but … how?

• Don’t bite the hand that … looks dirty.

• A miss is a good as a … Mr.

• You can’t teach an old dog new … math.

• If you lie down with the dogs, you’ll … stink in the morning.

• The pen is mightier than the … pigs.

• An idle mind is … the best way to relax.

• Where there’s smoke, there’s … pollution.

• Happy is the bride who … gets all the presents.

• A penny saved is … not much.

Parenting is a challenge. In fact parenting is not for sissies. Parenting can cause you to loose sleep and endure much stress.

The story is told about Chippie the parakeet. Chippies problems began when his owner decided to vacuum out his bird cage. She stuck the attachment inside the cage, and about that time the telephone rang and distracted her attention. When she turned, Chippie was gone. She immediately hung up the telephone and looked inside the vacuum cleaner bag – sure enough, Chippie was there – alive, but stunned.

Since he was covered with dirt and debris, she grabbed him and raced down the hallway to the bathroom where she stuck him under the faucet and ran cold water over him for two minutes. She then realized the bird was soaked and shivering, so she did what any compassionate bird-owner would do – she reached for her hair dryer and blasted the bird with hot air. Poor Chippie never knew what hit him.

Several days later, the bird owner gave an update on how Chippie was doing. She said, “Chippie doesn’t sing much anymore. He just sits and stares.”

Poor parakeet, after being sucked in, washed up and blown over, that’s enough to take the song from the stoutest of hearts.

As parents we have empathy for Chippie. From time to time we feel sucked in, washed up and blown over and no more feel like singing.

Joshua 24:14-15 has teachings that give great advice for Mothers who partner in nurturing children. Mothers who partner in nurturing their children

I. Have Decided to Follow Jesus

Joshua 24:14 “Now fear the Lord and serve him with all faithfulness…”

A young bewildered boy grew up in a small town in Kansas. He had one sister four years older than he. His father lived in his own world. For most of his life his father lived without a personal commitment to Jesus as Savior and Lord. His dad was gone from home and out of town more than he was at home. His dad talked with street language, drank too much and from time to time was a womanizer. This dad’s influence was not very healthy for his young son.

In the providence of God the mother in the home was a devout Christian. She prayed and dedicated her two children to the Lord. She put God first and her own needs second. She taught school to provide for her children. She faithfully took them with her to church and encouraged them through four years of college and for her son through three years of seminary.

I was the beneficiary of this mother’s godly influence and prayer. My mother honored Christ and had a positive influence on my life.

I’m glad my mother decided to follow Jesus. When my mother got married she was not following Jesus. But after the death of her first child during child birth my mother turned to the Lord and gave her life to serving the Lord.

For a while my mother and dad lived with his parents on a farm near Gypsum, Kansas. My mother walked a mile and a half to a country church that was meeting in an old fashioned school house. The church was on a circuit and my mother met one of the pastors, Carollyn’s Grandpa Reid.