REAL MOTHERS!    DFO 389          18/11/75
--From a Real Family Discussion!

         1. WHERE ARE THE OLD-FASHIONED MOTHERS who consider it their calling from God & their life ministry just to love a husband, have a family & cook & keep house & rear children?--Where are they? We just don't seem to have very many today. So many girls want to be something else, anything but a mother!
         2. This Women's Lib idea!--They want to be liberated from being women! Thank God for the women in Catholic countries who are taught & trained & expect that's to be their life's work, just to be a good wife & mother & raise a family!
         3. A lot of women nowadays seem willing to bear children, but a lot of them don't seem to be eager to take care of them & be mothers. There's a heck of a lot more to being a mother than just having a baby! Anybody can have babies--but it takes a real parent to raise them & do all the work that's involved: Keep house & cook & wash & clean & scrub & care for the little ones--it's a full-time job!
         4. (Maria: Taking care of children full-time is really a sacrificial job.) It's a hard job! I think the Catholics are right: You've got to actually feel like it is your duty to God & that you do it in obedience to His commandments, whether you like it or not!--They believe that's what a woman's made for, to be a wife & a mother & a homemaker & rear her children.--That's her duty, her job, her calling, her ministry, her whole life!
         5. That's probably why Catholic families are happier & generally more wholesome, more God-fearing & have so many children. Besides, they don't believe in murdering them by pills or abortions--they believe in having them! Thank God! They believe in taking care of them, "bringing them up in the way they should go." (Pr.22:6.)
         6. MOTHERHOOD IS JUST A HARD JOB! There's just not any way to make it easy.--They've got all kinds of gadgets in America to take the pain out of house-keeping & washing & cooking & washing dishes & whatnot, but I've never heard of any kind of machine to take care of kids! Children are just a fulltime job & a big job!
         7. It takes the strength of Samson, the wisdom of Solomon, the patience of Job & the faith of Abraham!--It also takes the love of God, that's for sure!--And you could also say the insight of Daniel & the courage of David!--At least the administrative ability of David. David was a fighter, & it takes a lot of fight to be a mother! What a job!
         8. I think motherhood is just about the biggest calling in the World!--Mothers of the next generation! They are the ones that are molding the future & making the World! The World of tomorrow is what the mothers of today make it, according to the way they raise their children. They used to say, "The hand that rocks the cradle rules the World!" And that's the truth!
         9. MY MOTHER UNDOUBTEDLY HAD THE GREATEST INFLUENCE OF ANYBODY OVER MY LIFE & HELPED TO MAKE ME WHAT I AM TODAY. (Maria: Even though she couldn't be with you all the time?) I should say so! I was constantly conscious of her presence & her love & her feelings about things. My Mother & the people who took care of me really made me what I am today!
         10. (Maria: At what age were you conscious of your own parents? Didn't you think that the people who physically took care of you most of the time were more your mother & father than your real mother & father?) No, never! We always knew who our real mother & father were. We appreciated the people that took care of us, but we never confused them with our parents!
         11. By the time I got to be five & six years of age I could read, so then that probably had more influence on my mental & spiritual growth & capacities. Especially sitting in church all the time, listening to all kinds of preachers, I probably got a pretty good education! We little kids listened & we could sort out the preachers pretty well. Little kids have a great intuition for sincerity & honesty & truthfulness & so on.
         12. (MARIA: HOW MUCH REAL SPIRITUAL TRAINING DID YOU HAVE DURING YOUR FIRST FIVE YEARS BESIDES SITTING IN CHURCH?) The governesses & all the Sunday School teachers read us the Bible & told us Bible stories & I loved & believed them. The Bible itself & the Bible stories presented properly were a tremendous influence, because I really knew it was God & the voice of God & the Book of God! So God was a tremendous influence on our lives.
         13. My Mother & Father & nurses read us Bible stories all the time when we went to bed. I think picture story books are one of the greatest impacts I can remember as a little tiny lad. I used to dream about those pictures & the stories! That shows you how important it is to tell them the right ones, because a little child can't exactly differentiate between what is true & what isn't. There are so many Bible stories & so much to teach out of the MO Letters, why should we teach them anything else?
         14. Of course, old Mr. Koger was like a foster father to me. He taught me more by example than by word, with his love & sacrifice & caring for the poor & the sick. My Father's teaching was a tremendous influence in my life too. That's when I was beginning to be a young teenager & very interested in the Bible & Bible prophecy & current events, & my Father taught me a lot.
         15. And then when I finally was out of school & went out to help my Mother in fulltime evangelistic work, her messages & her sermons & testimonies were the biggest influence--from the time I was 16 until I was nearly 30. So kids are influenced by a combination of a lot of people & a lot of things.
         16. But then, of course, when I was filled with the Holy Spirit at the age of 19, the Holy Spirit Herself became the greatest influence in my life. Then I just lived in the Bible & ate up the Scriptures & read the Word all the time! I would say from then on, Jesus really became the greatest influence in my life. Then I got married at 25 & moved away from my Mother & started pastoring at 30.--A wife is a great influence in your life!
         17. And I'll tell you another tremendous impact or influence: Almost the greatest influences in my life were my own children! They really make you serious & inspire you to be good & be an example & train them up in the way they should go & try to do what's right. You realise the serious, sober responsibility of a little child's life in your hands & that they're going to be what you make them. So probably the final greatest influence in your life outside of the Lord is your children.
         18. (MARIA: GOD WILL HOLD THE PARENTS RESPONSIBLE because He's given them the children.) Oh absolutely, He'll hold them responsible! He's going to hold you responsible, me responsible & them responsible for every child born in the Family. We're going to answer for every one of them before the Throne of Judgement one of these days--every one!
         19. (Maria: Even if they can't take care of them PHYSICALLY, the Lord must hold them responsible SPIRITUALLY.)--Amen!--They can see to it that they are cared for by somebody who's capable & qualified to do so--either that or they'd better take care of them themselves! God's going to hold them responsible & judge them accordingly, & they are really going to get it if they don't take care of their kids properly!--Even if they have to give up everything else except God's work to take care of them!--And that's part of the Lord's work--taking care of your own kids!
         20. The psychologists say that a child learns MORE in the FIRST FIVE YEARS of his life than he'll learn in ALL the REST of his life put together! Those first years are extremely important therefore, & you can't wait till they're five years old.--Every single passing day is important & what he's learning everyday.--And you are responsible as a parent to see to it not only that he's fed & clothed & protected & sleeps & is physically well & healthy, but that he is mentally trained & taught & spiritually inspired!
         21. You're responsible! If you haven't got time to do it yourself, you had better be sure you find somebody who can & who does it right, or God is going to hold you responsible when you stand before Him one of these days & even before that! If you don't do a good job & do it right, you're going to suffer yourself & that child's going to suffer. And that's one of the worst sufferings in the World, to see your own child suffer because of your neglect.
         22. A lot of times people make their job an excuse for not having to do the hard work of taking care of their own kids. I grant you, the Lord's service is our first responsibility. But our kids are part of that service, & we've got to do them right & be faithful to them or we're going to suffer for it! GHU!
         23. "REAL MOTHERS!"--Any girl can strip & make love & get pregnant & have a baby!--But how many of you are real mothers to these precious, priceless, eternal children? How many of you really love & care for them & "train them up in the way they should go, so that when they are old they'll not depart therefrom"? (Pr.22:6)
         24. --When YOU are old you'll be thankful!--And so will THEY!--The children who had real mothers!--Are they going to be thankful for you, mother? I hope so! God bless & help you!--I'm praying He'll make each of you a Real Mother!

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