~Tracy Frederick
I looked across the room at the faces of the two young mothers with their Bibles open, eager to soak in the word of God. They have great hearts for the Lord, but I could see they were a little weary. I recalled those years of juggling a child, chores, church work and a full time job. I felt constantly overwhelmed and tired. But, mostly I remember I felt guilty…all of the time. I struggled trying to ...figure out how I would carve out time to do the work of my Father while taking care of my family and other obligations. I admit that wasn’t too bright. It took me a while to realize that I didn’t have to choose. Rather than finding more time for ME to visit the elderly, or widows and widowers, prepare classroom visual aids, etc. if I included my daughter. Rather than seeing serving the Lord as separate from my family, it could become a part of who we were as a family. It became a special time for my daughter when we baked cookies to take to some elderly folks, or soup for a person who was ill. Our Lord tells us to train up our children in the way they should go (Proverbs 22:6) and to train our children up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord (Eph 6:4). I admit that I allowed my feelings of worldly obligations to blind me to the training opportunity I had with my child. No one can do everything, our Lord allows us to choose what is best for us at the time in His service. Now, the weekend is upon us and it is time for family and fun. I must say that I wouldn’t trade the memories of my little daughter and I sitting on the front porch of the home of a sweet elderly couple while sharing chocolate chip cookies we had baked that morning. These memories are even more special to me now, 15 years later, when she calls and asks for a certain recipe because she knows someone is sick or in mourning and it would comfort them. Yes, sisters, training can never start too early, not when we are training for a lifetime of service. But, some day, it may be too late.
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