November 17, 2006

[Rev. Doc]

The Impact Of A Mother

"Her children arise and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praises her:"
Proverbs 31:28

Susanna Wesley was a mother who had gone through much in her life. To begin with, during the first nineteen years of her married life, she gave birth to nineteen children. That turned out to be the least of her problems. Eight of those children died of natural causes and sickness. One child was accidentally smothered by an aide. One child was paralytic. Her husband, though a minister, was victim to bouts of depression and would disappear from the home leaving Susanna with many children. One time he disappeared for a whole year. On top of everything, they were extremely poor and mired in debts.

But none of that stopped Susanna from impacting her children and instilling her deep faith into them. Two of her children turned out to be giants of Christian faith. John Wesley who started the Methodist church was and is a beloved communicator of the gospel with power. Charles Wesley wrote more then 9000 hymns and poems in his life time. Many of his hymns are still the favorite in churches across denominational lines.

When Susanna died, this is what was written on her tombstone:

"A Christian here her flesh laid down
A cross exchanging for a crown."

It must have been penned by her poet son, Charles. Even though by the time of her death the Wesley brothers had become world famous, looking back at their childhood experiences and how their mother managed to have the family going, they could acknowledge that she had nothing but cross in her life. It is as if, Charles were saying, "Ma, I know everything you went through. But you don’t have to carry that cross again, Ma. You have gone on to receive your crown."

Prayer: Thank God for the positive impact that so many have had on your life.

"The love of a mother is never exhausted. It never changes--it never tires--it endures through all; in good repute, in bad repute, in the face of the world's condemnation, a mother's love still lives on."
~Washington Irving