"I said unto my gardener,
'I want my vine to bear
The choicest, richest, largest grapes
To be seen anywhere.'
So he tied it here
And he cut it there,
And he trained it along the wall
And, oh! The loveliest grapes appeared--
The wonder of us all.

God said unto the father and mother,
'I want your child to be
A godly, helpful, useful man--
A messenger for Me.'
So he curbed him here,
And she taught him there,
And he urged him to what was right,
And o'er the heads of ill-trained sons,
He towered in moral height."

"Where every day the Bible is read in a home in the ears of the children, and its lessons simply and prayerfully taught, the effect is incalculable. It was thus that God Himself commanded His ancient people to do--to teach the truths of His word diligently to their children when they sat in the house and when they walked by the way, when they rose up, and when they lay down. This was the divine plan for bringing up a family--not a lesson now and then, but the incessant, uninterrupted, and continuous teaching of the Holy Scriptures in the ears of the children. Such teaching unconsciously assimilates the character to the divine likeness."

"A friend was telling of a wonderful little flower which he discovered high upon the Rocky Mountains. In a deep fissure among the rocks, one midsummer day, he found the snow still lying unmelted, and on the surface of the snow he saw a lovely flower. When he looked closely, he perceived that it had a long, delicate stem, white as a tuberose, coming up through the deep snow from the soil in the crevice of the rock underneath. The little plant had grown up in spite of all obstacles, its tender stem unharmed by the cold drifts, until it blossomed out in loveliness above the snow. The secret was its root in the rich soil in the cleft of the rock, from which it drew such fullness of life that it rose through all to perfect beauty. A fit picture is that little flower of ever tender child-life in this world. Over it are chilling masses of evil and destructive influences, and if it ever grows up into noble and lovely character, it must conquer its way by the force of its own inward life until it stands crowned with beauty with every obstacle beneath it. This it can do only through the power of the divine grace within. Its root must be honed in the sheltered warmth of piety, in the cleft of the Rock of Ages. Those who grow up in truly Christian homes, imbibing in their souls from infancy the very life of Christ, will be strong to overcome every obstacle and resist every temptation. The influence of godly example, the memories of family worship, the abiding power of holy teachings, and the grace of God descending perpetually upon the young life in answer to believing prayer, give it such inspirations and impulses toward all that is noble and heavenly that it will stand at last crowned with honor and beauty. To make a home godless and prayerless is to send our children out to meet all the world's evil without either the shelter of covenant love to cover them in the storm or the strength of holy principle in their hearts to make them able to endure."

"The home-life should also be made bright and full of sunshine. The courtesy of the true home is not stiff and formal but sincere, simple and natural. Children need an atmosphere of gladness. Law should not make its restraints hang like chains upon them. Sternness and coldness should have no place in home-life or in family government. No child can ever grow up onto its richest and best development in a home which is gloomy and unhappy. No more do plants need sunshine and air than children need joy and gladness. Unhappiness stunts them, so that their sweetest graces never come out."

"Where selfishness prevails there can be no real happiness. Indeed there is no deep, true and holy love where selfishness rules. As love grows, selfishness dies out in the heart. Love is always ready to deny itself, to give, to sacrifice, just in the measure of its sincerity and intensity. Perfect love is perfect self-forgetfulness. Hence, where there is love in a home, unselfishness is the law. Each forgets self and lives for the others. But when there is selfishness it mars the joy. One selfish soul will destroy the sweetness of the life of any home. It is like an ugly thorn bush in the midst of a garden of flowers."

"Healthful play is natural to the young, throughout the whole animal creation. The lamb, that emblem of innocence, is seen sporting in the fields, blithely bounding over the hills, as if desirous of expressing a grateful sense of its Creator's goodness. There is no more harm in the play of children than in the skipping of the lambs. It is necessary to restore the bent bow to its natural elasticity."

"A little boy, named Truman, lost his own mother; and when he was four or five years of age, his father married again. His new mother was an excellent lady, very affectionate and kind-hearted toward the children. But one day, when she was teaching Truman how to read, she could not make him say his lesson correctly. She therefore used the rod till he submitted, and read as he ought. He was afterwards overheard talking with himself, about his conduct: "Tru, what made you treat your dear mother so? Hasn't she always been kind to you?" "Yes, I know she has. She loves me, and tried to do me all the good she can." "Then how could you be so naughty, to treat her so?" "I know I have been a very naughty boy, and treated her very bad indeed when she has been very kind to me; and she was trying then to teach me for my own good." "What can you say for yourself, then? How did you come to behave so?" "I can't say any thing for myself; I know it was very mean. I feel ashamed to think I could treat her so; and I'll never do it again as long as I live. But I thought I would just try for once, and see who was master."

"Oh that God would give every mother a vision of the glory and splendor of the work that is given to her when a babe is placed in her bosom to be nursed and trained! Could she have but one glimpse into the future of that life as it reaches on; could she look into its soul to see its possibilities; could she be made to understand her own personal responsibility for the training of this child, for the development of its life, and for its destiny, --she would see that in all God's world there is no other work so noble and so worthy of her best powers, and she would commit to no other hands the sacred and holy trust given to her."

"Women sigh for fame. They would be sculptors, and chisel out of the cold stone forms of beauty to fill the world with admiration of their skill. Or they would be poets, to write songs to thrill a nation and to be sung around the world. But is any work in marble so great as hers who has [a] life laid in her hands to shape for its destiny? Is the writing of any poem in musical lines so noble a work as the training of the powers of a human soul into harmony? Yet there are women who regard the duties and cares of motherhood as too obscure and commonplace tasks for their hands. So when a baby comes a nurse is hired, who for a weekly compensation agrees to take charge of the little one, that the mother may be free from such drudgery to devote herself to the nobler and worthier things that she finds to do."

"The fathers should awake to the fact that they have something to do in making the life of their own home besides providing food and clothing and paying taxes and bills. They owe to their homes the best influences of their lives. Whatever other duties press upon them, they should always find time to plan for the good of their own households. The very centre of every man's life should be his home. Instead of being to him a mere boarding-house where he eats and sleeps, and from which he starts out in the mornings to his work, it ought to be the place where his heart is anchored, where his hopes gather, to which his thoughts turn a thousand times a day, for which he toils and struggles, and into which he brings always the richest and best things of his life. He should realize that he is responsible for the character and the influence of his-life..."

"As fathers open their hearts, love and train their children, walk with God openly before their families, and urge their children to follow the Lord with them--then the children come to experience that God of their fathers, not as memory and story only, but as living reality in their own lives. The parent-child heart channel becomes the means for each generation to have an encounter with God that assures their continuance in the faith."

"How does the truth of God make its way from the heart of a father to the hearts of his children? Through an intimate discipleship relationship, a relationship that continues at all times (from rising up to lying down) and in all places (at home and along the way). This, by the way, is 'home education,' which the Bible presents as the way to provide godly training for the next generation."

"The submissive man... must submit directly to God on a daily basis, living a 'crucified life' in which he says, 'not my will, but yours be done.' He must also submit to those in his life who have been given authority over him. But there is more. The submissive man must put aside his own will in order to do what is best for those under him, for his family. ...What we mean is that while he sets the pace and directs the affairs of the his household, the godly father will do so in a way that places the family's welfare above his own comfort and convenience. He must often sacrifice for their benefit, saying no to his own desires. This is part of the dying to self...."

"As children come to walk with God as they walk with their parents, they will create their own history of divine encounters. Sin confessed, God's discipline received, forgiveness experienced, prayers answered, guidance gained from Scripture--all these create a personal history of God's dealing with the child that assure the genuineness, depth, and perseverance of his faith. The faith of the fathers thus becomes the faith of the next generation..."

"When I think of the sacredness and the responsibility of parents, I do not see how any father and mother can look upon the little child that has been given to them and consider their duty to it, and not be driven to God by the very weight of the burden that rests upon them, to cry to him for help and wisdom."

"What we want to do with our children is not merely to control them and keep them in order, but to implant true principles deep in their hearts which shall rule their whole lives; to shape their character from within into Christlike beauty, and to make them noble men and women, strong for battle and for duty. They are to be trained rather than governed. Growth of character, not merely good behavior, is the object of all home governing and teaching. Therefore the home influence is far more important than the home laws, and the parents' lives are of more moment than their teachings."

"You cannot give your child what you do not possess: you can scarcely help giving your child what you do possess. If you are a coward you cannot make him brave; if he becomes brave it will be in spite of you. If you are a deceiver you cannot make him truthful; if you are selfish you cannot make him generous; if you are self-willed you cannot make him yielding; if you are passionate you cannot make him temperate and self-controlled. The parent's life flows into the child's life. We impress ourselves upon our children less by what we teach them than what what we are."

"True education occurs anyplace (at home and along the way) and anytime (from rising to lying down). The parents are to be the constant companions of their children, teaching them God's view of life at every opportunity. Every child of a godly family should live continuously in an environment that is saturated by God's Word, and his parents should be overseeing that environment."

"Education ought not to be seen as an end in itself. Nor should it be viewed in terms of mere academic or social preparation for life. Knowledge, by itself, is nothing and leads only to pride ('Knowledge puffs up,' I Cor. 8:1). We could give our children the very best academic preparation in the world and only end up making them more effective instruments in the devil's hands. No, God has something higher in mind.

God did not say, 'Train a child in what he should know, and when he is old he will not forget it.' He said, 'Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it' (Prov. 22:6). Education is not just about what a child knows; it is primarily about how he lives."

"When most of us hear the word 'teacher' today we think first of a schoolteacher or some person who fills the position of instructor in another setting, like a Sunday School teacher. In the Bible God makes no mention of schoolteachers, Sunday school or otherwise, but He does talk a lot about teachers. Whenever the reference is to children, it is the parents who are identified as the instructors, and the father in particular."

"This is the way people learn: they watch other people do something, and then they copy what they see. This method of learning is called apprenticeship, and it is the most effective way to teach almost anything. Children are natural apprentices and will mimic the behavior of their parents, whether it is washing the car, hammering a nail, or cuddling a baby."

"At an early age children may be taught to forgo little things, especially for the sake of others; for that shows a purpose. Afterwards they may be taught to bear disappointments and crosses as benefiting their own character, and preparing them for the heavier trials and sacrifices of mature age. It will help to self-conquest, if one distinct act of self-denial is practiced every day; and then it should be entirely voluntary and cheerful, for thus it is like fruit with the bloom on it; but when self-denial is grudging and complaining, it is indeed sour and acrid fruit."

"This responsibility [of making a home] rests upon both the parents. There are some fathers who seem to forget that any share of the burden and duty of making the home belong to them. They leave it all to the mothers. They come and go as if they were scarcely more than boarders in their own house, with no active interest in the welfare of their children. They plead the demands of business as the excuse for their neglect. But where is the business that is so important as to justify a man's evasion of the sacred duties to which he owes to his family? There cannot be any other work in this world which a man can do that will excuse him at God's bar for having neglected the care of his own home and the training of his own children. No success in any department of the world's work can positively atone for failure here. No piling up of this world's treasures can compensate a man for the loss of those incomparable jewels, his own children."

"God has so constituted us that in loving and caring for our own children the richest and best things in our natures are drawn out. Many of the deepest and most valuable lessons ever learned are read from the pages of unfolding child-life. We best understand the feelings and affections of God toward us when we bend over our own child and see in our human parenthood a faint image of the divine Fatherhood. Then in a culture of character there is not influence more potent than that which touches us when our children are laid in our arms. Their helplessness appeals to every principle of nobleness in our hearts. Their innocence exerts over us a purifying power. The thought of our responsibility for them exalts every faculty of our souls. In the very care when they exact, they bring blessing to us."

"But the true idea of a home is that it is a place for growth. It is a place for the parents themselves to grow--to grow into beauty of character, to grow in refinement, in knowledge, in strength, in wisdom, in patience, gentleness, kindliness, and all the Christian graces and virtues. It is a place for children to grow--to grow in to physical vigor and health and to be trained in all that shall make them true and noble men and women. That is, just as the artist's studio is built and furnished for the definite purpose for preparing and sending out forms of beauty, so is a true home set up and all its life ordered for the definite purpose of training, building up and sending out human lives fashioned into symmetry, filled with lofty impulses and aspirations, governed by principles of rectitude and honor and fitted to enter up on the duties and struggles of life with wisdom and strength."

"The home is the primary arena for living out the Christian life. In the home sin, hurt, reconciliation, and healing occur daily. In the home the ignorant are taught, the rebellious disciplined, the repentant restored, the hungry fed, the naked clothed, the sick healed. In the home the relationship of Christ and His bride, the [ecclesia], is exhibited in the relationship of husband and wife. The home is the place where proper roles and relationships are learned and practiced. The Christian home is a sanctuary, an oasis of holiness, sanity, and beauty in the midst of an evil, insane, and ugly world."

"There are several essentials to a good home. Wealth is not one of those essentials, for in many an abode of honest poverty contentment dwells. ... The riches of those humble dwellings were industrious hands and praying hearts. God's Word was the light of the homestead."

"Shall we call our home a Christian home, and yet never worship Christ within our doors? Shall we call ourselves God's children, and yet never offer any praise to our Father? Should there not be some difference between a Christian and a heathen home? Should not God's children live differently from the children of this world? What mark is there that distinguishes our home from the home of our godless neighbor if there be no family worship?"

*If God wills, January's posts will be directed towards home-making, families, and parents.