The Most Important Role

The Most Important Role

Children born to a young man are like arrows in a warrior’s hands. How joyful is the man whose quiver is full of them!

Psalm 127:4-5

Some time ago my husband and I welcomed two foster children into our home. These children came with worries and fears and bad habits we needed to cope with. Some days I felt as if I were just spinning my wheels. What helped the most was thinking of my three grown children. They each love God and share the light of Jesus in numerous ways. When I saw that, I realized the daily work was worth it. Today, tomorrow, I’m gently molding my children into the adults they will someday be.

Author Louise Stoltzfus shares how one minister shared this truth in a unique way during an Amish church service:

On this particular Sunday morning, a minister from another Amish district was present and was asked to give the main morning sermon.

In the warm, lilting, singsong cadence of Amish preachers, he spoke about personal responsibility in the church. At one point, Esther says, he paused to ask the question, “Who has the most important role in the church? The deacon? The minister? The bishop?”

Turning to face the side of the room where most of the women were seated, he proclaimed, “No, it is not the deacon, the minister, or the bishop; it is the mothers with babies on their laps who have the most important task in our church.” A hush fell over the already quiet room.

Mothers with babies on their laps snuggled them a bit closer.

Fathers nodded their heads ever so slightly.

The day after Jesus’ birth, no one knew the impact He would have on the world, on our souls. It’s amazing that God chose to free the world by offering a babe in a manger.

Only God can see the potential of the children in our lives, and while it might take dozens of years for us to see it, know that when you give the gift of yourself to a child, you are having an impact on posterity in immeasurable ways.

Dear heavenly Father, I thank You for all those who poured themselves into me. I pray that You will use me to do the same for others.