Child-Training

I have been lax.
I have been neglectful.
I have let things go.
I am trying to get my home back in order.
Easier said than done.

Thankful His mercies are new every day and we can try again.

In cleaning out the long-neglected file cabinet, I came across an article that I clipped from our first church's Sunday bulletin....we left that church 23 years ago this week!  Susanna Wesley was her parents' 25th and youngest child.  Susanna bore 19 children of whom only 9 lived to adulthood.  Two of her sons were Charles, a prolific Christian hymn writer, and John, preacher of the Gospel.  The following is a list of 16 rules that Susanna used to raise her children.

1.  No eating between meals.
2.  All children in bed by 8:00 P.M.
3.  Take your medicines without complaining.
4.  Subdue self will in each child.
5. Work with God to save the soul of each child.
6.  Teach child to pray as soon as he can speak.
7.  Require all to be still during family worship.
8.  Give children nothing they cry for.
9.  Give them only what they ask for politely.
10.  To prevent lying, punish no fault which is first confessed.
11.  Do not allow a sinful act to go unpunished.
12.  Command and reward good behavior,
13.  Preserve property rights, even in the smallest matters.
14. Strictly observe all promises.
15.  Require no daughter to work before she can read well.
16.  Teach children to fear the rod.

Reading a biography of Susanna Wesley will definitely give you a more accurate picture of this woman of God.  Her children knew that if they came into a room and saw their mother with her apron thrown over her head that they should not disturb her.  She was in prayer.  She had a much more difficult life that I ever will, but I make excuses about why I can't do this or why I can't do that. I've gotten lazy. Time to quit making excuses and be the woman that I need to be.  The woman that God desires for me to be.  May I be more like Susanna Wesley so that I can raise sons like John and Charles!