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Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Jun 8, 1916

FromReview and Herald, Vol. 93, No. 29.

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Our Homes

By Lida May Westbrook

LIDA MAY WESTBROOK
Poets have written about the home. They have led the mind to the quaint old country place surrounded by creeping vines and blossoming shrubs, and have gently unfolded to our view the sweet-faced mother and the kind-hearted father bent with age. The great men of the world have spoken tenderly of their boyhood days at home, and of mother, whose never-ceasing care and love kept them in the path of integrity. Authors of note have many times written that which has touched an answering chord in the hearts of their readers, and many have been made purer as the memories and teachings of home have come back to their minds.
Just now, when Satan is holding out every inducement to our loved ones, we need pure, attractive, and pleasant homes. “More powerful than any other earthly influence upon human hearts and lives is that of a true home.” What is a true home? It is not a home where the father sits during the evening with a deep frown on his brow, and where, after reading the evening paper, he putson his coat and hat and goes out to see his friends, and then, as he nears home, puts on a frown once more. Such a man cannot be the true head of a household; for he cannot become acquainted with his children or win their love. Perhaps before his return, mother quietly puts the children in their little beds, for “father is tired and mustn’t be bothered.”
Neither can a home be a true home where the mother scolds and frets from morning till night; where she appears at mealtimes with uncombed hair and soiled dress. Perhaps she has scolded until she is on the verge of tears. Her house is untidy; everything seems to go wrong from morning till night. What excuse has this mother?—She is “so nervous.”
And what of the children in such homes as these? They are receiving day by day, by both word and example, lessons that will prove their eternal undoing. Little ones whom God has given to fathers and mothers to care for, and for whom they will be required to render a faithful and just account, are having their young feet set in paths that lead to ruin, through the influence of homes in which God is not given first place, and his name and Word are not honored by the fathers and mothers in those homes.
God intends the home to be the dearest spot on earth, and each member of the family should do his part to make it so.
The father, as the head of the household, should strive to make his home a place where cheerfulness, courtesy, and love abide. He should enter it with smiles and pleasant words. He should take time to become acquainted with his children. Even if his business cares are very pressing, he can afford to spend some time with his family, and he will find that it is not time wasted. Human souls are at stake. How much more important is one human soul than all the business cares of life! He should establish the family altar. In the morning before taking up the cares of the day, he should gather his family around him, and bowing before God, commit his loved ones to the care of the Father in heaven.
On the mother seems to rest the greatest care of the family. Each little trial is brought to her. A little hand or head must be kissed and cared for to cure the bump or ache. The duties of the household press upon her. Every little detail must come under her notice. With patience she must care for the children. With a gentle, God-fearing spirit she should lead her loved ones to the side of Jesus. Her house should be kept clean and tidy, that it may be an attractive place for the husband and children. Solomon has spoken of the faithful wife: “She looketh well to the ways of her household, and eateth not the bread of idleness. Her children arise up, and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praiseth her.”
A great responsibility rests upon parents. In their home life they are sowing seed which will bear fruit for Christ or for Satan. As fathers and mothers let us draw near to the Saviour, that he may lead us in this great work of making our homes pure, elevated, and love-inspiring, until we reach the blessed home of the faithful, which is just ahead.