A Thought for Mothers by Addison Ballard

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Nov 10, 1910

FromReview and Herald, Vol. 87, No. 45.

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A Thought for Mothers

By Addison Ballard

“I AM almost heart-broken over it,” a mother said to me once, during a pastoral call.

“And what is it, pray, that you are almost heart-broken over?” I asked.

“Well, it is about my little Jennie—what she said to me as I was putting her to bed last night.”

“Something very bad it must have been.”

“O, no, nothing of the kind. This is the way it was: Jennie is naughty sometimes, as most children are, you know. Then my way is to scold her sharply, and sometimes to punish her. But last night, after I had put her to bed, and was about to go away, she said, ‘Mama, have I been a good girl to-day?’ I thought a minute, then answered: ‘Why, yes, Jennie, you have been a good little girl to-day.’ A bullet could not have gone straighter to my heart. I had always been quick enough to reprove and punish her for being naughty; but she had evidently, as I remembered, been trying hard all day to please me by being good, and I had taken no notice of it. She had had to ask for the words of commendation which I should have been thoughtful and loving enough to give without her asking.—Addison Ballard.