ONE SECRET OF A HAPPY HOME.
By E. A. Sevy
E. A. SEVY.
(Battle Creek, Mich.) How many of us covet a happy home! and who would not, as I have often heard it expressed, “be willing to give anything for a home where discord, contention, and strife are things unknown”? Were the question put to vote, I believe the hand of every sister who reads this page would go up. Yes, it is the desire of every heart; and, dear sisters, do you know that we ourselves are more, much more than half to blame for so many unhappy homes? Many of us are like the seed which fell among thorns. We let Satan come in and press us with cares until our bodies are racked and worn, and our nerves completely unstrung. Then in our own strength we try to combat an enemy a hundred times stronger than we. How can we expect in this way to be patient when things go wrong? and how can we expect a happy home with an impatient wife and mother? No doubt the Lord might work a miracle and give us the strength, but will He when we willfully weaken ourselves? We get up in the morning and look over our day’s work. There is the breakfast to get, the dishes to wash, the beds to make, the sweeping and dusting, the kitchen floor to scrub, fruit to can, and the baking to do, all of which an ambitious woman would like to do in the forenoon. Suppose we prepare for breakfast a few simple dishes, taking care, of course, that they are dainty, and tastily served. Then instead of using the scrub brush to clean our floors, let us try an easier way. The floor may not be as white, but I think our souls will be whiter. Instead of dusting every day, try every other day; and when it comes to the baking, just omit the pies, cakes, and cookies, and substitute some fresh or stewed fruit, nuts, and crackers. Did not Christ’s answer to Martha when she complained to Him that her sister was neglecting her share of the serving, show that there is something far above our daily round of toil? I have heard some good sisters say, “But I cannot slight my work. Are we not commanded to ‘do all to the glory of God’?” I would say to such, Do not slight, but simplify it. With a clear mind, stronger nerves, and stronger bodies, we may glorify God in all we do. The molehills which to our poor tired bodies have seemed as mountains, will be too small to notice; and God’s beautiful sunshine, birds, and flowers, which we have been too busy to enjoy before, will help us to look from nature up to nature’s God. We shall then find it much easier to be patient when things go wrong; and in giving a kind word here and a smile there we may cheer those around us, and thus make our homes much happier. Try it, sisters.