〉   11
1 Samuel 2:11
And Elkanah went to Ramah to his house. And the child did minister unto the Lord before Eli the priest. (1 Samuel 2:11)
11 Faith’s Triumph Over Natural Affection
 As soon as the little one was old enough to be separated from its mother, she fulfilled her solemn vow. She loved her child with all the devotion of a mother’s heart; day by day her affections entwined about him more closely as she watched his expanding powers, and listened to the childish prattle; he was her only son, the especial gift of heaven; but she had received him as a treasure consecrated to God, and she would not withhold from the Giver His own. Faith strengthened the mother’s heart, and she yielded not to the pleadings of natural affection (The Signs of the Times, October 27, 1881).
11 Mother’s Decisive Power in Her Home
 Would that every mother could realize how great are her duties and her responsibilities, and how great will be the reward of faithfulness. The mother’s daily influence upon her children is preparing them for everlasting life or eternal death. She exercises in her home a power more decisive than the minister in the desk, or even the king upon his throne (The Signs of the Times, November 3, 1881).