God has given to every man and woman talents to be used to his name's glory. All have not the same gifts; all are not called to do the same work; but to each God has given the ability to do the work appointed him. There are some who think that unless they are directly connected with public religious work, they are not doing the will of God; but this is a mistake. Every one has a work to do for the Master. Just as verily as the minister has his appointed work, the mother has hers. By educating their children to love God, and fear to offend him, parents can just as surely serve God as can the minister in the pulpit.
(RH December 5, 1899, Art. A, 1)
It is a wonderful work to make home pleasant, and all that it ought to be. If the heart is given to God, the humblest talents will make the home life all that God would have it. In the home a bright light will shine forth as the result of whole-hearted service to God. The mother is to bring her children to Jesus for his blessing. She is to cherish the words of Christ and teach them to her children. From their babyhood she is to discipline them to self-restraint and self-denial, to habits of neatness and order. The mother can bring her children up so that they will come with open, tender hearts to hear the words of God's servants. The Lord has need of mothers who in every line of the home life will improve their God-given talents, and fit their children for the family of heaven.
(RH December 5, 1899, Art. A, 2)
The Lord is served as much, yes, more, by the faithful home worker than by the one who preaches the Word. Fathers and mothers should realize that they are the educators of their children. Children are the heritage of the Lord, and they should be trained and disciplined to form characters that the Lord can approve. When this work is carried on judiciously and with faithfulness and prayer, angels of God will guard the family, and the most commonplace life will be made sacred. All heaven recognized Abraham's faithfulness in this respect, and he who blesses the habitation of the righteous said, I know Abraham. He is the priest of his household, and patriarch in his home. He will command his children and his household after him, to keep the way of the Lord, to do justice and judgment.
(RH December 5, 1899, Art. A, 3)
Symmetry of character is to be restored in men and women, and God calls upon parents with all their capabilities to co-operate with him in this work of restoration. Uncleanness in the home is a great mistake; for it is educating in its effects, and casts its influence abroad. Even in babyhood a right direction should be given to the habits of children. Teach them to keep their bodies clean by bathing in the morning and at night. Show them that uncleanness, whether in body or dress, is offensive to God. Constant vigilance must be exercised, that these habits may become second nature to the youth. There must be no lax methods in the home; for the children will never outgrow what they have become familiar with in their childhood. If they have been trained to habits of neatness and order, untidiness and slackness will be offensive to them; and impurity will be despised, as it should be.
(RH December 5, 1899, Art. A, 4)
The Lord commanded the children of Israel to wash their clothes, and put away all impurity from their encampment, lest in passing by he should see their uncleanness. God is passing by our homes today, and he sees the unsanitary conditions and lax methods of families. Should we not reform, and that without delay? Parents, God has made you his agents, that you may instil right principles into the minds of your children. You have in trust the Lord's little ones, and that God who was so particular that the children of Israel should grow up with habits of cleanliness will not sanction any impurity in the home today. And in training your children in habits of cleanliness, you teach them spiritual lessons. They see that God would have them clean in heart as well as in body, and will be led to understand pure principles, which God designs should prompt every act of our lives.
(RH December 5, 1899, Art. A, 5)
Oh, that all would understand that these apparently small duties are not to be neglected! Children are peculiarly susceptible to impressions; and the lessons which they receive in the early years, they will carry with them through life. All the learning they may acquire will never undo the evil resulting from lax discipline in childhood. One neglect, often repeated, forms habit. One wrong act prepares the way for another. That act, repeated, forms habit. Bad habits are more easily formed than good ones, and are given up with more difficulty. It takes far less time and pains to spoil the disposition of a child than it does to imprint upon the tablets of the soul principles and habits of righteousness. It is only by constantly watching and counterworking the wrong that we can hope to make the disposition right. The Lord will be with you, mothers, as you try to form right habits in your children. But you must begin the training process early, or your future work will be very difficult. Teach them line upon line, precept upon precept, here a little, and there a little. Bear in mind that your children belong to God, and are to become his sons and daughters. He designs that the families on earth shall be samples of the family in heaven.
(RH December 5, 1899, Art. A, 6)
Children should be clad in plain garments without ruffles or ornaments. The time spent in needless sewing, God would have devoted to educating them or in devotional exercises. That garment you are sewing on, that extra dish you plan to prepare, let it be neglected rather than the education of your children. The labor due to your child during the first years of his life will admit of no neglect. No time in his life should the rule be forgotten, Line upon line, precept upon precept, here a little, and there a little. Parents, the Lord knows what kind of work you are doing in the formation of the characters of your children. Will you consider the responsibilities resting upon you as their natural guardians?
(RH December 5, 1899, Art. A, 7)
Overindulgence always proves an injury to children. It is the veriest cruelty to allow wrong habits to be formed, to give the lines of control into the hands of the child, and let him rule. Children are not to be taught that everything in the house is their plaything, to do with as they please. Instruction in this line should be given even to the smallest children. God designs that the perversities natural to childhood shall be rooted out before they become habit. In the discipline of your children, do not release them from that which you have required them to do. Do not allow yourself to be so absorbed in other things as to become careless. And do not become weary in your guardianship, because your children forget, and do that which you have forbidden. If you lose your temper, you forfeit that which no mother or father can afford to lose,—the respect of your children. Never scold, nor permit scolding, in the home. Never give your child a passionate blow unless you wish him to learn to quarrel and fight. As parents, you stand in the place of God to your children, and you are to be on guard.
(RH December 5, 1899, Art. A, 8)
Parents, never act from impulse. Never correct your child when you are angry; for if you do this, you will mold him after your own image,—impulsive, passionate, and unreasonable. You can be firm without violent threatenings or scoldings. I have seen a mother snatch from the hand of her child something that was giving it special pleasure. The child did not know the reason for this, and naturally felt abused. Then followed a quarrel between parent and child, and a sharp chastisement ended the scene as far as outward appearances were concerned. But that battle left on the tender mind an impression that could not be easily effaced. I said to the mother: “You have wronged your child deeply; you have hurt his soul, and lost his confidence. How this will be restored, I know not.” This mother acted unwisely. She did not reason from cause to effect. Her harsh, injudicious management stirred up the worst passions in the heart of her child, and on every similar occasion these passions are aroused and strengthened. This is the worst policy that can be used in family government; advanced age and maturity of strength warring against a helpless, ignorant little child confirms rebellion in the heart.
(RH December 5, 1899, Art. A, 9)
But, you ask, Shall I never punish my child? Whipping may be essential when every other resort fails; but before you cause your child pain, you will, if you are a Christian father or mother, let your erring little one see that you love him. You will manifest real sorrow because you are compelled to cause him suffering. You will bow before God with your child, and with a heart full of sorrow ask the Lord to forgive. You will pray that Satan may not have control of his mind. You will present before the sympathizing Redeemer his own words, “Suffer the little children, and forbid them not, to come unto me: for of such is the kingdom of heaven.” That prayer will bring angels to your side, and your child's heart will be broken in penitence.
(RH December 5, 1899, Art. A, 10)
It is a very nice work to deal with human minds. All children can not be treated in the same way; for that restraint which must be kept on one would crush out the life of another. Study the minds and characters of your children. During the first years of their lives is the time to work and watch and pray and encourage every good inclination. This work must go on without interruption. You may be urged to attend mother's meetings and sewing circles, that you may do missionary work; but unless there is a faithful, understanding instructor to be left with your children, it is your duty to reply, “The Lord has committed to me another work, which I can in no wise neglect.” You can not overwork in any line without becoming disqualified for the work of training your little ones, and making them what God would have them be. As Christ's co-worker, you must bring them to him, and ask for grace to discipline and train them for the kingdom of heaven.
(RH December 5, 1899, Art. A, 11)
Both parents and children should be under the government of God. They are to be ruled by him. By combining the influences of authority and affection, parents can rule in their homes after the order of God has given in his word. There should be no ruling by impulse, no parental oppression; but at the same time, no disobedience is to be overlooked. We are not to reach the standard of worldlings, but the standard which God himself has erected. We are diligently to inquire, What hath God said? God's holy word is to be our rule, and from this we must never turn aside. No waywardness must be permitted on the part of the children, no disregard of obligations on the part of the parents. Our motto must be, “As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.”
(RH December 5, 1899, Art. A, 12)
Disease and Its Causes
Impure Air EGW
When severe sickness enters a family, there is great need of each member's giving strict attention to personal cleanliness, and diet, to preserve himself in a healthful condition, thus fortifying himself against disease. It is also of the greatest importance that the sick-room, from the first, be properly ventilated. This is beneficial to the afflicted, and highly necessary to keep those well who are compelled to remain a length of time in the sick-room.
(RH December 5, 1899, 1)
It is of great value to the sick to have an even temperature in the room. This can not always be correctly determined if left to the judgment of attendants; for they may not be the best judges of a right temperature. Some persons require more heat than others do, and would be only comfortable in a room which to another would be uncomfortably warm. And if each attendant is at liberty to arrange the fires to suit his idea of proper heat, the temperature in the sick-room will be anything but regular. Sometimes it will be distressingly warm for the patient; at another time too cold, which will have a most injurious effect upon him. The friends or attendants of the sick, who, through anxiety and watching, are deprived of sleep, and are suddenly awakened in the night to attend in the sick-room, are liable to chilliness. Such are not correct thermometers of the healthful temperature of a sick-room. These things may appear of small account, but they have very much to do with the recovery of the sick. In many instances life has been imperiled by extreme changes of the temperature of the sick-room.
(RH December 5, 1899, 2)
In no case should sick persons be deprived of a full supply of fresh air in pleasant weather. Their rooms may not always be so constructed as to allow the windows or doors to be opened without the draft coming directly upon them, thus exposing them to the taking of cold. In such cases windows and doors should be opened in an adjoining room, thus letting fresh air enter the room occupied by the sick. Fresh air will prove far more beneficial to sick persons than medicine, and is far more essential to them than their food. They will do better and will recover sooner when deprived of food than when deprived of fresh air.
(RH December 5, 1899, 3)
Many invalids have been confined for weeks and even for months in close rooms, with the light, and the pure, invigorating air of heaven shut out as if air were a deadly enemy, when it was just the medicine they needed to make them well. The whole system was debilitated and diseased for want of air, and nature sank under her load of accumulating impurities, in addition to the fashionable poisons administered by physicians, until she was overpowered, and broke down in her efforts, and death was the result. These persons might have lived. Heaven willed not their death. They died, victims to their own ignorance and the deception of physicians, who gave them fashionable poisons, and would not allow them pure water to drink, and fresh air to breathe, to invigorate the vital organs, purify the blood, and help nature in her task in overcoming the bad conditions of the system. These valuable remedies which Heaven has provided, without money and without price, were cast aside, and considered not only as worthless, but even as dangerous enemies, while poisons, prescribed by physicians, were in blind confidence taken.
(RH December 5, 1899, 4)
Thousands have died for want of pure water and pure air, who might have lived. And thousands of invalids, who are a burden to themselves and others, think that their lives depend upon taking medicines from the doctors. They are continually guarding themselves against the air, and avoiding the use of water. These blessings they need in order to become well. If they would become enlightened, and let medicine alone, and accustom themselves to outdoor exercise, and to air in their houses, summer and winter, and use soft water for drinking and bathing purposes, they would be comparatively well and happy, instead of dragging out a miserable existence.
(RH December 5, 1899, 5)
It is the duty of attendants and nurses to take special care of their own health, especially in critical cases of fever and consumption. One person should not be kept closely confined to the sick-room. It is safer to have two or three to depend upon, who are careful and understanding nurses, these changing and sharing the care and confinement of the sick-room. Each should have exercise in the open air as often as possible. This is important to sick-bed attendants, especially if the friends of the sick are among the class that continue to regard air, if admitted into the sick-room, as an enemy, and will not allow the windows raised, or the doors opened. In such cases the sick and the attendants are compelled to breathe the poisonous atmosphere from day to day, because of the inexcusable ignorance of the friends of the sick.
(RH December 5, 1899, 6)
In very many cases the attendants are ignorant of the needs of the system, and of the relation that the breathing of fresh air sustains to health, and of the life-destroying influence of inhaling the impure air of a sick-room. In this case the life of the sick is endangered, and the attendants themselves are liable to take on disease, and lose health, and perhaps life.
(RH December 5, 1899, 7)
If fevers enter a family, often more than one has the same disease. This need not be, if the habits of the family are correct. If their diet is as it should be, and they observe habits of cleanliness, and realize the necessity of ventilation, the fever need not extend to another member of the family. The reason of fevers prevailing in families, and exposing the attendants, is because the sick-room is not kept free from poisonous infection, by cleanliness and proper ventilation.
(RH December 5, 1899, 8)
If attendants are awake to the subject of health, and realize the necessity of ventilation for their own benefit as well as for the benefit of the patient, and the relatives as well as the sick oppose the admission of air and light into the sick-room, the attendants should have no scruples of conscience in leaving the sick-room. They should feel themselves released from their obligations to the sick. It is not the duty of one or more to risk the liability of incurring disease, thus endangering their lives, by breathing a poisonous atmosphere. If the sick will fall a victim to his own erroneous ideas, and will shut out of the room the most essential of heaven's blessings, let him do so, but not at the peril of those who ought to live.
(RH December 5, 1899, 9)
The mother, from a sense of duty, has left her family, to administer in the sick-room, where pure air was not allowed to enter, and has become sick by inhaling the diseased atmosphere, which affected her whole system. After a period of much suffering, she has died, leaving her children motherless. The sick, who shared the sympathy and unselfish care of this mother, recovered; but neither the sick nor the friends of the sick, understood that precious life was sacrificed because of their ignorance of the relation that pure air sustains to health. Neither did they feel any responsibility in regard to the stricken flock left without the tender mother's care.
(RH December 5, 1899, 10)
Mothers sometimes permit their daughters to take care of the sick in illy ventilated rooms, and as a result, have had to nurse them through a period of sickness. And because of the mother's anxiety and care for her child, she has been made sick, and frequently one or both have died, or been left with broken constitutions, or made suffering invalids for life. There is a lamentable catalogue of evils that have their origin in the sick-room from which the pure air of heaven is excluded. All who breathe this poisonous atmosphere violate the laws of their being, and must suffer the penalty.
(RH December 5, 1899, 11)