Chapter 40—Misconception of the Mother’s Work
Mother Tempted to Feel That Her Work Is Unimportant—
The mother’s work often seems to her an unimportant service. It is a
work that is rarely appreciated. Others know little of her many cares
and burdens. Her days are occupied with a round of little duties, all
calling for patient effort, for self-control, for tact, wisdom, and self-
sacrificing love; yet she cannot boast of what she has done as any
great achievement. She has only kept things in the home running
smoothly. Often weary and perplexed, she has tried to speak kindly to
the children, to keep them busy and happy, and to guide their little feet
in the right path. She feels that she has accomplished nothing. But
it is not so. Heavenly angels watch the careworn mother, noting the
burdens she carries day by day. Her name may not have been heard in
the world, but it is written in the Lamb’s book of life
The true wife and mother ... will perform her duties with dignity
and cheerfulness, not considering it degrading to do with her own
hands whatever it is necessary to do in a well-ordered household
Regarded as Inferior to Mission Service—What an important
work! And yet we hear mothers sighing for missionary work! If they
could only go to some foreign country, they would feel that they were
doing something worth while. But to take up the daily duties of the
home life and carry them forward seems to them like an exhausting
and thankless task
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Mothers who sigh for a missionary field have one at hand in their
own home circle.... Are not the souls of her own children of as much
value as the souls of the heathen? With what care and tenderness
should she watch their growing minds and connect God with all their
thoughts! Who can do this as well as a loving, God-fearing mother
1
Counsels to Teachers, Parents, and Students, 144
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2
The Signs of the Times, September 9, 1886
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3
The Review and Herald, July 9, 1901
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4
Manuscript 43, 1900
.
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