THE BOWENS

I am also blessed to come from a godly generation. It started with my grandfather. He was a brilliant man, but had a wild and stubborn streak. He had a godly Christian wife, but when they went to church on Sundays, he went off to the races with his horses. When he got mad, everyone knew it.

He wouldn't just throw a plate at the wall - he would pick the table with plates and food and everything on it and throw the whole lot at the wall! However, through the faithful prayers of his praying wife, one day, he knelt down in his farm kitchen with his five sons around him and gave his heart to God. He became a wonderful man of God and he started a godly generation.

He brought up his sons in the ways of God. My father was one of them. He married a lovely Christian woman and they imparted God's Word into our lives, not just by the letter of the law, but also by godly example. The example of my father and mother's lives did more to direct me into God's will than anything else.

They lived their Christianity wholeheartedly, faithfully and especially practically before our eyes. We really didn't need any words - we saw! My father was such an encourager and had such faith and trust in me, that as I grew older, I couldn't bear to do anything that would dispel his trust in me - and that kept me on the straight and narrow.

I was then blessed to marry a man whose heart was totally set for God and we had six children. We sought to teach them and train them in God's ways. They are now all grown and starting their own families. Of course they are also seeking to teach them to be godly children. And so, in my lifetime, we are up to the fifth generation - one generation passing on God's ways to the next generation.

"But" I hear you saying, "I haven't been blessed to come from a godly line. I am the first one in my family to walk in God's ways." Don't be disheartened. You have an exciting challenge ahead. You can be the one to start a godly generation. Just think of what can happen in years to come because of your godly influence.

Mothers, lift up your heads from the tediousness of your day-to-day tasks and look ahead to the years to come. Your influence will continue on in the lives of your children, your grandchildren and your great-grandchildren. What will be your influence upon the world? What mighty men and women will come forth from the godly training and atmosphere of your home? Don't take your great calling lightly.

Mothering is too important to be accomplished part-time. Mothering is more than feeding and clothing our children. We have the responsibility to imprint God's Word so indelibly on the hearts and minds of our children that they will automatically impart it to their children and their children's children.

Your mothering will not only affect your own children,

but it will touch lives that have not yet been born!