Thoughtful Tuesday

It sure has been a long time since I put up a Thoughtful Tuesday post! For those who have not seen these posts, my first Thoughtful Tuesday was published on October 24, 2006. You can read all of these posts by either searching for Thoughtful Tuesday or by choosing the "Quotes" category.

In honor of Mother's Day, I'll share a poem from the back of our Bulletin this past Sunday.

Love in the Home
If I live in a house of spotless beauty with everything in its place, but have not love,
I am a housekeeper - not a homemaker.
If I have time for waxing, polishing, and decorative achievements, but have not love,
My children learn cleanliness - not godliness.

Loves leaves the dust in search of a child's laugh.
Love smiles at the tiny fingerprints on a newly cleaned window.
Love wipes away the tears before it wipes up the spilled milk.
Love picks up the child before it picks up the toys.

Love is present through trials.
Love reprimands, reproves, and is responsive.
Love crawls with the baby, walks with the toddler, runs with the child, then stands aside to let the youth walk into adulthood.
Love is the key that opens salvation's message to a child's heart.

Before I became a mother, I took glory in my house of perfection.
Now I glory in God's perfection of my child.
As a mother, there is much I must teach my child,
but the greatest of all is love.

-author unknown