Tuesday, November 1, 2016

A Peek At The Life Of A Mom Who Made A Difference

by Jill Printzenhoff

I can’t fathom having twenty-five children. Just. Can’t. Fathom. That! But Susanna Wesley was indeed the twenty-fifth (and last) sibling in her family to be born. And Susanna, in turn, bore nineteen children.

Do you realize how many months Susanna’s mother spent expecting? If she went full term and never had twins, etc., she spent two hundred twenty-five months or the equivalent of eighteen years and nine months WITH CHILD. If Susanna went full term, she herself spent fourteen years and three months with child.

If I thought running a household was challenging enough with my own dynamic duo, how in the world does one stay sane and effectively run their household with so many children under foot and with one always on the way?

Here’s what I learned about Susanna Wesley:

She was disciplined and disciplined her kids:

• She homeschooled her children for a period of time.
• She taught her kids “to respect authority and exercise self control as they expressed their emotions.”
• Her own devotional time was sacred and she didn’t skimp.

She was faithful to her family—period:

• “Her writings reveal that she lived as she did because she was passionate about the souls of her children.”
• Her marriage endured trials.
• Her husband was opinionated.
• He spent time in prison for outstanding debts.
• He was gone for an extended period of time conducting church business.
• Yet she focused on his good qualities and didn’t toss him to the curb when he messed up.

She regularly spent quality time with each of her children:

• Even with 11 members in her house Suzanna invested 1 hour a week of one-on-one time with each child.

Why?

• “She wanted to know and influence each child as an individual.
• “She wanted to make sure her kids knew the Lord.”
• “She wanted to do her best to ensure that her kids “were growing in their faith”

To do that, she had to know them—on a personal level.

Training her children didn’t end when they left home:

• She wrote to her kids deep and meaningful letters when away from home.
• The letters were attempts to continue instilling teaching in their life.

Through everything—she was faithful to God and His calling on her life:

• When her husband wasn’t around to be the spiritual head of the household, she filled the role herself (even though she faced opposition from her husband, as well as from the substitute curate—for taking on that household role).

The result of her faithfulness:

• Not only did numerous people regularly press into her home to receive spiritual nourishment and growth, but also two of her sons, Charles and John Wesley, blazed a trail of faith and fanned the flames of revival.

Suzanna Wesley—through trials, tribulations, and adversities—was a mom who made a difference.

Her story made me think: At the end of my life, what will I be remembered for? In spite of the times I’ve failed, I pray that the positives outshine the faults, an in the end . . . that I’m truly known as a faithful mom who loved God and her family, and made a difference in her little corner of the world.

• Thanks for stopping by and reading my post. As always, your comments are welcomed.

** Information from this post—paraphrased, summarized, and quoted—came from reading Lindsey O’Connor’s book Moms Who Changed The World.

*Featured photo is compliments of pixabay.com