Special Moments Giclee Print
Kilburne, George...
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As a girl in my 'teens, I found the book "Beautiful Girlhood" by Mabel Hale to be very instructive and inspiring to me. Here are a few exerpts from the book regarding motherhood. You can order a beautiful new copy of this book edited by Mrs. Andreola, or you can read the original on Google books.
"Womanhood is a wonderful thing. In womankind we find the mothers of the race. There is no man so great, nor none sunk so low, but once he lay a helpless, innocent babe in a woman's arms, and was dependent upon her love and care for his existence. It is woman who rocks the cradle of the world, and holds the first affections of mankind. She possesses a power beyond that of a king on his throne. There was the ancient Jochebed who received the infant Moses from the hand of Pharaoh's daughter, and in a few short years she had him taught so to love his people and the God of his people that when he came to man's estate he chose rather to suffer affliction with the people of God than to enjoy the honor of being the grandson of the king. Womanhood stands for all that is pure and clean and noble. She who does not make the world better for having lived in it has failed to be all that a woman should be."
"Most good girls become wives and mothers. There are some true-hearted women who do not, but they will very nearly all tell you, as old age creeps on them, that they feel certain they have missed the best that life could have given them. One woman who had given her life in noble and uplifting work, whose name is familiar in every home for her influence in the lives of other women, said when questioned on this very point (for she never married), "I would give it all for the touch of little hands." There is a heart-cry in every woman that can not be satisfied except in motherhood.
"If a girl knew that she was to be a teacher, an artist, or a musician, she would not put off all thought and preparation for her life work till she was ready to begin it, but instead would fit herself for it by study and practise. There would be years of hard work between her and success in her chosen calling.
"There is no calling higher than that of motherhood, and the place of wife is nearly as high. The wife, if she is what God means for her to be, is a helpmeet, a strength and constant blessing to her husband. He is a better man with a fuller and more useful life because of her influence. Without her, his life could not be perfect. To be this to one person all through a lifetime may mean much to any woman. And by making his life fuller, her own life is enlarged, and others are blessed by them. It is a wonderful and a noble thing to be a good wife, and the mistress of a real home.
"But the calling of a mother is yet higher. Then the woman brings into the world other beings, and is responsible to God and to the world for their care and training. It is a lifelong job, and one that will tell for good or bad to the end of the world. Not one woman who has been a mother has failed to leave her imprint on the world. There are now on record the names of women whose wicked lives and ungodly children and children's children down to the present generation have cost their States and cities thousands of dollars; and there are other women whose names are on record in life's history whose godly and upright lives have so influenced their children that they down to the present generation are a blessing and benediction in the world. Motherhood is a far- reaching destiny indeed. It is the highest calling, the noblest work, the greatest honor that can come to any woman. This is also what will, if used rightly, bring her the most happiness and genuine satisfaction of anything in life. For this God made her, and fitted her by nature."
