The Journals of Martha E. McMillan

ourselves; we need to pray earnestly for ourselves that we would be better teach others. If we would be successful, we must do this. What is it to walk wisely? It is to live right lives. To do this is to love God more and to show our love by our lives and to love many more and to show our love the same way. It is also to eliminate our temper. It is to keep them under check. If we fret at God’s providence and see no light in his dealings with us is not acting wisely. To act wisely in the home we must have parental government as government in the home. There must be a mingling of parental authority with parental love. We are not acting wisely if we leave our children to decide whether they go to church or not—or whether they ramble about on the street or not. We are God’s appointed guard and bound to them by the tenderest ties. Sometimes when it is too late we that we have not acted wisely. We should regulate our lives by God’s words. The life must be right at home. We must be consistent Christians at home. We should be gentle and polite and patient in the home, although we may find much to vex and annoy us amid the trial and case of every day life. Some folks are kind and pleasant everywhere but at home. The home life after all is the true life. A man’s life at home always reveals his true character. We should walk wisely at home because of our influence and our responsibility, and because there are streams that flow from the home that will either bless or curse the earth. The seeds that are producing such a glorious harvest were cultivated in the home. The seed that is bringing forth such an abundant harvest to curse the world was cultivated in the home. The home of the godly is a training school where boys and girls are trained for the university of heaven. While this is true of the godly, the opposite is also true of the home of the ungodly.” 109