Marmee-isms ~#10~ The Better Friend

"My Jo, you may say anything to your mother, for it is my greatest happiness & pride to feel that my girls confide in me, & know how much I love them."

"I thought I'd grieved you."

"No, dear; but speaking of Father reminded me how much I miss him, how much I owe him & how faithfully I should watch & work to keep his little daughters safe & good for him"

"Yet you told him to go [to war], Mother, & didn't cry when he went, & never complain now, or seem as if you needed any help," said Jo, wondering.

"I gave my best to the country I love, & kept my tears till he was gone. Why should I complain, when we both have merely done our duty & will surely be happier for it in the end? If I don't seem to need help, it is because I have a better Friend, even than Father, to comfort & sustain me. My child, the troubles & temptations of your life are beginning, & may be many; but you can overcome & outlive them all if you learn to feel the strength & tenderness of your Heavenly Father as you do that of your earthly one. The more you love & trust Him, the nearer you will feel to Him, & the less you will depend on human power & wisdom. His love & care never tire or change, can never be taken from you, but may become the source of life-long peace, happiness & strength. Believe this heartily, & go to God w/all your little cares, & hopes, & sins, & sorrows, as freely & confidingly as you come to your mother."

Jo's only answer was to hold her mother close, &, in the silence which followed, the sincerest prayer she had ever prayed left her heart without words; for in that sad, yet happy hour, she had learned not only the bitterness of remorse & despair, but the sweetness of self-denial & self-control; &, led by her mother's hand, she had drawn nearer to the Friend Who welcomes every child w/a love stronger than that of any father, tenderer than that of any mother.

Little Women ~ Ch. 8

Blessings from Ohio . . . Kim<><