In this blog space I’ve already shared that my greatest desire as a mom has always been to see my 7+2+7 (7 children, 2 children-in-law, 7 grands) embrace the Word of God and walk in its truth. My mom prayed the same for her 3+3+17, and she did even more than that. She offered to babysit our little ones so we, as young mothers, could attend Bible study.

Organized women’s studies with workbooks, weekly lectures, and discussion groups were a new thing back then, and Bible Study Fellowship (BSF) met in a church just across the street from Mom’s house. She’d already attended herself and said she had soaked up enough. It was time to pass on the blessings to the next generation.

Since BSF had a teaching program for children ages 2-5, our babies weren’t included, so Mom stepped in. Despite having broken her back in multiple places and being in her 70’s, she met us each week at the door with good cheer, already wearing her work apron, to care for our babies. Then, as the months and years passed, she never said no to additional moms wanting to study Scripture, sometimes caring for 6 or 7 babies at once.

Our weekly routine was: drop the babies at 9:00 am, return at 11:30, and find Mom had made lunch for all of us. If these were stressful hours for her, she never let on. Instead she regaled us with stories of what a blessing it was to be able to babysit.

Mom’s willingness to give a mountain of time, energy, and creativity to the little ones did several things:

• elevated her to servanthood status in God’s sight.
• boosted her heavenly rewards significantly.
• frustrated the enemy by removing an obstacle that would have kept young mothers from attending Bible study.
• bonded her to a crowd of little ones.

Mom would add one more: “They kept me young!”

Children less than 2 years old are needy, inconvenient, and labor-intensive, but they’re no less important to God than anyone else. Since Mom agreed with him on that, he empowered her to do what she did.

Those of us who “used” her to babysit walked back through her kitchen door after Bible study each week refreshed from quality time away from our 24/7 children, brimming with gratitude. When we tried to put the toys away, Mom would say, “Oh leave that for me. It’s such a happy mess” and we  believed her.

Not all of us are called to care for babies, but we are called to elevate the study of Scripture. And if we’re looking for a surefire way to get “spiritual brownie points” on God’s reward board, we can facilitate this kind of study in the lives of others… of course that’s after we first promote it in our own.

“Whoever serves Me must follow Me; and where I am, My servant also will be. My Father will honor the one who serves Me.” (John 12:26)