Ladies Advice Panel Discussion

One January I was included on a panel with three other senior ladies as part of our women’s ministry program. What follows are a few of the topics we were asked to address. My first piece of advice? Do not marry before finishing college.

Being naïve about protection, I fell pregnant six months later! My professors advised me to finish my senior year, but having a baby was too exciting! Now mind you, I had no experience with little kids, but I had taken those child development classes and read all the baby books, right? Wherever possible, be a stay-at-home mom.

Our second son came less than twenty months later.

Those boys were my life. I wanted to be the mother to them that I never had. Sabbath School class and the church building became their other home.

On many Sabbath afternoons we would play Sabbath School by putting felts on a flannel blanket against the back of the sofa while singing their songs.

Both boys always knew their memory verses for the whole quarter. When my oldest son was eight, he learned to play the ukulele at junior camp.

He then played for Sabbath School and for our worship each evening. Pathfinders came later, and how they enjoyed participating! One real fear I had as a young mother was that my boys would not make wise choices. I knew about Eve’s boys, Cain and Abel.

That story would haunt me on days I felt I had not made the right decision dealing with them. Then there was Eve’s major bad decision at the tree.

What if I made a decision that would be harmful to my boys’ future? I prayed lots of prayers for my boys to be good citizens in this world and the next.

Praise the Lord; they are successful men today, loving the Lord. My advice at forty years old: Get a job to pay for your children’s church school tuition.

Pray more with and for them, their friends, and their life partners. Stay involved in church life. Make time to read God’s Word and pray daily.

Talk less to friends and family about being discouraged, frustrated, or worried, but tell God about it. Keep a gratitude journal more faithfully.

Spend more time listening to and singing uplifting songs.

What advice would you give? I pray we will meet many in heaven whom we have influenced.

Louise Howlett Driver