Although you may have never heard of the 19th-century American poet William Ross Wallace, you’ve likely heard his most famous line of poetry. “For the hand that rocks the cradle is the hand that rules the world.” This line endures because it reflects a truth we see expressed repeatedly in life.
A mother has an immeasurable influence on our world through the children she teaches, shapes, and encourages. And one Christian woman can impact countless souls for Christ through the children she raises.
The following five mothers from history are just a small sample of how God powerfully uses mothers for His kingdom. Just as God multiplied their daily faithfulness to their children, He still uses everyday moms like you and me for His extraordinary purposes. (The following stories of spiritual legacy are adapted from the 52-day devotional “Heirloom: Living and Leaving a Legacy of Faith.”)
1. Susanna Wesley
In the first half of the 18th century, John Wesley helped spark a revival in England that spread all the way to America. His ministry began an evangelical movement that would later become the Methodist Church. John’s younger brother Charles Wesley also made a lasting contribution to the church by composing thousands of hymns, many of which are still used in worship today.
Christians in the 21st century still feel the impact of the Wesley brothers, but it was their mother, Susanna, who laid the foundation of faith in their lives. Historians largely credit the Wesley’s tremendous spiritual leadership to Susanna’s influence and prayers.
Born in 1669, Susanna Annesley Wesley was a minister’s daughter and the youngest of twenty-five children. At age twenty, she married Samuel Wesley, a minister in the Church of England. Loss marked their rocky marriage. For instance, only half of their nineteen children survived to adulthood; due to his excessive spending, Samuel spent time in debtor’s prison; the family lost their home in a fire; and an argument initiated a marital separation of several months.
Through all the turmoil and grief, Susanna was a faithful constant for her children. Susanna found her strength in her devotion to God, spending an hour each day in prayer and Bible study. Then she committed six hours, six days a week to the academic and spiritual education of her children. And amazingly, Susanna purposefully spent one hour a week with each child to talk about spiritual things (Feminine Threads: Women in the Tapestry of Christian History).
Susanna discipled her children her entire life. She wrote many letters to her sons to encourage and challenge them in their faith and she compiled Christian education materials for her daughters. And, as only God can do, through her children He exponentially multiplied her efforts, to benefit countless others.
2. Amelia Taylor
God called Hudson Taylor to be a missionary to China when he was 17 years old. But God had placed a desire on his mother’s heart years earlier. When Hudson was just a newborn, Amelia Taylor began praying that God would send her son to China as a missionary. Amelia saw a great spiritual need and longed for God to use her son to meet it. Even though it meant separation from him.
When Hudson left England in 1853 at the age of 21, only a few dozen missionaries served in China. The country was virtually untouched by the Gospel, a vast nation of souls held captive by sin. Burdened by their need, Hudson Taylor devoted his life to taking the Gospel of Christ to China.
Hudson Taylor served God in China for more than 50 years, from 1853 until his death in 1905. Through the mission organization Hudson founded, China Inland Mission, he established 20 mission stations, brought almost 1,000 missionaries to China’s interior, and trained 700 Chinese workers. Hudson’s efforts reaped an abundant spiritual harvest, including a strong Chinese church of around 125,000 believers.
Amelia Taylor entrusted her son and his future to God. God used one mother’s sacrifice to help save countless souls in China. Parents and grandparents can further God’s purposes by encouraging their children to go wherever God calls.
3. Betsy Moody
God powerfully used the American evangelist D.L. Moody. Over his lifetime, Moody traveled over one million miles and preached the Gospel to over 100 million people (Nelson’s Dictionary of Christianity). But it was Moody’s mother who first taught him to trust in God.
Dwight Lyman Moody was born in Northfield, Massachusetts in 1837 to Edwin and Betsy Moody. He was the sixth of nine children. Edwin, a bricklayer, died suddenly when Moody was just four, leaving the family in deep debt. The creditors wasted no time. They took everything the law would allow, including the woodpile.
Friends encouraged Betsy to send some of the children to relatives, but she refused. Determined to keep her family together, Betsy worked tirelessly to provide for their needs. Through many desperate times, God always miraculously provided. And Betsy learned He was trustworthy.
At seventeen, Moody left home to take a job in an uncle’s Boston shoe store. There he attended Sunday School. He learned more about God’s love for him and joyfully gave his life to Jesus. At eighteen, Moody moved to Chicago to pursue business endeavors. But God had other plans for him.
Over the next several years, Moody grew in his faith and in his desire to share the Good News of Jesus. In 1858, he established a mission church in a Chicago slum and by 1861, he entered full-time ministry. God was building on the foundation of faith his mother laid.
When Betsy died, Moody spoke at her funeral. He reflected on her hard work to keep the family together. He talked about how she read devotions to them every morning and that she took them to church each Sunday. And he shared her simple, but profound creed: “My trust is in God.”
Betsy encountered severe difficulty in her life. Many times, she didn’t know what form the help would take, but she always knew Who would send it.
Photo Credit: ©Getty Images/Rudi Suardi
4. Eunice Crosby
Fanny Crosby met with presidents and governors. She was the first woman to speak before the US Senate. During her lifetime, she authored more than 8,000 hymns, many still sung in churches today. Beloved songs of faith like “Blessed Assurance,” “To God be the Glory,” and “Near the Cross.” Yes, Fanny Crosby left an enduring legacy of faith. But it began with her grandmother.
Frances Jane Crosby was born to John and Mercy Crosby in 1820. Tragedy marked the first year of her life. She lost her sight at six weeks old when an incompetent doctor mistreated a mild eye inflammation. The hot mustard poultice he applied to her young eyes left her completely blind. Then not long before her first birthday, her father died. Mercy, forced to work as a maid to support her young family, left Fanny in the daily care of her grandmother, Eunice Crosby.
Grandmother Eunice lovingly dedicated herself to be Fanny’s “eyes.” Eunice took her granddaughter for long walks, helping her “see” what the two encountered through vivid descriptions. Eunice taught Fanny about colors, flowers, and birds. She painted glorious word pictures of sunrises and sunsets. Eunice also read to Fanny constantly, particularly from the Bible. She helped Fanny memorize first small, then large chunks of Scripture including many whole books.
Fanny spent most of her young years with Eunice and the two became very close. Later in life, Fanny wrote about her relationship with her grandmother. "My grandmother was more to me than I can ever express by word or pen."
In many ways, Eunice gave her granddaughter the world, challenging her not to allow blindness to be an excuse. More importantly, Eunice gave Fanny God’s Word. His truths, firmly ingrained in her heart and mind, ripened and aged. Then years later, the truths flowed out as poetry, birthed to commend God’s works to generations of believers.
5. Morrow Coffee Graham
Over his lifetime, Billy Graham met with thirteen sitting United States presidents. He shared the Gospel with more than 200 million people in hundreds of live crusades around the world. Two billion more heard him via the airwaves. And it’s estimated that over two million people gave their lives to Christ through his preaching. Although the ministry of the Revered Billy Graham cannot be encapsulated with mere numbers, these statistics emphasize the incredible impact he made during his lifetime for the Kingdom of God.
But long before Billy Graham took the Gospel to the world, his mother wove its truth into the daily fabric of his life. In his autobiography, Graham described how his mother, Morrow Coffey Graham, ensured her family gathered daily to pray, read the Bible, and experience the presence of God. Her commitment to establishing a family altar began the day she married William Franklin Graham Sr. and it never wavered. Morrow believed her family’s eternal life and earthly unity depended on the Word of God, so she faithfully taught her children to depend on the Word.
Although Billy Graham influenced the whole world, he readily acknowledged that the greatest influence on his own life was his mother. Graham also recognized the great potential every mother has to point their children to Christ. “The influence of a mother upon the lives of her children cannot be measured.”
5 Tips for Influencing Your Children’s Faith
These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Deuteronomy 6:6-7, NIV
God designed the family to be our first and greatest school of spiritual formation. Mothers – and fathers – are the teachers and the Bible is their textbook. In the sixth chapter of Deuteronomy, God instructs parents to weave His Word into the patterns of their family’s life. To teach His Word, talk about His Word, and apply His Word throughout the day. From the first whispers of morning until sleep closes in at night. And all the countless moments in between. The eternal value will be immeasurable.
The following five tips are just a sampling of the ways we can encourage our children to love and live by God’s Word (For more stories of spiritual legacy and more practical tips, see “Heirloom: Living & Leaving a Legacy of Faith” and “13 Practical Tips for Building a Spiritual Legacy.”).
1. Establish a regular time to talk individually with each of your children or grandchildren about spiritual things and their relationship with God. Identify specific ways you can help or encourage each of them spiritually.
2. Pray regularly with your children and ask God to give you wisdom regarding His will for their lives. Help your children recognize God’s voice and discern His direction for their lives today and in the future. Encourage them to follow Him in obedience, no matter what it might cost you.
3. When your children encounter difficulty, take the opportunity to point them to God. As they walk through the trial, keep encouraging them to trust in Him. Teach them that God is always trustworthy.
4. Find creative ways to help your children or grandchildren recognize God’s glory and majesty. Then, show them how to praise Him by praying together. For instance, take them on a nature walk. All along the way, stop and praise God for His creativity and beauty.
5. Establish and commit to a regular family devotion time. Shape it according to the ages and attention span of your children. Make it fun and interactive.
Sources:
Diana Lynn Severance, Feminine Threads: Women in the Tapestry of Christian History, Scotland: Christian Focus Publications, 2011, p. 214.
George Thomas Kurian, editor, Nelson’s Dictionary of Christianity (Thomas Nelson: Nashville, 2005), pg. 472.
Photo Credit: ©GettyImages/ChristinLola
Kathy Howard is a treasure hunter. She hunts for the creamiest chocolate, richest coffee, and digs deep into Scripture to mine God’s eternal truths. Kathy has a Masters in Christian Education from the Canadian Southern Baptist Seminary. She serves on the LifeWay Women’s Ministry Training Team and has taught the Bible for more than 30 years in a wide variety of venues. Kathy is the award-winning author of 12 books, including “Heirloom: Living & Leaving a Legacy of Faith" and the meaty devotional series “Deep Rooted.” Kathy and her husband live in north Texas. They have three married children, six grandchildren, and one accidental dog. Find free discipleship resources at KathyHoward.org and connect with Kathy on Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube.