Elisabeth Elliot: Conscientious motherhood cannot follow the selfish pattern of having a child only to send him off as soon as possible to a daycare center. Of course, at times this is essential for survival. But at other times, it is produced by a selfish interest in one's own career or in acquiring more wealth.

Lisa Barry: What you've just heard is from an article Elisabeth Elliot will be reading from on today's Gateway To Joy program. It typifies what many American mothers are choosing to do. Many of them became used to the lifestyle their parents had and found no reason good enough to turn down income, even if the children ultimately pay the bill. Stay-at-home motherhood is not a popular stance these days by any means, but one Elisabeth feels strongly about promoting.

Maybe you're one who thinks that motherhood doesn't stand a chance of survival in this world. Maybe you don't agree with the things that you've heard so far today. Well, I hope you'll all come to the table today with open minds and hearts as we investigate what respected individuals are saying on this matter of motherhood. Let's join Elisabeth now as she shares a few of those thoughts with us. Here she is.

Elisabeth Elliot: "You are loved with an everlasting love." That's what the Bible says. "And underneath are the everlasting arms." This is your friend Elisabeth Elliot, talking with you again today about the vocation of motherhood.

My brother Dave sent me a very interesting article by somebody named Connie Marshner. The article is entitled "Can Motherhood Survive?" I'm going to read you some excerpts.

"This is a free country, but women are not free to be mothers. They used to be. A few decades ago, motherhood was a national treasure. What has happened? Can the trend be reversed? Can motherhood survive?

"Most Christians do not understand quite how widespread and systematic and organized is the drive for social parenting. Social parenting is the idea that somebody other than parents can or should raise children. We don't understand how we ourselves are victimized by it. I'm still struggling with my own transition from full-time career woman to full-time mother.

"If you're a full-time mother, I'm writing to help you understand why motherhood is not honored and respected as it once was. If you're a working mom, my experience may be a catalyst to your thinking about your own life and the choices you're making." I wish I had time to read all of it. I don't.

She says, "We must not forget that God gives us children for two reasons: Because He wants many sons and daughters in His kingdom and because He wants to change us. He wants us to raise our children to know Him and love Him and serve Him so that they can be happy with Him, if not in this world, then for sure in the next.

"For most of us, our fallen natures are so strong that just about the only place for any unselfishness to occur spontaneously is in our attitude toward our children. So grace builds upon nature and God uses our love for our children to draw us closer to Him.

"The conclusion of years of research and thousands of studies of human growth and development is that 50% or more of mature intelligence develops between birth and age four." I'd better read that again.

"The conclusion of years of research and thousands of studies of human growth and development is that 50% or more of mature intelligence develops between birth and age four. A particularly critical period, claims authority Dr. Burton L. White, comes between months eight and eighteen. The child's experience during these brief months do more, White says, to influence future intellectual competence than any time before or after.

"A mother who picks up a crying baby teaches the baby the first thing he ever learns: Someone will respond to his needs. Yet in some daycare centers, helpers are not allowed to pick up a crying baby. After all, if you pick up one, you have to pick up all, and who has time for that?

"Alan Carlson, researcher for one of the finest family policy publications in the country, The Family In America, stated the naked, unpopular fact: 'While the issue remains in dispute, there's a growing body of research showing that full-time mothers have children with higher cognitive abilities and academic achievement as compared to working mothers with children.'

"Maternal abandonment, the key ingredient of social parenting, reaches its full effect in institutional daycare. There it reeks devastation in the emotional lives of children."

Well, you who must work, I do have a word of encouragement for you. You can trust God to protect your child. You can trust God to show you a way out of your situation, if God wants you out of it and if you're willing to make the sacrifices that are necessary. If you believe that God is telling you that this is the only place where you can serve Him, then you have to be obedient to what you believe God is telling you. These are statistics. These are studies, but they also remind us that the Scripture has much to say about the importance of motherhood.

"The new trait goes on by several names," this article goes on to say. "Self-reliance and independence are its best-sounding ones. Selfishness and 'me first' are less pleasant names for the same thing. The old trait goes by names like humility, submission, trust, dependence. Yes, dependence is a virtue. It's easy to say that to follow Christ is to be at enmity with the world. It's easy to say that God will take care of us. It's even easy to intellectually comprehend it.

"What's hard is to know it in your bones and to practice it, especially if you were raised in middle-class comfort and didn't expect yourself to be poor. Only the grace of God enables you to do it. But you have to ask for the grace. When I had the challenge, I didn't ask for the grace and I regret it."

Then this one last sentence from this article, "Can Motherhood Survive?" "A loving, competent mother, provided for and protected by a faithful father, is the foundation of the human personality, and therefore of human society."

Walter J. Chantry, in his pamphlet "The High Calling of Motherhood," says, "It is obvious that more is intended by childbearing than the physical process of conceiving, carrying a child in the womb and bringing him into the world. But mothering that person is assumed.

"More expressly stated by Paul, 'Women will be saved through childbirth, if they continue in faith, love and holiness with propriety.' Conscientious motherhood cannot follow the selfish pattern of having a child only to send him off as soon as possible to a daycare center. Of course, at times this is essential for survival, but at other times it is produced by a selfish interest in one's own career or in acquiring more wealth. Women want to get on to more exciting things.

"This low view of a mother's task is damaging the Church. Many are saved out of homes in which parents did not care for their children. These have lived useful lives for the Lord. But most of the greatest servants of God who have dealt the mightiest blows to Satan's kingdom were raised in stable homes. It is almost always a mother who makes it stable.

"Today, nothing can replace the care and training of a faithful mother. Those who lack this blessing in their childhood carry a burden throughout life. Emotional scars and character flaws from mother's neglect are handicaps in serving the Lord. Even grace at conversion does not eliminate these liabilities.

"Our world sets its wares before women: 'Look at the money you can make.' A paycheck is an immediate and tangible reward for labor. 'Look at the influence and respect you can command in a successful career. There's fun and excitement in the work world, the social stimulation of interesting people, the excitement of travel, the glamour of attention from others, the intellectual challenges and so on.'

"But in reality, these often prove to be the baubles of vanity fair. God has assigned a nobler work to women than merely to parallel man's activities. There is no more pitiful person in the world than the woman who has it all together in business, but whose family has fallen apart. She is the epitome of energy, organization, talent and efficiency, only her children have not turned out well. As sacrifices mount, temptations will increase to fall in with the world's system.

"Young men," says Walter Chantry, "to follow the Lord fully, your wife will need to be reminded that you share her vision for pleasing God through rearing a family. You must let her know that you admire her labors in motherhood, and churches must combat the deluge of worldly propaganda. They must continually hold out the biblical ideal of women's service to God and humanity in childbirth, and continuance in faith, love and holiness. In due time, the faithful mothers will have the seal of God's blessing on their labors."

Lisa Barry: I for one have been greatly encouraged through this series in my role as a mother. I hope you have as well. There are so many mothers out there who are dying for a little encouragement, but aren't finding it anywhere. If there's a mother you know who could use a timely word, then I'd encourage you to invest in something on her behalf. Our Mother's Day gift package has been put together with care, and it is packed with just the sort of common sense moms are looking for.

Here's what's inside: our special commemorative edition book entitled Gateway To Joy: Reflections That Draw Us Nearer to God. This isn't just a flimsy paperback, but a beautifully bound book that will look wonderful on your coffee table or displayed prominently on your bookshelf. Also in the packet is a two-week series that features Arlita Winston, entitled A Peaceful Home, not to mention three other helpful leaflets that pack a lot of wisdom in a small amount of space.

And now, one last thing before we go. I'd like to take just a minute to remind you of the good that you do for Gateway To Joy when you offer your support. It's important to us that you know we are a program which is supported by the gifts of our listeners. It's that simple. We may be a production of Back to the Bible, but we are not underwritten by them or any other organization. So if you can remember us today, we'll say thanks in advance.

Here's our address: Gateway To Joy, Box 82500, Lincoln, Nebraska 68501. Or you can call toll-free: 1-800-759-4JOY. Remember that our Web site is accessible 24 hours a day, so dial us up at gatewaytojoy.org. Today's program has been a production of Back to the Bible.

Monday Elisabeth begins a brand-new series on growing in Christ. Find out more when we meet again for another Gateway To Joy.