Laura’s Beautician
One mama at the St. Charles, Missouri, convention told me a sweet story about Laura Ingalls Wilder. She and her family recently visited Rocky Ridge Farm to see the home Laura and Almanzo built for themselves and their daughter Rose in south central Missouri. Her family also visited Laura and Almanzo’s graves at the local Mansfield, Missouri, cemetery.
A man who was also visiting the cemetery asked the family if they were fans of Laura. When they told him that they were, he told them that he had just buried his mother. He said that his mother was Laura’s beautician.
When Laura visited his mother’s beauty shop, she used to take special note of him. He said she was nice and that she would ask him what he was reading.
Don’t you know it was meaningful for this man to be able to talk about his mother with people whom he felt confident would enjoy hearing his story. God gave us a precious gift when He gave us the sense of hearing. Listening is one of the sweet ways that we can love our neighbor as ourselves. Training our children to listen with respect and attention is one of the many ways we can prepare them for a life pleasing to our Father in heaven.
One of the scribes came and heard them arguing,
and recognizing that He had answered them well, asked Him,
“What commandment is the foremost of all?”
Jesus answered, “The foremost is,
“Hear, O Israel! The Lord our God is one Lord;
and you shall love the Lord your God
with all your heart, and with all your soul,
and with all your mind, and with all your strength.”
The second is this,
“You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”
There is no other commandment greater than these.”
Mark 12:28-31