Sometimes Our Children Need an Advocate
James and John should have been embarrassed when their mother came to Jesus and asked for her two sons to sit, one on His left and one on His right, in His kingdom. Not surprisingly, the other ten apostles were indignant (Matthew 20:20-28).
We’ve all heard of mamas who always take up for their children even when the children would be better off if they had to face logical consequences. However, there are times when children do need their mamas and daddies to stand up and be their advocates. One school incident that greatly influenced our decision to homeschool our children occurred during the 1989-1990 school year. When John brought a note home from school, informing us that his class was about to begin sex education, Ray and I went to the school and said, in effect, “Maybe you are, but he’s not.” Praise God that the school authorities listened respectfully and exempted John from the class. That is one time that we are grateful we could be John’s advocate.
When Andrew Jackson was a young teenager, his mother stepped in to be his advocate, a step that may well have saved his life.
Elizabeth Hutchison was born in the mid-1700s in Northern Ireland. In Northern Ireland, Elizabeth married Andrew Jackson whose ancestors had immigrated there from Scotland. Elizabeth’s husband, Andrew, was not the future seventh president of the United States. Rather he was the future president’s father. Elizabeth and Andrew worked as weavers in the village of Boneybefore in County Antrim. In May of 1765, the Jacksons left their thatched roof cottage with their sons, Hugh, age 2, and Robert, age six months. They traveled to the seacoast town of Larne, where they boarded a ship to America.
The Jacksons settled in the Waxhaw area near the border of North and South Carolina. Elizabeth’s husband, Andrew, died there in 1767. Elizabeth was expecting their third child. When she gave birth to a baby boy a few weeks later, she named him Andrew after his father.
Elizabeth and her sons moved in with relatives who had also come to America. She took her sons to church and arranged for her youngest son, Andrew, to study with Presbyterian ministers.
When the American Revolution broke out, all of Elizabeth’s sons joined the fight against England. Hugh died of a heat stroke in June of 1779. The British captured and jailed Robert and thirteen-year-old Andrew. Both boys contracted small pox while in jail. Their mother, Elizabeth, took on the mama role of advocate for her boys. She won their release from their British captors.
The ill Robert died two days after he was released, but Elizabeth was able to nurse her youngest son back to health. In the fall of 1781, Elizabeth traveled to Charleston, South Carolina, to nurse sick American soldiers. She became ill there and died.
One of Elizabeth’s last blessings to her son, Andrew, was being his advocate. Praise God that Jesus is ours.
My little children,
I am writing these things to you
so that you may not sin.
And if anyone sins,
we have an Advocate with the Father,
Jesus Christ the righteous;
and He Himself is the propitiation for our sins;
and not for ours only,
but also for the sins of the whole world.
1 John 2:1-2