“Oh, Mother! May I help you with the washing tomorrow? It’s Washington’s birthday, you know, so there won’t be any school. Please say `yes’!”
Mother laughed as her seven-year-old Susan coaxed. “Of course you may, but are you forgetting that I get up very early to get it started before breakfast? Maybe you’ll be too sleepy in the morning.”
“Oh, no!” Susan assured Mother. “I just love to wash clothes. So don’t forget to wake me up.”
Before bed that night Susan reminded Mother again. Then in the middle of the night she stole out of bed and awakened Mother. “You won’t forget to wake me up?” she whispered. And Mother had to assure her once more.
The next morning Susan was awake as soon as she heard Mother stirring, and together they carried the clothes to be washed down to the basement. Soon the soapy water was swishing merrily in the washing machine and Susan and her mother sang as they worked together.
Susan poked the clothes down under the rinse water, and watched carefully as they came from the wringer into the clothes-basket that nothing would drop onto the floor. Then she hung up washcloths and small things on one of the lower lines that she could reach.
“Aren’t you glad that I’m helping you, Mother?” she asked several times. “I’m your little maid. Don’t you think I’m a good helper?”
“Yes, dear!” Mother smiled. And though Susan’s help was not great, the work did seem lighter for the joy they had in sharing it together.
Soon the sheets and tablecloths were on the line, and it was then that Susan made a discovery. “Look, Mother! They’re just like white walls in a playhouse! Let’s see, this will be the living room, and this will be a bedroom between these two lines...”
Mother was busy and did not answer, so Susan went on planning her playhouse rooms. The minutes slipped quickly into an hour, and what fun Susan had in her pretend playhouse! Mother did not remind her that she had meant to help her, but as she worked and watched Susan’s happy play many thoughts went through her mind.
Susan had meant with all her heart to help Mother with the washing. But how quickly and easily she had turned to playing house!
Mother took a quick peek into her own heart and wondered, “Am I any different in my service for the Lord?”
Long ago Mother had received the Lord Jesus as her personal Savior. Then she had gladly presented her body to the Lord as a living sacrifice, knowing that this was only a reasonable thing to do, when the Lord had done so very much for her.
But had she become “weary in well doing?” Had Satan cleverly caused her to become content with “playing house?”
The washing was done. Susan ran away to play feeling content that she had helped Mother. She did not know that she had taught Mother a lesson that day that she would not forget.