There are so few today who care;

So few who really know

The liability they bear

For little lives and how they grow.

 

For God entrusts to man and wife

A little life to mold;

A heart with neither storm nor strife:

A book with story yet untold.

 

Is he not held accountable

Who writes upon this heart,

Impressions unforgettable

That render it forever marred?

Examples set by Mom and Dad

Shout louder than their word;

And whether they are good or bad—

Examples are most quickly heard.

To ruin one's life is bad enough:

Far worse to ruin another—

And God Who gave that life with love,

Expects more of a Dad and Mother.

But who can show a little life

The Way that it should go,

Except that humble man and wife

Who love the Christ their child should know?

For noble man, or vagabond

Is made, he is not born.

The fruit and seed will correspond

To bring forth wheat or bear the thorn.

So, treat with care and tender love,

That little life on loan;

For it was lent you from above,

And we will reap what we have sown.