John Maclaren, a Free Church of Scotland minister and famously remembered by his pen name Ian Maclaren, visited an old Scotch woman standing in her kitchen, weeping. As she wiped her eyes with the corner of her apron, the minister asked her what the problem was. She said she was miserable and unhappy because she had done so little for the Lord. When pressed about what she had done, she replied, “I have washed dishes, cooked three meals a day, cared for the children, mopped the floor, and mended clothes. That is all I have done all my life.”
Sitting back in the armchair, the minister looked at her, smiled, and inquired, “Where are your sons?”
“Oh, my boys? You know where Mark is. You ordained him yourself before he went to China. Why are you asking? There he is preaching for the Lord.”
“Where is Luke?” questioned the minister. “Luke? He went out from your own church. Didn’t you send him out? I had a letter from him the other day.”
And then she became happy and excited as she continued, “A revival has broken out on the mission station, and he said they were having a wonderful time in the service of the Lord!”
“Where is Matthew?” “He is with his brother in China. And isn’t it fine that the two boys can be working together? I am so happy about that. And John came to me the other night—he is my baby and is only nineteen, but he is a great boy. He said, ‘Mother, I have been praying and, tonight in my room, the Lord spoke to my heart, and what do you suppose He told me? I have to go to my brother in Africa!'”
The minister looked at her, “And you say your life has been wasted in mopping floors, darning socks, washing dishes, and doing the trivial tasks. I’d like to have your mansion when we are called home! It will be very near the throne!”
3 John 1:4, “I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth.”