One of the ways I have recently been trying to “expand my horizons” is by reading books that I would not normally be drawn to. Into this category falls history biographies and so I recently finished up David McCullough’s book John Adams. While I enjoyed learning more about John Adams and the key role he played in forming our nation, what I enjoyed most about the book was learning more about his wife Abigail.
She was truly a remarkable woman whose life was characterized by sacrifice, industry, and service to her family. She made huge sacrifices by releasing her husband to serve the country months and sometimes years at a time. In his absence this meant that she was fully responsible to run their
“She would have him no other way than he was; she believed fervently in what he was doing, encouraged him in the role, and wished no other for him; she wanted him to be where he was doing his utmost for the country. And still she desperately wanted him with her.”
I love that picture…she desperately wanted to be with her husband, yet she recognized the call on his life to influence the world around him. And so she released him to do this work because she cared more about the good of others than her own personal comfort. That’s what I want to be like!
Her son John Quincy (later to be our sixth president himself) honored her well when he wrote after her death,
“My mother…was a minister of blessing to all human beings within her sphere of action…She had no feelings but of kindness and beneficence. Yet her mind was as firm as her temper was mild and gentle. She…has been to me more than a mother. She has been a spirit from above watching over me for good, and contributing by my mere consciousness of her existence, to the comfort of my life…Never have I known another human being, the perpetual object of whose life, was so unremittingly to do good.”
Isn’t it good that in God’s providence there are remarkable women like Abigail Adams who stood with and behind our Founding Fathers!
1 comment:
Well said, Meghan. My husband and I both enjoy reading books by David McCullough. We recently enjoyed the video series entitled John Adams.
I especially appreciated reading the letter which John Quincy wrote about his mother. What a wonderful legacy to pass on to her son, and what an example to us as mothers!!
May we, As Abigail, be constant encouragers to our husbands in their roles and ministers of kindness and blessing to our children, husbands and all within our sphere of influence.
Thank you, Meghan.
God bless you,
Jannie Bard
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