This book by Charles Ludwig is one of the great Christian books on motherhood. I found its greatest benefit to mothers to be Susanna's single-minded determination to be used of God in raising a family.



The twenty-fifth and last child of Samuel Annesley, she desired more than anything that God would use her and make her life count. She succeeded through much determination and much testing. Her favorite Christian books she relied on to help her were her church's prayer book and the bible.

Sadly, we seldom see the character and the power of a praying woman like Susanna exhibited in today's society. Great Christian books like this one would help contemporary mothers reverse this trend.

Susanna, named after the woman in the bible who helped Jesus and his disciples in Luke 8:3, was born on January 20, 1669 in London, England. Interestingly, this was the same year in which Rembrandt died and in which Stradivari created his now famous violin.

I like the way the some Christian books begin by jumping right into an action scene. I admire people who think independently yet try to get along with others, and the opening scene thrusts Susanna into this category. Respecting her dad's scheduled time for reading the bible, she politely awaits its end before nervously revealing her desire to attend a different church. Her dad uses an illustration of deflecting a compass needle to caution Susanna about making sure her own ambition doesn't conflict with God's direction for her life.

English history buffs who enjoy reading Christian books loaded with information on the kings and queens and their lineages are in for a treat. While only mildly interested myself, my greatest pleasure was in seeing Susanna's reaction to the various rulers and how they affected her life. Her story made me glad for the freedoms I have to raise my family today.

Susanna actually walked on the famous London Bridge. She noticed skulls of people who were executed mounted on the old stone tower and thought it grotesque and unbecoming of her modern age, the turn of the century into the 1800's. To her the bridge was an analogy of Christ in the bible, for as the bridge was the only way across the Thames River, Christ was the only way to heaven.

The Great Plague of London in 1665 was followed by the Great Fire in 1666 in which God destroyed the pestilence. This fire, which started in the house of a baker somehow between one and two in the morning burned for almost five days in early September. Though it would be several years later before Susanna was born and still later before she could appreciate its significance, her heart yearned to start a similar spiritual fire in the hearts of people in England that would spread the gospel throughout the world. She believed she would achieve this through her children.

Christian books sometimes startle us with coincidences. I was surprised to learn that Susanna was a contemporary of Daniel Defoe. Defoe was the author of Robinson Crusoe and Gulliver's Travels. His name was originally Daniel Foe, and he grew up with Susanna in London.

Samuel Annesley had taught his daughter, Susanna, the power of method. Every day they did the same thing at the same time. This trait she was to pass on to her own children, and when John and Charles imposed this practice on others at college, they were dubbed Methodists.

I enjoyed reading the eight rules of children's behavior she listed in her later years per John's request. While including punishment, she stressed not neglecting to commend and praise right actions. Her method of preventing her children from lying to get out of being punished is one I learned through great Christian books, myself, as a school teacher. I wonder if it originated with SusannaWesley?

It wasn't until daughter Kezziah got saved – shortly followed by Charles and John – that Susanna finally discovered how she could know for sure she was going to heaven. It amazes me that she could try so hard to raise her children by the bible and be so successful, especially with John and Charles, yet not get saved until after she was seventy years old. While the power of a praying woman was evident in raising her children, in the end, it was the indirect means of her own salvation through the gospel.