Susanna Wesley gave birth to nineteen children in early eighteenth-century England. Nine of them died in infancy. Her husband Samuel, an Anglican minister, was frequently absent, twice imprisoned for debt, and not gifted with household management. The family was poor. Their house burned down twice. By every measure, Susanna's circumstances were overwhelming. Yet she created something in that home that changed the course of Christian history — not through fame or platform, but through daily, deliberate, costly love.

She homeschooled every child for six hours a day. She spent two hours daily in prayer — one hour for her children individually, one for her own spiritual life. Every evening she took one child aside for a private conversation about their heart and faith. Monday was Molly. Tuesday was Hetty. Wednesday was Nancy. Thursday was John. Friday was Patty. Saturday was Charles. She rotated through all of them, giving each one her full attention on their designated evening. John Wesley later said, "I learned more about Christianity from my mother than from all the theologians in England." And he meant it. The disciplined, methodical, Spirit-filled approach that defined the Methodist revival — the very word Methodist began as a nickname — was learned first at his mother's kitchen table. One of the most famous images of her devotional life is of Susanna sitting in a chair with her apron pulled over her head. That was her signal to the children: she was praying — do not disturb. She found God in the noise, and she taught her children to do the same.

Deuteronomy's command to teach children when you sit, when you walk, when you lie down, when you rise up — Susanna Wesley lived that command with extraordinary consistency. The home was her pulpit, and love was her method.

Prayer: Father, help us to be faithful in the small, daily acts of love that shape the people around us. May our homes be places where faith is not just talked about on Sabbath but lived in every ordinary moment of the week. Amen.