EXTRACTS FROM CORRESPONDENCE.
In the last eighteen months we have fed, clothed, and housed three persons, and made them comfortable,—a mother and her babe, and a young sister eighteen years old. They were all almost naked when they came to us. We have also adopted two children. It seemed as if we had nothing to give, yet we really have more now than we did when we began to trust the Lord, and share what we did have. We are poor, and always expect to be; for we keep nothing, but give all; yet we have the most comfortable home of any Seventh-day Adventist I know of in these parts. I send you the name of a sister for correspondence. Give her name to some one who will cheer and comfort her; for her life is a hard one. The reason I say this is because the correspondent that was given to me is very sad and discouraged. I know that the Lord sent her to me for cheer and comfort. At first I thought that I could not do anything for her, but I answered her letter, and she wrote again, saying that my letter did her much good; and I could see by the spirit of her letter that she felt better. I know that the Lord is in this movement, and will bless every effort put forth. I think that I now understand the work you have in mind, and I wish to do all I can to help the cause I love. I think I understand now that I must be in close touch with the Lord before I can work for any one else, and then I must begin in my own home. I have a husband who is not a Christian. I thought I had done everything I could for him, but I am going to begin all over again. I praise the Lord for giving me sisters who can show me the way. My plan is to show him one of those pledges, and after having a good talk with him, and with the Lord, too, ask him to sign it, and then send the card to you that he may be remembered in prayer by you all. I will also ask you to take my case to the Lord in prayer. My health is very poor, and I do not believe that the Lord would have it so. I am not situated so I can have the instruction in James carried out in my case, but I would like to be remembered by the sisters at the noontide hour of prayer. There is one thing about which I do not know what to do. Our daughter, twelve years of age, attends school, and so Sabbath and Sunday are the only days she has at home. She has always been taught to keep Sunday, so Saturday has been her day for sewing or play, or whatever she wished to do. Now she is taking more interest in sewing, and wishes to sew on the Sabbath. I have almost decided that it would be best to let her sew if she likes, and still it will make it very hard to teach the younger children that the Sabbath is different from other days if there is some one sewing in the house. This may seem a simple thing, and you may say, Get her interested in other things; but that is easier said than done. I do not regard this a “simple” thing, but one of the greatest moment to more than one soul. I am interested in that twelve-year-old girl, and in this problem that confronts you as her mother. Read and study Romans 14. Fill yourself with the principles therein taught, together with Eph. 6: 1-4. Study this with her also, and remember that it is vastly more important that she should see and come to love the principles of truth than to follow any certain course of conduct; for the love of the principle will control the conduct every time. As the home-maker, you must be responsible concerning which day is observed as the Sabbath in your domestic arrangements, and what shall be regarded as necessary Sabbath work; and if, after you have lived and taught the truth in your home to the best of your ability, your daughter still does not see fit to conform to the established order of family life for that day, then teach her that common politeness, good form, requires that she keep herself and her work out of the sight of those who would be disturbed by it. Do not yourself forget that the golden-rule principle applies to both sides of this Sabbath-keeping question, as well as to every other one, even in the home. Do not try to compel any outside Sabbath-keeping or religious observance of any sort. The only name for that is hypocrisy. Do not seek for, do not be satisfied with, anything superficial, even in such good works as obedience in your child. The time is at hand when everything like veneer or gilding will be peeled off from every character, and when nothing will remain that can not endure the trial by fire, and when the only beauty will be that which can come through the severest polishing process. Work away by the help of the Spirit and word of God to win the heart of your child to the love of the truth, and trust the rest to Him. In this particular matter about which you have written, I should advise you to give her fully to understand that she can depend on you for help in carrying out her little plans in any way at any time that is consistent with the true keeping of the Sabbath. S. M. I. H.