A Sister's Letter on Home Burdens and Faith
We quote the following from a sister’s letter, which shows how the Lord will fill a woman’s hands with work for which he sees she is best adapted, when she is willing to take the work that he offers. This sister’s example is worthy of imitation, and she should have our prayerful interest in the work that has come into her home. I have a home full of care. My husband is an invalid, and my father, who is quite aged, lives with us, and requires a good deal of attention. I have had five children of my own; but one, a boy of ten years, was killed by lightning, and a daughter of nineteen died of typhoid fever, leaving me three. I have living with me my son’s three beautiful little girls; and two years ago, in a providential way, I adopted a little child whose father died of consumption, leaving it uncared for. About four years ago a minister of the United Brethren denomination died, leaving four children. His wife came to me one cold day in winter, and said that she could not support her children. She wished them placed where they could be taught the word of God, and felt directed to come to me. We could not refuse, feeling it to be the call of God, and so one of her little girls has been with us ever since. She is a little Christian, and we love her very much. This makes five children not our own. I wish you could see them in the evening, all in their little night dresses at prayer. There is not a vain repetition, but they talk to Jesus as to a precious friend. I am fifty-four years old, and weave for a living. We are poor, but the Lord has fed and clothed us. One day in the winter the children were out of shoes, and the smallest one said, “Let us ask Jesus to send us some,” and we did so. As I left them, to come down-stairs, there was a knock at the door, and upon opening it a neighbor’s boy stood before me with three pairs of shoes, a little worn but good to wear. His family were not Adventists. The children all recognized the answer to their prayer. A Catholic woman seven miles away heard of my babies, and sent me some material for clothes, and some money. So the Lord helped me at that time. I have been in the habit of giving my REVIEW away after reading it, and one woman to whom I gave it sent it to a sister in Ohio, whose husband was a saloon-keeper. Some time afterward the woman came to see me, and is now keeping the Sabbath. Her husband came also. He has sold his saloon, and has settled down in other business.