Praying
for Daddy
The
little girl in this story was only three years old when she did this lovely
thing I am going to tell you about. What a great deal of good even a tiny
three-year-old can do!
Her
father is a very important businessman. Not long ago he became very, very ill.
He was so sick that two doctors were called in, and the servants in the great
big house where he lived were told to go about their work without making the
least little bit of noise, so that the master would not be disturbed.
Nobody
was allowed in the sickroom except the nurses and the doctors. They were most
particular about this. There was to be no troubling of the patient for any
reason whatever, they said. If he did not sleep, then there would be no hope of
saving his life.
And
that was just what the patient could not do. Sleep would not come. Hour after
hour he tossed about, restless and irritable, and constantly getting weaker.
As
the days passed and he became steadily worse, the doctors finally decided that
there was nothing more that they could do. It was only a matter of time, they
said, and the family had better prepare for the worst.
All
this time little Gloria had been filled with curiosity about what was going on
in the darkened room. She knew her dear daddy was sick in there, but she
couldn't understand why she was not allowed to go in, why she had to be kept so
far away from him.
Now
and then, when nobody was looking, she would creep along to the door of the
sickroom and stand outside listening, as quiet as a little pussy hunting a
mouse. There she would stay until the nurse opened the door. Then she would run
away so fast that there was no time for the nurse to blame her for being there.
How
little Gloria did want to see her daddy! She felt that he needed her, and it
made her cross to be told that she mustn't go into his room any more.
Then
one afternoon, as she was looking around a corner of the corridor, sadly
watching the door of Daddy's room, the nurse came out and walked down to the
bathroom. And she left the door open!
Like
a streak of lightning Gloria sped around the corner and into the room. She just
had to see her daddy, and you couldn't blame her very much, could you? But when
she saw her daddy she felt very sad. He looked so pale and tired. "Poor
Daddy!" she said, gently touching his hand. "I'm so sorry." And
then after a pause, "I love you, Daddy." Daddy turned his head and
smiled weakly at her. "I'm glad you came to see me," he whispered,
trying to stroke her golden curls. Tears filled Gloria's eyes, and all of a
sudden she walked over to the window and looked up into the sky. And there she
talked quietly to Jesus, just as though she were talking to a very dear friend.
In a moment or two she was back again at Daddy's bedside.
"Daddy,"
she said very earnestly, with her sweet little face aglow with happiness,
"Jesus told me just now that you are going to get better.”
Daddy
smiled and slowly closed his eyes.
Just
then Gloria heard footsteps. It was the nurse coming back! But Gloria didn't
even think of running to hide. It was her turn now.
"Ssssh!"
she said, as the nurse came in, an angry frown on her face. "Ssssh! Daddy's
asleep. Don't wake him up!" The nurse looked, and to her amazement she saw
that Gloria was right. Her patient was asleep at last. The little girl had done
more than all the doctors and the nurses together. The poor sick man, whom
everybody had given up to die, slept soundly all that night, something he had
not done for many weeks. In the morning, when he awoke, he was so much better
that the doctors could hardly believe their eyes. And he kept on getting better
until soon he was his old self again.
Today
he is back at his work, but he never tires of telling the story of how his life
was saved, not by the doctors, but by his own little Gloria and the prayer she
prayed at the window that afternoon.
FLOUR
BARREL MIRACLE
When
Grandma was much younger than she is now she lived on a small farm hundreds of
miles from a big city. Her nearest neighbors were so far away she scarcely ever
saw them.
Sometimes
she would feel very lonely, especially when her husband was working far from
home and she was left alone with the children for weeks on end.
Sometimes
food would get scarce, and the children would have to go on short rations until
their daddy got back with fresh supplies.
One
bad winter he didn't get back when he said he would, and the food ran out.
Grandma
was worried. She hated to see the children suffer. Gladly would she have driven
to the nearest village to buy food, but there was no way for her to get there.
Her husband had the horse and cart.
She
couldn't telephone for help, because farmhouses didn't have telephones in those
days. So the last little bit of food was eaten, and Grandma wondered what
would happen if her husband didn't return soon. Next morning she went to the
flour barrel and looked in. It was empty. This meant there would be nothing to
eat for breakfast.
At
this moment Grandma remembered another barrel that belonged to a woman like her,
and how the prophet Elijah promised that if she would put God first, the barrel
would never be empty.
She
knelt by the barrel and prayed.
"I've
always tried to put You first, dear God. I've paid my tithe and brought up my
children to love You. Now we are in great need, and I claim the same
promise."
As
she prayed a voice seemed to say to her, "Bang the barrel!" So she
stood up and banged it, good and hard, with the flour dipper. Then she looked
inside. There was flour at the bottom. Quite a lot, in fact; at least enough to
make a nice little breakfast for everybody. Next day Grandma banged the barrel
again, and once more found flour at the bottom of it, this time enough to make a
pan of biscuits. The third day she banged it again, and still more flour came.
The
day after that she banged it again.
Believe
it or not, she kept on banging that barrel for a whole month, and without fail
always found enough flour at the bottom to give them something to eat. She was
still banging it when her husband arrived home with fresh supplies of food. He
laughed when he heard the story, but she didn't. To her it was something very
precious. Ever after she would remember 1 Kings 17:14.
"The
barrel of meal shall not waste, neither shall the cruse of oil fail, until the
day that the Lord sendeth rain upon the earth."
She had claimed God's promise, and He had kept it, as He always does.
Wall
of Horses
The
horses had come through the village once before, and a wild and savage sight it
had been. Rounded up from the prairies, they had suddenly turned down the narrow
dirt road between the houses, and with the thunder of a thousand hoofs had raced
madly through.
That
was years ago, and the people who now lived in the village never dreamed it
would happen again. Surely there would never be another stampede like that, not
in their lifetime.
So
time passed, and children were born. They grew up and played on that same dirt
road. Horses from nearby farms passed peacefully to and fro, and the children
knew most of them by name; but of the wild horses of the mountains and prairies
they knew nothing, except what their mothers had told them of the big stampede.
Sometimes, perhaps, they dreamed, as children do, of that terrible day when the
whole frantic herd went galloping through their village.
Life
was very happy and peaceful there, far from city noises and railroads and
speeding automobiles. Nothing very special happened from week to week until one
afternoon, Yes, it was a Sabbath afternoon. Lucy and Lillian had studied
their Bible lesson with their parents that very morning. It had been about
Daniel in the lions' den, and the two children had enjoyed it very much,
especially the part where the angel came and shut the lions' mouths so that they
would not harm the prophet of the Lord. They had asked Mother if the angels
would go to the rescue of other people who might get into trouble like that,
and Mother had said they surely would.
The
lesson over, the children had gone out for a little walk by themselves. They had
planned to go down the dirt road, across a field or two, then back again. But
they did not get that far.
Suddenly,
while they were still in the village, they heard a strange noise in the
distance. Looking up, they saw a great cloud of dust, which seemed to be coming
nearer and nearer.
Then,
amid the dust they could see horses, galloping horses, galloping
madly—straight toward them.
They
were standing near a little bush not much taller than themselves, and no
protection at all, but now they knelt beside it, saying a little prayer, and
wondering what would happen.
Meanwhile
Mother had heard the horses too. Instantly she had recognized the dreadful sound
that had frightened her so much long ago. At the same moment she thought of her
children. Where were they? Surely they must be on the road, right in the path
of the wild, plunging beasts. She ran out to look. Yes, there they were! She
called to them, but they could not hear her. Meanwhile the wild horses, scores
and scores of them, were rushing madly, blindly, frantically, right through the
village toward them!
"Save
them! O Jesus, save them!" Mother cried in desperation, turning her head
away lest she should see them killed.
Then
something very wonderful happened. You do not need to believe it unless you wish
to, but I know it is true. The mother told me about it herself. And the oldest
girl too.
Suddenly,
as the horses neared the children, those in front stopped. Neighing frenziedly,
they reared up on their hind legs, their hoofs pawing the air. Then the next row
piled onto those ahead of them, their front legs straddling the others backs. Behind
them still others did the same, until, in the space of seconds, there was a
wall of horses right across that village street. With their manes flying in the
wind, and clouds of dust billowing about them, it was a never-to-be-forgotten
sight.
In
that brief pause the children slipped away and hurried home. The horses plunged
and tossed a little while longer, then dropped their hoofs to the ground and
started off again on their mad and thunderous flight.
"But
weren't you afraid?" asked Mother as Lucy and Lillian came sauntering up
to her. "Afraid?" they said, quite unconcerned. "Oh, no. We knew
the angel of the Lord would look after us, and he did."
Then
they went indoors to play, while Mother, who had been sick with fright, marvelled
at their faith.