“The missionary went to the house, rapped at the door, and was admitted.  The woman was sitting by a small light, sewing.  In the corner of the room, were two little girls, apparently from nine to twelve years of age, playing.

“The missionary said, ’Madam, I am here to see if you will allow your girls to attend Sunday-school to-morrow morning.’  ’I would, sir; but what you see on them is all the clothing they have, and you would not wish them to go as they are now.’  ’The Lord will provide, madam.  Have you no money?’ ’Not yet, but I have committed my case into the hands of the Lord.’  ‘Have you anything to eat?’ ‘Nothing, sir!’ ’What will you do for breakfast?’ ’O, sir, I once had a husband; he provided when he could.  These children had a father; he supplied their wants; but he is dead now.  Yet my Maker, even God, is my husband, and He has promised to be a father to the fatherless.  We have committed all to Him, have called upon Him in this our day of trouble.  I am trusting in God to take care of a poor widow and her children in a strange place, and I know He will provide.’  ‘Thank God for such faith,’ said the missionary; and, handing her the basket, said ’here is your breakfast, and you shall have the clothing for your children.’  With tears streaming down her face, she replied:  ’Oh, thank God for his faithfulness!  He heareth and answereth prayer.  May He bless you!’ And, said our dear brother to us, ’I felt the promise was sure, for she was blessed in receiving, I was more so in giving.’”

A PRAYER FOR A LOAD OF WOOD.

Here is an illustration of the way in which God sends relief in trouble.  The story is told by the Christian woman to whom it happened, in her own language: 

“About the month of January, 1863, I was living in Connecticut, alone with two little boys, one of them four years old, and the other about a year and a half old.  My husband was away in the service of his country.  When the coldest weather came, I was nearly out of wood.  I went down into the village, one day, to try and get some, but tried in vain; so many men were away in the army that help was scarce.  Very little wood was brought into market, and those living on the main street, got all that came, while those who lived outside the village could get none.  I tried to buy a quarter of a cord from two or three merchants, but could not get any.  One of them told me he could not get what he wanted for his own family.  Another said he wasn’t willing to yoke up his team for so small a quantity; but, as I only had a dollar and seventy-five cents, I could not buy any more, and so I was obliged to go home without any.  I went back to my little ones, feeling very sad.  But while I sat there, almost ready to cry, the words of Abraham came into my mind, ’Jehovah-Jireh, the Lord will provide.’  Then I went up to my chamber.  There I knelt down and told God of my trouble, and asked him to help me